The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-09-10
fortunates who were suffering from in
juries.
BRYAN'S EXPERIENCE

BRYAN'S EXPERIENCE
William J. Bryan was interviewed as
to his experience in the collision
''I have Travelled thousands upon
thousands of miles on railroads, and.
was never in a wreck before. I did
not feel the shock very severely where
I was, but from the way things looked
I cannot see why we we're not all killed.
The scene here presented is the most
terrible I have ever SEEN 1t has made
an impression on me that cannot leave
me in a lifetime"
Us it true you were the first man
to reach the scene from your car and
so to the rescueT' he was asked
please don't say anything about
that" Mr.. Bryan replied, with dep
recating gesture
From passengers it was learned
that Mr.. Bryan was the first person to
rush forward to the assistance of the
victims; that he assisted to carry the
first body recovered and that SO long
as there was any necessity he was fore
most in the wreck.
Mr.. Bryan and David Leahy, a To
peka newspaper man, were in the
smoking coach Of the westbound train.
They were discussing the days events
at Burlingame, where the Nebrask9n
had been the attraction for thousands
of people, when they heard a crash,
then an explosion In a moment the
lights went out and steam and gas
from the coal smoke filed the car. Be
fore they could make a move the car
was pushed forward with tremendous
! force, and it seemed to toss into the
| debris like crippled ship at sea. Every
\ moment they expected it to turn over
| The car finally stopped, and as it did
| so began to catch fire from below The
| two men jumped out of the same win
! dow without their hats or baggage,
which were afterwards burned, and es-
! capped practically without a scratch.
| Mr. Bryan reached Emporia about
! midnight, and remained at the hotel
until morning, when he resumed his
! journey.
| A. 3. Adams, who is among the in
| jured, was on his way to Mexico from
/ New Jersey with registered bonds
amounting to $500. 900, and a great deal
! Of other yalu2bles. They we're all
burned in the fire that followed.
SIGNAL LIGHT WAS DIM.
Behind the 'westbound train that was
wrecked was freight train Its en-
gineer stopped at Lang for orders. He
says today that the red light the dan
ger signal hung out by the operator
| there to warn the WeStbound passenger
to stop, was burning so dimly and the
! glass was smoked SO badly that he
could not see it till he left his cab and
gone close up to it. The dimness of
! this light was probably the cause of the
accident The engineer Of the east
bound train could not see the warning
signal as he rushed past, and he pulled
the throttle wide open and sped on for
Emporia, seven miles away. The night
operator at Lang, whose duty it was
to see to the signal lights, was new
man at that place He had been on
duty there only ten days.
EMPI oYEES SUSPENDED.
The management of the Santa Fe
railroad suspended Charles King
division train dispatcher Alex FeTg gu
SON, conductor on the Mexico & Cali
fornia express, and Mr. Larson, sta
ton agent at Lang, pending an investi-
cation as to the responsibility for last
nights disaster between Lang ane
Ernporia The trains had been ordered
to pass at Emporia. but both were
late and Dispatcher King reversed tht
order so that the trains should have
passed at Lang. The question Oh
responsibility depends on whether
Agent Larson tagged the west bounc
train in time to avoid the disaster HI
insists that he did. Conductor Fergu
son sWears that the train was no
tagged and that the signal indicated
!, clear track when they passed Lang
The engineer, whose testimony nigh
have settled the question, is dead.
Human ghouls delved in the burning
Wreckage and pIundered the baGgaG
and mail sacks which strewed tht
ground. One tried to snatch g, diamens
|, from the breast of an Emporia docto
, who. weak and nervous, was creeping
slowly out of the debris. He hal
strength enough left to hit the brute {
, blow in the face which made him tur1
|, with e. curse and sneak away Mai
: sacks were dragged into the corn fields