The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 20, 1901, Page 1

VOLUME XCL-NO 20. SAN FRANCISCO, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, PRICE FIVE CENTS AGHIFIGE OF TWO LIVES AND MAIMING OF TWENTY-THREE OF THE PAGSENGERS AND RAILWAY MEN IN COLLISION OF SOUTHERN PAGIFIC TRAINS AT UPLAND TILIIAM . QARLAND — EnaiNEER Teain NoIO ENGINEER DISOBEYS " ORDERS. Fireman and Mes- senger’s Helper Killed. of orders by an en- ern Pacific Rail- oad offi- - of the lision between the north bound limited trains on the coast division at Uplands, Monterey Coun- ty, earls morning, resulting in the @ twe and injury to and women rumor that two e brakebeam were killed the wreckage collision were southbound 10, that left San Francisco on Wednes- of me: nverified Xo day evening, and northbound No. §, that left Los The te on of the same day. rs given to the rains were that the south- » should wait at Uplands on the and that the northbound d take the siding and allow No. 10 to n track hn W. Coffey of the north- bound train neglexted his orders. He passed the at a speed les an hour. f betwe: n p slowing up and five miles an was procee at about hour when llision occurred. with a terrific crash . ed for their lives, William C. Garland of the was caught in the crushed to death. Vells-Farg Company’s helper, Owen A. Thurber, was caught in ass of de rain and killed the Engine Alone of No. 10 Wrecked. uthbound train escaped with but northbx und The & the wreckage of the engine and tender, ngers and crew of trainmen slight bruises. d train, -however, met When its big engine the recetved only The northbour with severe disaster. plowed i he locomotive of No. 10 it j upward into the air, then it i on the baggage car and finally toppled on to the roof of emoker, crushing into it and smashing he car into kindling wood To the horror of collision was added | moved. the element of fire, OO iy X Continued on Page Two. 'NORTHBOUND | ern Pacific is of his wrecked car on | THE DEAD FIREMAN . TRAIN BRINGS INJURED HERE Crowds Witness Transfer From the Cars to Ambulances. HE arrival last evening of the rorthbound train that had been in collision in the early morning at Uplands was eagerly awaited by hundreds of relatives and friends of those who were passengers from the south. During the day the offices of the South- Company were ted by the information glven out was of a meager character. Beyond fur- nishing a list of the killed and injured the raflroad officials gave out no news from the scene of the disaster, and those who were anxious for information were compelled fo await the arrival of the northbound train at 5:30 p. m. Conflicting statements were made by Southern Pacific officials as to the spot where the injured would be taken from the train. One department answered iu- quiries by saying that the injured would crowds, and be taken off at Twenty-fifth and Valen- cia streets, while other officials asserte that no stop would be made at that point, | but that the injured would be removed | at neither point were at Third and Townsend streets. The injured were not taken from the train at either of the points mentioned The company ordered a number of am- bulances to wait for the train at Six- teenth and Harrison streets and at this point the removal of the injured was ac- complished A large number of relatives and friends of those on the train congregated at the the | depots at Third and Townsend streets and at Twenty-fifth and Valencia streets, but the injured re- The train passed the Valencia- The lamps in the | gtreet depot at a high rate of speed, and when it approached the Sixteenth and Harrizon streets roundhouse it was sig- Fowzsr Proto J HE Southern Pacific wreck at Uplands early yesterday morning resulted in two deaths and more than a score of serious injuries, which in two cases are expected to prove fatal. The southbound New Orleans Express, No. 10, and the northbound express, No. 9, had -orders to pass at Uplands. Engineer Coffey of the northbound train ran past Uplands at a high rate of speed and his train dashed into the southbound train as it was slowing down. N. H. Foster, assistant general manager of the Pacific system of the Southern Pacific, places the blame for the disaster on Coffey. P D MiiToN <G EvLy — -~ % 3 1 SCENE OF THE DISASTROUS WRECK ON THE COAST LINE OF THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAWD NEAR UPLANDS, THE DEAD FIREMAN, THE TWO ENGINEERS AND A BRAKEMAN, ALL THREE OF WHOM NARROWLY ESCAPED DEATH. . + - 3= . THE DEAD: William C. Garland, fireman, 1471 Fifteenth Owen A. Thurber, Wells-Fargo helper, Santa street, San Francisco. Cruz. THE INJURED: John Cardona, section hand, San Luis Obispo; —— Becker, Beauford, S. Dak.; cuts on hands severely burned, probably fatally. and face. 5 ! Mrs. A. Wright, Los Angeles; contusions and Christ Hendricksen, San Luis Obispo County; sprained neck. burned, cut and injured internally. L. L. Austin, brakeman, 663 Harrison street, H. C. Martin, Los Angeles, Wells-Fargo messen- San Francisco; cuts on hcad and body. ger; bruised back and internal injury. John Kelshaw, Treasurer San Luis Obispo Edmund Verrier, Arroyo Grande; cyt on hands. County; internal injuries. John C. Wiiliams, Stone Canyon, Monterey | Felice Rancantore, section hand, 724 Filbert County; hands burned. | street, San Frarcisco; internal injuries, A. S. Wakefield, Hiram, Ohio; cut on hands. | Buena' Salvador, section ' hand, 41414 Green 2 Holcomb, Pullman car porter, north bound E street, San Francisco; injured internally, probably | train; cut on head and face. | fatally. Charles Wasson, Tranquillity, Ohio; bruised. Christian Jensen, Haywards; burned and Mrs. Holbridge, 1615 Ellis street, San Francisco; crushed. left leg bruised. | Francisco Saverino, section hand, 665 Broadway, Mrs. Naughton, Los Angeles; bruised on chin and Oakland; burned and crushed. lips cut. E Giuseppi Bondi, section hand, 665 Broadway, Mrs. Gertrude Stswart, Delfer, Colo.; ,right eye | Oakland; legs injured. bruised and neck sprained. John Jordan, Rochester, N, ¥.; cut and bruised Mrs. L. Booth, Pasadena; slight shock. | on arms and legs. Mrs. E. 8. Sands, Casmalia; cut on lips. } B -+ naled to stop by waving lanterns. In spite of this secrecy there was a big crowd of men and women to witness the | and their homes in carriages. Trainmen and | ity of the injured were taken to the Rail- removal of the injured. I blood. A few passengers who were only slightly injured were removed to hotels The major- physicians assisted those of the injured | road Hospital at Fourteenth and Mission who were able to walk to the ambulances, while stretchers were utilized to move those seriously injured. In the dim light of lanterns the injured presented a grewsome sight. Heads, arms, legs and bodies were swathed in bandages, many of which were deeply stained with streets, where they were placed in charge of the doctors and nurses. It was learned late last evening that Buena Salvador and John Cardona were in a precarious condi- tion and that their recovery was uncer- tain. The uninjured passengers who arrived WOUNDED MEN ARE RESCUED BY PASSENGERS Thrilling Experiences of Survivors Will Not Be Forgotten. HE stories told by the passengers of the {li-fated trains are thrilling. In the darkness amd confusion that pre- vailed men were impelled by a single thought—to save the lives of the un- fortunates, men and women, im- prisoned in the debrls, and they worked like herces to accomplish their purpose. Amid the hissing of escaping steam, the groans of the wounded and the shrieks of frightened women the work of rescue went on, the whole presenting a scene of horror that will live long in the memory of those who were actors therein. Within a few moments after the crash the sleeping passengers realized what had | happened. Those who were not too se- verely injured at once Jeft their coaches and préceeded to the front of the trains, where the engines and cars were piled up In an inextricable mass of wreckage. The | engines, broken and twisted out of shape, | lay on their sides enveloped in clouds of | steam. The baggage and forward cars of | both trains were telescoped, seemingly | piled mountain high. To add to the horror | of the scene the wreckage cau~ht fire, and | the first care of the rescuers was to re- | lease such persons as might be buried un- | der the debris. The flames crept upward, their flery more distinct as they swept through the inflammable mass. Several people were rescued in the nick of time, and in order that the entire trains might not be de- stroyed by fire the cars were uncoupled by the passengers and trainmen and pushed away from the scene of the wreck. This task accomplished, the wounded pas- | sengers were cared for and everything tongues becoming more and | Il pLLF § TP P y £ P Son | g COEFEY | EroNeERR OF ! S Snaste . | | OFFICIALS FIX BLAME ON COFFEY 'Declare the Engineer . Was Guilty of | Neglect. | HE blame for the disaster on the coast line of the Southern Pacific Rallroad system has been ‘already placed by the officlals or Englneer John W. Coffey of the ll-fated north- bound train. | N. H. Foster, assistant to the manager | of the Pacific system, made the following | statement at noon yesterday: “The accident was due to Engineer | Coftey of train No. 9 violating his orders | and not following instructions. He was | ordered to meet the southbound train at | Uplands and pass it there on the switch. | He aid not do so, but ran beyond Uplands | at a high rate of speed. Engineer Konold | obeyed his orders and was slowing up in | order to stop at Uplands when the north- bound train ran into his engine. I have received no statement from Coffey as to | why he disobeyed orders.” | When Foster was asked if he could give | any reason as to why Coffey should make such a terrible mistake he answered: | “He made the mistake In the same way that all men make mistake: only explanation I can give.” At the office of Superintendent Worth- ington at the Third and Townsend streets depot it was learned that the instructions for the two trains were sent out from the | San Luis Obispo dispatcher's office and were most positive that the trains should | meet at Uplands and pass on the double track at that point. | @ That is the PSPPI | lously escaped without injury. On his ar- | rival in this city last night he said: | “The first knowledge we had of the ac- }cident was a violent shock. I thought | this was caused by an explosion of dyna~ ! mite and that we were being held up by robbers. I started to go forward to in- | vestigate and found that a lady in fromt on the northbound train could throw little | Possible done to alleviate their sufferings. | o. me was pinned down by her chair. I light on the collision. Most of them were | in the sleeping berths when the crash took | place and only had cognizance of events that followed the wreck. All the passengers were loud in their praises of B. A. Worthington, divisjon su- perintendent of the Coast Line, who hur- ried to the scene of the accident with a Continued on Page ?wo. sty S SAYS MORE LIVES WERE LOST THAN REPORTED | Dr. Herndon of Oregon Gives an Ac- count of Accident and Rescue of Passengers. Dr. Herndon of Ashland, Or., was one of the passengers on train Ne. 9, north- bound. He was seated In the chair car at the time of the collision and miracu- | raised her up and rendered as much as- | sistance as I could. The scene in the car | was one I wili never forget. The women were screaming and the men were mak- ing a valiant effort to get out. In an instant the car was filled with steam, | ana thfs added to the sceme. My first | thougint was to get the Injured out of the |car. T rushed forward and found that Continued gn Page Twe.