The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-08-14
1T WAS A DREAM.
Rapidly of Performance
of Mental Labor.
REPORTING A DISASTER
The Work Done by Newspaper
Man in Less Than One Minute
in Years Gone By.

q
paper men were in an office awaiting the
arrival of a gentleman who was to call To-
gather meeting that they had been d.
rected to report for their respective pa
pers.
A number of topics were discussed, and
one of these was dreams and the extreme
rapidty with which mental operations
are performed. A number of experiences
were given, but the one that attracted the
most attention was that of CALL repre-
sentative, who narrated what he had done
in dream.
1T was" said he, Sin 1868 that after
hard days work reached nome and lost
no time in retiring. CHANGING at the clock
as I turned off the gas. l noticed that 1t
was Just 16 minutes after midnight
''Shall l tell at this point how long l was
dreaming. or tell first what did IN my
dream? That YOU all may better appre
ciate what was done will defer the matter
until the end. Bear in mind that what is
to be told was all in the dream. Seated in
the old office on Commercial street, above
MONTGOMERY. was endeavoring to put
into presentable shape the facts of trial
that had taken place in the District Court.
WHc III Cauc lie a. 1lbChWtli w w w dS
the chief editorial writer, and calling me
by name, said: You had better get ready
and go to San Leandro. there's been a
terrible railroad ac ident. there's fifty or
sixty people killed and don't know how
many injured. George E. Bar es, at that
lime one of the proprietors and managing
editor, had overheard Rock ell, and in that
quiet wav Of his suggested that no time be
lost In reaching Oakland and there procur-
lng buggy and pair OF horses to go tn
San Leaudro or wherever the accident was.
Rushing down to the ferry landing a
the corner Of Pacific and Davis streets, l
reached there IN time to find that the
steamer for the other side Of the bay
rad just pulled out and that l would have
tn wait half az hour for the next boat.
The delay was vexatiOus, and then when
the f-rry-boat did move eastward it
seemed as if she would never make her
landing, she seemed to be going 60 slowly.
When the slip on the O her side was
reached there was some accident to the
local train and there was not any prospect
of starting for an hour or more; there was
not team OF any kind at the land ng. SO
| had to walk TO Oakland. A desire to
make up for the time lost urged me- on.
and | think the time made from the land
ing To Broadway and Washington street
has never been beaten by man. Near the
dered pair of horses hitched up-
There was delay there. for the proprie
tor had his doubts about the ability OF
the team making the trip out and back.
Finally started, and the way those horses
flew over the road was a caution. When
the Scene OF the disaster, some distance
beyond San Leandro, about fourteen miles
from Oak lani, was reached | proceeded at
once to gather the facts. Down on the
notebook were penciled the names of
thirty odd men, women and children who
had either been killed outright IT burned
to death in some of the cars which had
caught fire. Then followed the names Of
about forty who had been injured, de-
scription Of their injuries and the Opin-
ions OF the physicians who were in at
tendance as to the possible outcome in
each case. Now. any of you vino have
had experience in gathering information
of that kind can fully appre late that II
was not child's play. for the injured were
IN different places, and 1t required time TO
get around to them all. Then there
was the obtaining OF data about the
dead. A number OF them were well-known
residents Of this city, others were from
San Jose. so it became necessary to obtain
enough to give each decent obituary no.
tice. In add ton 10 this it became part
of my duty 10 get the statements Of pas
sengers, so as to describe their feelings
when the train derailed and went over on
It's side down little gully. and be able TO
write up the narrow or fortunate escape 81
each. Then here were raliroad officials
10 interview, and as YOU all know they are
the hardest kind of people to obta n facts
from.
"Wel, it took nearly three hours to get
all the matter that was needed for a sensa-
rinnal article that was to appear under a
half-column scare-head. Then there WAS
the ride back to Osklaud settlement with
the livery stablenian, who swore that he
would never rent team to newspaper
man again, rush in a hack to the ferry
landing aud the trip to this city. Without
waiting to get anything to eat l made
my wav to the office and at once
commenced to write up, telling every
one no came 70 ask for de tailS to let me
alone. l did not write in copper plate
stve and Tor that matter | never did. but
| wrote and kept on wiring until had
enough to fill what would maze about four
full columns OF The CALL of the present
day and wrote that big scare head. AS
handed the last line to the foreman t. set
up heaved sigh OF relief and exclaimed,
thank goodness that's done,'-that is my
dream.
Sat that moment felt hand on my
shoulder, jumped from the bed and heard
my wife ask what are you dreaming
abOutT | lit the gas, looked at the clock
and discovered that 1t was seventeen aud
one-haf minutes after midnight. or in
other words, that 10 my dream If not less
than one minute had performed all that
| have related.
Il have figured on the time it would take
me to do what did IN that dream and f d
that it could not be done 10 less than ten
hours under the most favorable circum-
Stances"
AS the narrator finished the long waited
tor individual arrived called the ,raetiny
to order. all attended strictly TO business
and the subject of dr., ans was reserved
for discussion at some future time.