Huntsville gazette., 1883-01-27
TERRIBLE RAILROAD ACCIDENT.
Overturned Coaches on the Southern
Pacific Railroad Catch Fire, Burning
the Passengers to Death-Twenty-one
Lives Lost and Fourteen Wounded.

the passengers 10 Death-TWenty-one
Lives Lost and Fourteen Wounded.
SAN Francisco, Cal, January II.
Shortly after midnight the overland ex-
press. by the Southern Pacific, which left
here at 9-20 a. m. Friday, stopped near Te-
hachepai Station to cut out an extra engine
taken on al sumner, to assist in pulling up
Tehachepai grade. While making the change
the train got away and started back north
ward down the grade of l2O feet to the mile.
The train consisted of two engines the ex-
press, mail and baggage cars, two sleeDers,
one coach and smoker. IT went down the
grade at a frightful speed for about four
miles, when the hindermost sleeper jumped
the track and went over an embankment fif-
teen feet high, carrying with it the other
sleeper, the mail, baggage and express cars,
which were piled in shattered heap, took
fire and were consumed. The coach and
smoker kept on down the grade and were
stopped without leaving the track, about two
miles further on.
A Los Angeles dispatch says: 1t is now as
certained that at the time the train broke
loose and ran down grade, the air brakes had
been taken off and the men who tended the
hand-brakes were away from their posts.
One was attending to switching the engine,
the other was relighting his eXtinguished
lamp. The train gathered headway quickly
and was soon dashing down grade at the rate
of mile minute At sharp curve of the
road the coach and smoker, which were
ahead, broke the couplings and separated
from the rest of the train, making the turn
safely. The sleepers, mail, express and bag
gage cars were dashed against high bank,
then thrown back and rolled down the en-
bankment. The lamps and stoves at once set
blaze.
Harry Conners, news agent, sleeping in the
baggage car, wa1ened by the movement of
the car, aroused James Woodruff, baggage
master, Just as the cars made the jump. The
roof of the car split open, throwing both men
out severely injured. Conners, while lying on
the ground unable to render any assistance,
saw the train enveloped in flames. heard the
shrieks of the dying victims and saw them
vanly endeavoring to struggle from the
burning ruins. The porter, as he and his wife
occupied alone the drawing room Of one of
the sleepers, awakened by the crash suc-
ceeded in getting out without injury but of
sixteen other occupants of the car not one Is
believed to have escaped.
Meanwhile, the occupants of the COACH
which kept on down the grade succeeded in
stopping it, saving the lives of some forty oc-
cuDantS OF tnat ana tne smoking car. IHcN
immediately walked back to the scene OF the
accident, but found only the smoldering re-
mains of the train and few who had escaped
with their lives lying bruised and bleeding in
the darkness, shivering in the piercing cold
nigiat- air or rendering assistance 10 each
other.
Relief soon arrived from Tehachcpai, four
miles distant, and as soon as possible medical
attendance was sent from Sumner and Bakers
field and subsequently from Los Angeles.
Search for dead soon showed that twenty
one persons had persisted; eleven were be
yond recognition, only headless bodies and
charred limbs being found. OF the body OF
Mrs Downey only the head and bust re-
NAMED. 1t was recognized by jewelry. All
the bodies and fragments were gathered up
and coffined. The wounded were removed to
the baggage car and on the arrival OF the re-
lief train from Los Angeles sent to that city.
Express Messenger Charles Pearson had his
head shattered Five were burned, but recog-
nZabe viz:
Miss NJ Il. Squires Mrs. III. 0. Oliver, Mrs.
Downey, NJ. Wethered, and Mrs. James Cas-
sell; two men unknown, but supposed to be
discharged soldiers, were found dead, but not
burned one other body of a large man, badly
oharred, is supposed to be the remains of
Colonel Larrabee, ex- Congressman from Wis
consin. Governor Downey says Larrabee was
on the train, and he is missing since the acci-
dent. The remaining eleven are still uniden-
titled. An inquest is in progress, but no news
is yet received from it. No one but railroad
and county officials were admitted.