Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-05-13
THE s. P. WRECK.
Full Details of How it
Occurred.
PASSENGERS INTERVIEWED.
One Killed and Fifteen Slightly
Injured-Names of the
Wounded.


at Gila Bend on the Southern Pacifi.
journeyed as far as Spadra, and there
awaited the arrival Of No. 20 from th,
front. 1t was 10 O'Clock ere the train
three hours late, steamed in and the
scribe at once wended his way to tn,
rear end, where he was in
formed the injured were congre
gated. In the first emigrant car wer,
some eight or ten people, most o
them with SCARED faces, blackened
eyes and other indications of having
met with trouble, and in the second
coach similar scene was encoun-
tered. Addressing himself to an in
telligent-looking man the scribe asked
for Information regarding the disaster
and was answered as follows: "We
had been out of Gila Bend station some
10 minutes and had travelled about
five miles, when as we were passing
over culvert erected over adrywash,
noticed a humping Of the cars ahead
The next moment l knew we were off
the track, and after being hauled
along the ties for about train length
the coach turned over on it's side and
was dragged through the sand. The
dust and dirt half filed the car and
when we came to q standstill and
succeeded in recovering my senses,
2 sorry looking sight met the view.
Everyone was covered with sand and
dirt, the children we're crying and the
women calling tor help. got out as
soon as | could and then heard that
there was a woman killed. They were
just lifting her out. as l walked
up and her husband, poor
fellow, stood heart-broken as he
realized the misfortune that had be-
fallen him. His name is L. g. Good,
and he, his wife and three children
were en- route to Garvanzo fiom Eng
land. l became acquainted with the
party in New Orleans, and Mrs. Good
was a very amiable lady of about So
years of age. 1t was rumored that
some others were killed, but it was
found that this report was untrue, for
all OF the rest of the passengers came
crawling out of the overturned coaches,
begrimed and bleeding. There were
four cars wrecked altogether Pull
man sleeper, first-cass day car,
smoker and an emigrant car. From
all ] could learn, the way the wreck
happened was as follows: One of the
straps gave way and the rails spread
as the train was passing over. The
first car to leave the track was
Pullman, aud this in turn dragged off
the coaches following it. When they
finally keeled over and left the track
the link connecting the two Pullmans
broke and the first part Of the train !
went on, ivaving Vie iiouf w.recked
coaches in the sand. As luck would |
have it, there were one or two doc
tors on the train, and they attended
to the immediate wants OF the in |
jured. The conductor told US to get |
on the other part Of the train, and
after transferring our baggage, off we
went to Yuma, where fresh coaches
were provided. A wrecking car went
out at once and started to repair the
track, the damage to which, of course,
did not delay us, as the uninjured
part Of the train was on the west side
OF the wreck"
The scribe then proceeded into the
Pullman coach and engaged in con-
versation with one of the travellers
therein. In substance the informa-
tion elected was the same as the pre-
vious statement, with the following
particulars regarding the effect on
those in the first class coaches: cat
the time Of the wreck" said the
seFibe's informant, "there were only
three gentlemen in the Pullman and
about twelve ladies aud gentlemen in
the day coach. Beyond a slight
shaking up and being smotbered in
sand, none of these passengers were
hurt at all. The reason why 80 many
were hurt in the emigrant car is be-
cause they were packed together
and had no chance to escape.
In my opinion Mrs. Good must
have been looking out of the
window, as her arm was completely
skinned; and then, again, her neck
was broken, as if bent down by some
heavy pressure"
Mr.. Good was the next interviewed
and said: "My wife, three children
and were bound for Garvanzo where
my brother-in-law, Mr.. 7. Fellows,
resides. We came from Walthamstow
near London, England, and intel ded
to settle here. We were all sitting to-
gether in one Of these seat compart-
ments when we felt the train bump
ing along and before we could realize
what had happened the train Lad
turned over. The sand seemed to half
fill the car, and as soon as could
clear my eyes | seized the children
and took them to the rear endlof the
car where it was clearer. then tried
to get at my wife who was partially
buried beneath the sand. dug
with my hands and others
helped me, but when we extracted
: her, she was dead"
s Mr. Good was so overcome by his
grief that the reporter, in respect
for it, silently withdrew. 1t was, in
deed, sad to see the strong man as.
surrounded by his three children, he
sat there almost bereft by his great
affiiction. The children, scarcely con,
scious OF what had befallen them,
looked wonderingly around, the pitied
of all observers who thought of the
dead mother in her shroud in the bag
gage car ahead.
In the Pullman coach the reporter
encountered Mr.. Len Harris and DIR.
Kirk patrick, who had travelled down
the line to minister to the wants OF
the wounded. Both gentlemen had
done everything in their power, and the
injured whom they Lad attended
were loud in their praises.
DIR. Kirkpatrick said. "With the
exception Of the death OF Mrs. Good,
nothing else serious has resulted from
the accident. The injuries received
by the others are only temp 4rary and
though they will be sore and dis6gured
for few days they will soon be all
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