New-York tribune., 1890-05-31
IN ENGINEERS FA TAIL BLUNDER
A TRAIN PLUNGES INTO AN OPEN DRAW
AND TWENTY-NINE LIVES ARE LOST.
DISASTROUS ACCIDENT AT OAKLAND, CAL-A
CARLOAD OF PEOPLE DROP INTO TIDAL
sTREAM-DIsTRESsING SCENES
lBY TyLEGRAPM TO TME IWBrNH.1

| road accidents that ever happened III CaiIioin,
occurred in Oakland this afternoon, when tran
on the Narrow Gauge Railroad went through al
open drawbridge into Oakland Creek and twenty
| nine people were drowned and many injured. The
| Narrow Gauge train connected with the ferry
| boat from san Francisco AT quarter pas;
| O'Clock On the run to Oakland the train paSSc
over tie Wcbstcr-st. draw bridge just before
trains reach it speed is decreased, AMI the keepe
| signals with red fiag If the draw Is open
! Whether the flag was there not when the tran
approached th, afternoon was for awhile
| a matter OF doubt The bridgc-kccpcr
Of course, says il was. Anyhow, the
draw was pulled and the bridge open. 70
/ allow the yacht Juanita 10 pass through, just az
the train from san Francisco came aoae. AIoW'
the curve il swun-; then on 10 the bridge a1c
! through the yaWnin- chasm.
The list of the identified dead is as follows:
/ AUSTIN. 4. H.. Or san Francisco.
| AUSTIN. Florence. daughter OF IN" above.
| AULD. u. ". .col.f'd, o. Hono.al1.
| DWYEE Captain John sarramruto.
! EWING. >. T.. s.vluC-rar rhue agent AZ Oahan1
| KENNAN Two Misc of San Francisco.
! MALE,TA. Luigi of san Francisco.
| NALARIrA. H.. o' san Fr'ncco. 4 japanese boy.
/ o'C0NNoR. Mr'. Bryan. Of san francisco.
! KoBIN>oN. J. l.. = san Francisco.
| WILLIAMS Mr.. Of san Francisco.
| Luckily the weight Of the engine and the first
! coach broke the train IN tNo. and the rest
OF il was saved The train was made mp Of thIr'
passenger coaches. each of which WAS wei
| filed holding about forty = secnccrs each. Tie
engineer was Samuel Dunn. the fireman Charles
! O'Bricn. and the conductor Edward |er'ih. 81
this trio Bcra,h escaped through helm IN the
rear Of the train II was rumoicd that ~ the laei
moment Dunn and OBricn jumped and swan to
] -, 81
GRATED. and neither Of the two men has YET
| been seen. when the coach fell through & II
went completely under the water, Tor the tidc
was wen in al the time. number of pa,'cn-
/ GERS however. GOT through the windows and -
| capcd The majority Of the passengers in the
coach were women and children. and tic'e. coopc'l
up met their death beneath the wafer From the
/ broken half of the train the p1>>crscrs N"arincd
ont the women shricling. children crying. and
the men hall frantic There ".s no occasion
| for alarm however. for although tn" front part
! If the coach was srl.ntcrcd. tie car was securely
vedacd i'm by the woodwork AT the approach Z"
the bridge.
The awful dieast~r was witnessed p" a number
| of waterfront men. and ln IT," seconds " I'|'l
boats were being pIilcd T." the scch'. lh'F h''
plenty Of lifcsavInf work 20 do al hrs' I'I S''''
| ybo had c.caped could mol swim well enough Z"
| reach SnOTr. B'l N1Il lihN' WV Ii' No. 'ff W
then tie rowcrs pulled back 10 where twcnt, nine
men. women and children lay SuIocatlng beneath
thc wafer Bat they could do little or nothing. At
This critical time II took several minutes 10 hca'
in with iron bars the roof of the coach. when
could be dimly seen below the surface. H> TIC
,un, 'an opcuiug was effected into the coach, II
was too late 10 be- Ot Use.
Tie scene al the bridge, where the work Of re-
c,yrry !, now IN PROGRESS, is terrible in the 'N
IRENE. Pcoble are swaming 10 the spot from an
directions. wild with excitement, ana u Is al
;bc officials Of the company and the scant' p'l''
force can do 10 manage The crowd. Inc Hh"S"'
work goes on in hurry. All the bodies taken
out are irothng at the mouth ana Dear cNhe"''
of a drcadiul struggle for life. Iwo "i '"'
women were almost without shred OF clothins'
their garments having been torn completely on
and there were cuts and bruises that the mere
fall of the car would not account for II looked
AZ though the wrctchcd occupants Of the car h''
rushed upon one another, and, while the Wa''r
nourcd i'm ON them, had fought UD gam Tie u"oIS
and windows ana made desperate eH0fh 10 III
themselves through the shattered glass. Nm
used t. scenes of disaster ana suncrllS were NlSS
Affected as the corP'cS "i inc 'I''i.tn VIII ,r
IN, one cAtrcntcd from the wreck y" su'h hoi
,iLlc incident has happened since IN" apron ~
tLc old Oakland Bridge broke on July !, l1pN'
and hurled scores of people into the waller. Du'
oven that scene, dreadful ~ II was, la'NS Nv,
,,r,,n hurror of the present. ana the bodies NOW
in the morgue have distorted Io2h on '''rn r'.
faces The saddesl scenes were lurhlsIrh pH sun,
,t ,Ln survivors, who insisted upon hlhNlllP H'b
no side o( the creek and REVEALING the la'' 81
relatives who were lying dead uhdcr th' N'''N'
Rad management was shown, as "A DIVER was n%oc %
"no;,,omt on % and the railroad company refused 10
furnish any information 10 the tcari1 rela'I'ro 80 ~
Oakland. and in this clty VINO apPle" I"' ""'
about the people in the Inflated lIalH.
Nf..rts
q. ,,ns scaled on the left side Of the car WI ny
father and my sister III the Scdt "rillI, d. nE
father is Henry y Austin' oi n1S'in ~ rrrnt 'rnit
iron merchants, San Francisco. when thr car H'H ~
into tbc water the people screamed ana ui'" w
gct near Ia the top of the car cluhg 10 ii'@
sjstcr until the force Of the water seP"t'Ieu u1
man in The front seat broke the window WIN
his fist and was losing CONSCIOUSNESS VIM. i
rescued How got out of the window oo'i y
Snow | don't know how long ! was under tne
water. ! held my breath as lon2 as ! couId ',o Wv
f,,hrr and sister are still in the wafer III sure
there's no hope for them. On! II was 50 puIoinI
They mostly men III the car ana IL" VIA
Among the dead are Mrs. Bryan oCennor, wile e
Of Mr. OConnor, of the large \g29dS ,oot housv ~,
0,Connor. Mofiat a Co; Martin Kelly, AsslslanU
0lief Wbaringer Captain DWycr, OF Sacfaiheh'o'
and Henry s. Austin and daughter ,,...,e
II is a singular fact that all the bad accldcn.S
an The Oakland ferry boats and trains have nap.
,nned ON HOLIDAYS The earliest was on the lirst
celebration of the admission Of the state, WIeh W -
steamer blew up and forty people were kIeh. Ii
Then came the great accident OF iooo' on "uI1
4 when the apron of the ferry bridge fell ln' anu
twenty people were killed -, boo,
At O'Clock tonight nineteen bodies had pfen Di,n
recovered and it. was estimated that twenty -"ii''
in ali wcr,. lost II is doubtful whether the inlss-
inc bodies will be recovered. as the current Is
60 swift they will he swept out into the ooean. n
The accident il j. believed, was due 10 fhSihocr
n ,.,,n now lies dead The bridGekeepcr
"I' lad The danger signal flying, but The engineer
saw the draw closing ana evidently th9qlEema 9lEan
fhe bridge would close before he reached IT, W ne"
ha found ont his mistake he reversed his ehello'
but it was too late.