The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 28, 1901, Page 1

v g & AL VOLUME XC—NO. 181. SAN FRANCISCO, TH DAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1901. PRICE FIVE CENTS. CARS CROWDED WITH IMMIGRANTS ARE WRECKED AND BURNED, THE LOSS OF LIFE BEING MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED, AND THE DISASTER IS THE MOST APPALLING IN RECENT YEARS EBLOMBIAN INSURGENTS RECAPTURE THE BARBACOAS BRIDGE . AND DRIVE THE GOVERNMENT TROOPS FROM THEIR POSITION 1 » TRO! NED OF IN FRONT | oF ?ng 3E5es oF ThE = PRESIDENT aoF GoTomeli: Out of Three Hundred Conservatives Engaged! in the Fighting on Tuesday All Except| About Fifty Were Killed or Wounded AHIA Soldado, ! the field with 't | troops, 5:40 p. lombia, Nov. Special Dispatch to The Call. There was a lull in the fighting just be- fore’ the capture of the gun. The insur- gents had ceased firing in order to deceive the enemy. The ruse worked very well, for in a few minutes the Government troops rushed forward. They thought that the revolutionists were out of ammu- nition and were preparing to retreat. In their Indiscretion they exposed themselves and the rebels poured into them a galling fire. The Government force was mowed down mercilessly. Then t8llowed a rout and Alban’s soldiers sought protection in he Colombian insurgents have reca] the Bar- bacoas bridge; have - driven the Gov- ernment forces from Bahia Soldado and Buens Vista, and a few minutes ago, Gen- eral Barrera, arriving here on horseback, announced that General Alban’s force had been routed and had returned to its posi- tion near San Pablo. Fighting took place slong the Panama Railroad all day and was at times furious. ile The Call correspondent was taking less than an hour ago near Buena spent bullets dropped near his posi- The Liberals are enthusiastic. They are shouting this evening, “Vivan los Lib- erales!” They are expecting reinforce- ments from Gatun in about an hour. Alban’s Soldiers Surprised. This day of revolutionary success, which undid all that the Government troops ac- complished yesterday, began at 4 o'clock this morning. General Barrera decided to surprise Alban's victorfous soldiers, who At that time two wounded Liberals, who were on their way to Bahia Soldado, re- ported that they had seen only a few ded insurgents at Buena Vista, but that the Government loss was heavy. They said that the railroad bed was cov- | ered af ‘ome ' SPOt_iwith the Geall Bnd | ewere encambped, sround’ the; Barbacosy wounded of the Government troovs and | bridge, which- s a - strategic point and that the latter were shooting some of | which the insurgents were determined to their wounded. | recapture. The bridge is an fron structure A train was forced to stop because of | and crosses the Chagres River. General bodies on the track. The bodies were re- | Barrera's activity brought him complete moved quickly and the train proceeded. im“"‘ph' Tha Governissit fombs b ok Many bodies are floating down the | pletely surprised. There was stubborn re- Chagres River. The excitement along the | sistance at the bridge for a few minutes, river is intense. | but the . revolutionists occupied such a Government Forces Mowed Down. | good position that Alban’'s soldiers could The correspondent has just learned from | not withstand the attack. G 2] Barrera, who has been the prin- | The insurgents,. eheering, crossed the cipal leader of the insurgent forces dur- | bridge and took a position on the other ing the day's fighting, the details of the | side and kept driving the Conservatives rout of General Alban to San Pablo. | before them. % which is near the middle of the isthmus. General Alban; with 600 men, left San General Barrera says that his soldlers | Pabio at 10 o'clock in the morning, but ceptured a Gatling gun in the middle of | could not stem the tide against him. He the raflroad track near Buena Vista. proceeded to Buena Vista, where there their position in the vicinity of San Pablo. | Ol —> v (g [ 4] e ks 1 - MEN WHO FIGURE PROMINENTLY, IN THE COLOMBIAN REVOLUTION, WHICH NOW APPEARS TO BE MAKING SUCCESSFUL HEADWAY, AND SCENES CONNECTED WITH THE MARCH AND BATTLES OF LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES DURING THE LAST FEW DAYS. J g AR mdR N Cali Correspondent With the Victorious Liberals Describes a Deci- sive Battle, in Which General Alban’s Soldiers Are Routed From Bahia So'dado and Buena Vista With Heavy Loss — was flerce fighting. The revolutionists kept well under cover and advanced stead- ily. They were well supplied with am- munition. Only for brief intervals were there lulls in the hostilities, The Fighting Has Ceased. After the Government forces had been driven from Buena Vista the correspond- ent returned to this place. The latest in- telligence from the front is that the fight- ing has ceased. The yictorious insurgents are weary from their long day’s battle and it is not likely that they will attack the Government troops near San Pablo to- night. News comes that two vessels have land- ed Liberal reinforcements and a large sup- ply of ammunition at Chorrera. The troops with ammunition are on their way here. ? There is a flotilla of insurgent craft at Point Chame, on the Pacific coast, about fifteen miles from Chorrera. Among the vessels are the rebel gunboats Monotombo and Darfen. This flotilla has brought a large supply of ammunition and many men from the Ecuadorian coast.: Couriers report that residents in and near San Pablo are seeking refuge in the | mountains. They anticipate that a battle will be fought around San Pablo to-mor- row. | It is said that Govérnment troops have looted the houses of San Pablo residents. According to the statement of insur- gents the Government loss during yes- terday’s fighting was heavier than has been reported. The revolutionists say that of 300 Federal soldiers engaged &t and | around Barbacoas bridge all except about fifty were killed or wounded. The insur- gents lost eleven men in killed and ‘wounded. MANY DROWNED IN CHAGRES. Government Lossgs Very Heavy in Barbacoa Battle. COLON, Colombia, Nov. 27, 2 p. m.—The following dispatch has been received from The Colombian gunboat Boyaca was dis- patched Tuesday, having on board about fifty soldiers, for Chamo or its vieinity, where it ‘was sald a party of Liberals, under General Torres, has received quite recently a fresh supply of arms and am- ‘munition. i ¢ San Paolo and Barbacoa are known here . Panama: oy T, e ST 2 to be Liberal strongholds and X‘fllcel very easy to defend, while to cross the bridge spanning the Chagres River, now swollen, was next to impossible for an attacking force. The feat was accomplished, how- ever, but the reason the Liberals aban- doned Barbacoa is not made clear. The death rate on the Government side was very great, many bodies falling into gthe river. An attempt was also made to make a detour on the river on boats, but the Chagres being swollen the boats capsized and many werd drowned. & General Castro commands the Govern- ment force at Barbacoa. General Alban tried to get a train yesterday morning to convey 200 men to the scene of the en- gagement at Barbacoa, but Captain Perry of the Towa said that not a single armed man would be allowed to entrain. The feeling here against foreigners, par- ticularly Americans, fans high. A special train at Panama to .convey General Alban, alone and unarmed, await- ed the arrival for hours of the mornin train from Colon, but on the arrival of the latter here at 6 o'clock in the evening, Continued on Page Three. Head-On Collision Between Two Passenger Trains Running at High Speed. Unfortunates Not Killed Instantly Are Roasted to Death by the Flames. AT i One of the most appalling railroad disasters in the last ten years occurred last night on the Wabash Railroad. Seneca, Mich., was the scene of a head-on collision between passenger trains 13 and 4, two of the fastest trains on the division. Train 13 was crowded with immigrants, who were caught like rats in a trap and crushed. Fire broke out in the wrecked cars and | many who were not instantly killed were slowly roasted to death. From 100 to 150 persons were killed or injured in the wreck and holocaust. The old, old story is repeated—a misunderstand- ing of orders or a mistake in giving them to the approaching " trains caused the catastrophe. e —— ETROIT, Nov. 27.—From 100 to 150 persons were killed or injured to-night in a wreck on the Wabash Railroad. Two heavily loaded passenger trains collided head on at full speed one mile east of Seneca, the second station west of Adrian. The westbound train, composed of two cars loaded with immigrants and five other coaches, was smashed and burned, with awful loss of life and fearful injuries to a majority of its passengers. The eastbound passenger train, the Continental Limited, suffered in scarcely less degree. The track in the vicinity of the wreck is strewn with dead and dying. Many physicians from Detroit have gone to the scene. : DISOBEDIENCE OF ORDERS THE CAUSE OF DISASTER. The Continental Limited, the eastbound train, was driven by Engineer Strong and was.in charge of Conductor J. Martin, The westbound immigrant train was a double-header and was driven by Engineer Work and Engineer Parks, the conductor being Charles Troll. The eastbound train, it is believed, dis- obeyed orders in not waiting at Seneca for the westbound train, ‘thereby causing the wreck. The track at the point where the collision occurred was straight, and at first the officials could not understand how the accident could have happened. The westbound train, which ordinarily is due to leave Detroit at 2:30 o’clock, was two hours late, leaving at 4:20 p. m. The two trains are scheduled to meet at Montpelier, Ohio but, as stated, had been ordered to meet at Seneca. The blame is therefore placed on the conductor or.engineer of the eastBound train, as the acci- dent could not have occurred had this train been held at Seneca. Apparently orders to wait were disobeyed, and the probabilities are that the true story of why will never be told, as the train crews undoubtedly met instant death. BODIES ARE BURNED BEYOND RECOGNITION. Advices from the wreck at midnight state that the country for miles around is lighted up by the burning cars and that the flames could not be quenched because of lack of proper appara- tus. Mangled bodies were picked up along the track by the farmers before the special train sent from Adrian arrived on the scene. In some instances the bodies were mangled beyond all recognition. The bodies which the rescuets managed to pull from the burning ruins of the immigrant cars were so badly burned that their identity will probably never be ascertained. The westbound train was a regular train composed of seven coaches. Reports differ as to the number of coaches carrying immigrants. ‘One says there were but two, ard another says there were five or six coaches carrying this class of tourists. WHEN THE TRAINS CRASHED TOGETHER. It is not thought any Detroit people were injured, as train No. 3, immediately behind the immigrant train, carried the De- troit passengers for Chicago. ; The eastbound train was made up of an engine, baggage car, combination coach and sleeper. The trains came together one mile east of Seneca, under a full head of steam. All but the two rear coaches of the west- bound train were demolished and t}xe coach on the eastbound train was telescoped. Five of the cars of the immigrant train caught fire and are still burning. The loss of life is estimated at 100 on this train. The loss of life on the eastbound train is said to be twenty-five. One of the engines of the immigrant train ex» ploded and the eastbound engine turned over into a ditch. Two firemen and one engineer of the westbound train were killed, but the fireman and engineer of the other train jumped and escaped. RELIEF TRAINS, ARE SENT. . As soon as the news of the disaster reached Division Super- intendent Burns at Detroit special trains were dispatched to the scene of the wreck from Adrian, Detroit, Peru and Montpelier. A special train from Detroit, carrying thirty-two physicians and surgeons, started for Seneca and was given the right of way. When it reached the scene of the wreck the work of suc- coring tha wounded was well under way, the train having been preceded by a special from Adrian bearing all the surgeons in Continued on Page Two. 5 \