The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1890-06-04
THROUGH The BRIDGE.
TERRIBLE RAILROAD ACCIDENT AT
SAN FRANCISCO.
Twenty mine People Lose Their Lives
Through AN Engineers Careles.ness-
An Open Drawbridge,

people have lost their lives. The local
train connecting at Oakland with the
ferryboats from San Francisco ran
through an open drawbridge over San
Antonio Creek ut Webster street, Oak
land. The yacht Juanita had just
passed through the draw when the
train appeared. going I'm the direction
OF Alameda. The drawbrdge keeper
endeavored at once TO close the bridge.
but IL was too late. and the engine with
the tender and the first car. which was
filled with passengers, plunged into the
creek, which was here quite deep.
Engineer Sam Dunn, when he saw
that the bridge did not close, reversed
the lever. but the momentum OF the en-
CINE was too great to allow him 10 stop
the train i'm time. The weight of the
engine and the first car broke the coup
lings and left the other two cars OF the
train standing on the track. The sec
ond ear ran about "A third OF the way
across the bridge and stopped, but the
Jar was sufficient 10 break open the
front of the car, and many OF the pas
sengerS were thrown into the water
The first car, which had followed the
engine to the bottom of the muddy es-
tuary, soon rose. and such OF the passen-
the yachts and small boats which gath
cred at the scene. The trainmen and
the rest OF the passengers set to work to
help the rescuers, and when the wreck
ing train arrived from Oakland the car
was drawn into shallow water and small
boats began dragging the creek for the
bodies of the victims.
The top OF the passenger coach was
cut open as soon as IL was raised above
the water and the work of removing the
bodies commenced, ten being taken out
in quick succession. Three women and
three girls were taken from the water
alive and removed to the receiving hos
pital. Another young lady died soon
after being taken from the water.
The news OF the accident created in.
tense excitement in Oakland and thOus-
ands Of people locked to the morgue and
TO the scene of the wreck. At the
morgue bodies were laid out as soon as
received TO await Identification.
The BODY of +. l.. Robinson. which
was among these taken from the hole
cut i'm the roof OF the car. was among
the first removed, and was taken charge
OF by Coroner Evers. The bodies OF six
men and two women were brought in
soon after, some of the bodies being at
first left at the receiving hospital,
where the injured were also taken. In
short time thirteen bodies lay on the
floor and on the marble slabs OF the
morgue awaiting Identification. and
heartrending scenes were witnessed as
friends came forward To claim their
dead. The list of the identified is as
follows:
MARTIN KELLY Oakland. AssistantChief
Wharfnger for the state.
A. II. AUSTIN OF Austin & Phelps, San
Francisco.
MISS FLORENCE AUSTIN.
MRS BRYAN O'CONNOR widow OF tho de-
ceased member of the firm OF O'Connor, Moi
fatt & Co. san Francisco
j. X. IRWIN, sewing machine agent, Oak
land
f. X. ROBINSON. San Francisco.
LUIGI MALTESTA. San Francisco.
Capt. JOHN DWYER Sacramento.
MIR. WILLIAMS. San Francisco
n. W AUD (cOlOredl Honolulu.
The two MISSES HERMAN, san Fran
cisco.
II. MALTERA. San Francisco.
The experience of the passengers in
the first coach, as related by those who
fortunately escaped, was horrible i'm the
extreme. +. +. Finley, of San Fran
cisco, one of the passengers. told a
graphic story of the disaster I'VE
]
/ 1925 train for Alameda on the narrow
| guage. / was seated on the front seat
OF the first car, facing the engine. All
went well until just as we approached
/ the drawbridge crossing San Antonio
/ creek. As we drew near To the
/ bridge il seemed 10 me the draw was
! open and that fearful accident was
| inevitable. Just then a man jumped
/ from the engine into the water. and
| then came crash. a horrible crush
/ ing Of timber and swapping of heavy
/ iron-wOrk followed, and at once con-
! sternation prevailed in the car. The
next thing knew found myself blindly
cropping for the door, which ] fCz.u-
nately found and opened. When
! found myself on the platform gradually
worked nay way by climbing and hold
| ing on to the front of the car TO the
roof, which had just reached when
] that end of the car rose out OF
the water, and quite anumber of people
escaped in this manner, principally
women and children. The car was about
two-thirds full when we left the wharf
/ and / should Judge there were at least
/ fifty people i'm IL. There was fearful
cutlery when the car began 10 fill. but
this was almost Immediately hushed in
one long final wall Of despair"
James Dunlap, who was tending the
bridge at the time of the accident, said:
IL was IN charge at the time
and had just opened the draw to
to allow the yacht Juanita 10 pass
through. | was in the act OF moving
the draw back into place when the up
train from san Francisco came along.
That is all | know about it," He de-
clined 70 answer the question II IL was
not rather unusual to open the draw
just at the hour when the train was due.
The water over which the bridge is
built is an estuary OF San Francisco bay.
A strong current runs in the stream,
which at the point of the accident is
about 800 feet wide and twenty feet deep.
A passenger train crosses the bridge
every half hour during the day and
when the bridge is open the keeper Is
supposed to signal by hoisting red
flag. The bridgetender says the
danger flag was properly set In the CEN
ter of the track when the bridge was
opened for the yacht Juanita to pass.
1t is known that the engineer and
fireman both escaped. IL seems proba-
BILE that the terrible accident was due to
the carelessness OF the engineer.
1t is now know that there were forty
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