The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1883-02-08
Experience In a Sand. Storm.

The Southern Overland train which should
have reached San Francisco the afternoon of
January only arrived at $50 the I light of the
I'd, having been delayed at Sumner by a terrific
sand-sform that ragged through the Mojavo
desert and spread out over a portion of the
surrounding country. The storm BEGAN in the
early morning, and when the train reached
Sumner, in Kern County, had become a reg1-
lar simeon. The wind swept across the sandy
wastes with such violence that the train
swayed and rocked under the fierceness of the
blasts and seemed ready to plunge from the
track. The moon had become overcast In the
early part of the night, and the journey was
continued in darkness that rapidly increased
until the day began in Stygian gloom. The
passengers, who had been used from their
sleep by the fierce assaults OF the wind and the
dashing of the sand against the windows Of the
train, looked anxiously for the appearance of
the sun, but no gleam of light relieved the for
bidding darkness of the east. Night main
tanned her sway, and the blackness Of the
heavens grew intense with the morning, until
the strong headlight of the locomotive almost
failed to pierce it. The small portion of the
desert which was exposed by the engines
lights only served to discourage the travellers.
The track was lost under the pillows. of sand
that were being tossed across the rails by the
angry storm. The desert moved Ike a sea,
and when the waves of sand struck the shiver
ing sides of the train they scattered like spray
and filled the air with q dust which made free
breathing impossible.
The travellers fears of being stopped by a
sand-drift were soon realized. After leaving
Summer, which is 3l4 miles from San Francisco
the train moved cautiously for ten miles
| through the shifting waste and then stopped
with a crash. The alarmed passengers hardly
dared to face the driving storm to learn the
cause of the unpleasant halt. The few intrepid
persons who ventured into the binding
simeon found that their express train
had run into a freight train which had
stopped in an impossible sand-drift. The
slow rate at which the express was moving
enabled the engineer TO stop the train
in me to prevent serious accident, and
the collision was only sufficient to cast the 10
connective from the track The passenger-cars
remained on the rails. 1t was then ten o'clock,
SO slowly had the express proceeded through
| the binding storm after leaving Sumner, The
darkness of the night had only increased, and
nothing was visible except within the focus of
passengers were compelled to remain on the
| detached tr lin while relief was be ng obtained
from Sumner. Assistance having arrived,
| the track was cleared of sand sufficiently
| to enable q relief engin, to pull the
| express bacS to Sumner, where the pas.
sengers found slim accommodation until
the storm blew over. Toward five O'Clock in
| the afternoon the darkness began to disap-
pear. but the simeon maintained its vtgor un-
pass tngers proceeded on their journey, the re-
mainder of which was made without sensa-
| t!onal incident, as gangs of Chirese had been
| at work all n ght and had cleared the track of
the accumulated sand-drift. At Tulare the ex-
press, which was due at 2:40 p m, January 2,
overlook the belated and weather-beaten ex-
press, having passed with slight discomfort
| through the tail of the simeon. The breaking
| of piston-rod delayed the first express still
| further at Lathrop, and the two trains came
| simult neously to Oakland wharf, the first
| over tn rty hours behind time and the second
over six. All hands, however, soon forgot the
| unpleasantnesS of their adventure and laughed
| over it.-Sdn Frdncisc0 Examiner.