The record-union., 1896-01-27
A misunderstood SIGNAL.
It Resulted in a Very Serious Railway
Accident Near Baden Station.
The Engineer Loses His Life, and Sew
eral People Injured.

Lightning Strikes and Completely De-
stroys the Electric Light Plant at
| Haywards, Alameda County-Fatal
Shooting Near Lodi-A WeII-Known
Citizen of shasta County shot Down
in Cold Blood While Riding Along
the Road Near BaIl's Ferry.
| SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. Because
| he failed to understand danger signal,
Engineer Jack Keyer of the Southern
Pacific Company lost his life at O'Clock
this evening, and narrowly escaped sac
rificing the lives of nearly 100 passen-
gers in the train under his charge.
| Train No. 10, which runs to San Jose
and way stations, left this city at $50
| o'clock, on time, and ran at its usual
| speed to Baden Station Here a red
lantern was swung in front of the
speeding engine to warn the engineer
| of a washout down the road but though
the train slowed down to some extent. it
did not do so sufficiently to avert dis
aster, and the engineers life went out
in the flood that filled the basins on
each side of the track The fireman,
Charles Gill, and Conductor Stanwood
We're also badly hurt Several passen-
gers were badly shaken up, cut and
bruised, the more seriously being Mrs.
Vagginni of San Francisco, whose head
was cut and body bruised, and Mrs.
Giovanni of San Francisco, who was
badly bruised and partially strangled
by inhaling water
The terrific rains of this afternoon
sent torrents of water down the little
valley that leads from Colma to Baden.
until the roadway was filed to overflow
ing and the lowlands were covered
many feet deeep. Just below the pump
ing-station at the Baden artesian
wells the fiat that in the morning had
been merely a marsh, became a river
six or eight feet deep, rushing with
terrific force towards the bay, carry
| ing fences and bulkheads away and
driving the cattle to higher grounds
The railroad at this point is built on
an embankment, which crosses the
marsh to South San Francisco station.
The culverts were inadequate to carry
away the water, and it gradually over
owed the embankment and began un-
dermining the track. The train from
the south which passes South San
Francisco at 4:30 o'clock crossed the
dangerous portion in safety, but within
an hour the roadbed was almost COM
pletely washed away.
The employees at Baden and South San
Francisco knew nothing OF the danger
until the train had plunged into the
water, and the roar OF the escaping
steam warned them that something had
occurred
The San Jose local was within few
hundred yards of the washout when
it was tagged by John P Reynolds, a
Cali reporter, who was duckshooting
on the marsh and discovered the de-
fective roadbed. Engineer Kevers saw
the signal, but apparently misunder-
stood it, and merely slowed down his
train, which slid into the water a few
| seconds later.
The engine turned over on its side in
the ditch, in eight feet of water, and
| the baggage-car was upset and like
cred embankment.
The scene on board the train was
almost indescribable The passengers
were thrown from their seats and
| frightened almost out of their senses.
windows and platforms, only to land
in water up to their necks.
| In the meantime Conductor Stanwood
had hurried forward to ascertain the
condition of the engineer and fireman.
He found Fireman Gill clinging to the
| top of the cab, which had been torn
from its fastenings by the force of the
lurch into the ditch, and holding on to
| the ary1o of tho oroiuaoY. xu1,or. - 49,.
vainly endeavoring to drag on to his
| fsail support. The weight of the lat
| ter's body was so great that Gill was
unable to accomplish his object, and
! he was well-nigh exhausted when his
rescuers climbed over the deraned bag
gage car and carried him back to the
rear coach.
| After ascertaining that the fireman
was not greatly in danger, efforts were
directed to an attempt to resuscitate
the engineer. A hasty examination
| showed that his left leg was broken,
and that he had remained so long in
the water that his lungs We're filled with
the fluid. All efforts to revive him
proved unavailing and he died in a few
minutes.
The fireman's injuries consisted of
badly torn ear and a terrible cut across
the scalp. He was brought into the
Receiving Hospital in the city, and the
/ injured passengers were also quickly
removed to their homes On this ac-
count it is impossible to obtain all their
names or ascertain the extent of their
| injuries, but it is safe to assume that
none of them were seriously hurt.
The horrors of a double wreck were
| only averted by the prompt action of
Conductor Stanwood in sending flag
man back to stop the Monterey ex-
press It was due within few minutes
after the San Jose local, and was
stopped just in time before reaching
the break.
The San Francisco and San Mateo
electric road was badly washed out in
many places, and traffic win be seri-
ously impeded for several days. Sand
to the depth of from one to three feet
covers the roadbed for hundreds Of
! yards, and the grading has been car
ried away in many spots for consider
able distances.
The cloudburst, for such it may be
termed, did great damage in the west
ern portion of the city. and street-car
traffic was seriously impaired on many
lines
| COLLISION NEAR SAN JOSE.
SAN JOSE. Jan. 26.-A disastrous
collision occurred yesterday afternoon
at the Santa Clara crossing Of the broad
and narrow gauge railways, By which
/ one man was probably fatally injured
and several others badly hurt.
i The broad gauge train, which has the