The herald., 1898-02-11
RAILROAD NEWS
SANTA FE TUNNEL NOW OPEN
TO TRAFFIC
No More Trouble Anticipated-Pas-
senger Rates to Randsburg Are
Reduced by the Santa Fe

The Santa Fe'S trains yesterday all
went over their own road for the first
time in several weeks, as the tunnel at
Williams had been repaired and no more
difficulty is expected from it, 1t has been
built in the most substantial manner,
lined with steel, and there is no proba-
bility that it will ever catch fire again.
Chief Engineer Dunn of the Santa Fe
has made an exhaustive study OF the
fire and the causes which led to its sec
ond outbreak. He discovered that the
reason for the second blaze was the
fact that combustion had been retained
| in some of the old foundation timbers
that had been covered with masonry.
This destroys the picturesque but
baseless theory that the whole mountain
was being turned into giant lime
kiln by the fire, the limestone Stacking
and disintegrating. This theory was
held by some of the experts employed in
the case.
The overland which left here yester-
day will be the first train through the
tunnel for three weeks past, so that the
cost to the company of this disaster can
be imagined. AS an officer of the road
said yesterday in speaking of the mat
ter: 1--WE do not know yet what it has
cost us, and probably never will know
entirely. At the best it has been too
large" The motive power of the Santa
Fe has been so concentrated as to give
immediate dispatch to delayed freight,
and particularly to coal, so that the
threatened coal famine need no longer
be apprehended.
RANDSBURG RATES REDUCED.
The Santa Fe when it commenced
operating the Randsburg road found oc-
casion to increase the rate that had been
charged by the stage company to pas
sengers, which had been S6.15, to $3.50
This displeased the people there very
much, and ever since then they have
been trying to get the company to agree
to a restoration of the former charge.
Yesterday General Passenger Agent j.
]. Byrne announced that, in view of the
representations made by the residents
of the two camps, the old rate would be
restored.
A GRATEFUL ENGINEER
The following letter has been received
from Engineer Ferguson, who was at
the throttle of No. II when she jumped
the track and plunged down 4O-foot
embankment on the Southern Pacific,
near Ravenna, little over week ago.
For his bravery in sticking to his post
and presence of mind in throwing on the
brakes the instant the front trucks of
his locomotive left the track, thereby
preventing the entire train from taking
the fearful plunge, the grateful pas
sengers raised a purse and presented it
to him, together with a medal. He re-
turns his thanks in the following words i:
G03 Schlessinger street, Los Angeles.
To the Editor of the Herald Please
thank the passengers of train No. II, Feb
ruary 1st, for their kindly sympathy to-
wards myself and fireman.
We both appreciate their generous gifts
of purse and medal, with their resolutions
of praise and while we feel we did nothing
but our duty, or what any other engineer
and fireman would have done under SINH
lar circumstances, still their kindness and
generous feeling will ever be remembered
by U.S. The medal is a work of art, both
in design and workmanship, and will al
ways be most highly priced by yours re-
spectfully, WILLIAM FERGUSON.
NOTES
The Santa F'e has found it's kite-shaped
track special train, which has left here
at a. m. on Tuesdays, so popular that
they have not been able to put enough
cars on it to accommodate the pas
sengers. Hereafter the train will be
operated twice a week, on Tuesdays and
Co