The San Francisco call., 1898-01-24

. railroad records were lowered to q . an astonishing mark yesterday. c c and the Southern Pacific demon c . strated that it can keep pace c . with any line in the world if the c . occasion requires it. c
 Two trains pulled out from the ter minus at long wharf scarcely five min- utes apart, a few minutes before 2 o'clock yesterday morning, and by the time the mole was reached were thun- dering along at terrific speed. Along the east shore of the bay they dashed, the engineer of the leading train vainly striving to shake off his pursuer, while the latter soon found that the best he could do was to keep the lights on the leader in view without gaining an inch on them.
 A more thrilling race was never run more frightened lot of journalists never lived to record their experience.
 It was all due to the Jubilee edition of The Call North and south, through out the length of the State people had read the promises of the crowning tri- umph in journalism and clamored for 1t at the earliest possible moment
 The Call has satisfied their clamor- ings.
 But in order to do so special trains had to be chartered and arrangements made to give them the right of way over all other trains. More than that the regular trains were to be side tracked wherever orders reached them until the specials passed with The Call, and orders were given that there was not to be an instant's delay at any point and that the fastest time possible was to be made.
 Two trains were made up, the first to be run through the San Joaquin Valley, over the snow-clad Tehachapi to the orange groves of Los Angeles; the other to distribute Jubilee Calls to the prosperous inhabitants of the Sacramento Valley as far north as the State capital and Woodland.
 With the starting of the great presses the rush began. Scores of mailing clerks deftly wrapped the papers in huge bundles, the wrappers having previously been labeled with the desti- nation, the packages being loaded into wagons and rushed at a gallop to the Folsom-street dock, where the fast tug Active was in waiting, steam up and everything in readiness for a hur- ried run across the bay.
 Never did a boat receive quicker dis patch and never was a cargo so quickly unloaded
 At the end of long wharf, which juts out into the bay nearly a mile beyond the mole, and therefore lessened the bay trip that much, stood Southern Pacific locomotive 1900. a great com pound machine, one of the fastest on the road. Into the train 1t drew was piled the bundles destined for Sacra- mento and way stations. Engineer Raymon fingered the throttle, while Conductor Davis had charge of the train.
 In front of the Sacramento special was locomotive 1865, another record breaking machine, presided over by Engineer Woods. This, too, drew light train, Conductor Ware having it's destinies in his keeping during the first half of the run to Fresno.
 At 1:53 o'clock the last bundle was tossed on board, the newspaper men detailed to accompany the two trains clambered into the cars, Conductor Ware gave the signal and the Los An geles special plunged forward. As her lights flashed past the Sixteenth-street
 
 ceived the word, and he lost no time in getting under way.
 Then began the race to Port Costa, where the roads diverge. one bearing away to the south and the other cross ing Carquinez Straits and on north to Sacramento. Not a stop was to be made by either train until Port Costa was reached, and the driver of the sec ond special determined to cut down some of the lead the other had been given. Through the blackness of the night the trains sped like tandem me- teors, no slackening of speed however sharp the turns and with no percep- tible advantage to either until the Sac ramento flyer was forced to stop at the landing place of the big ferry-boat Solano. Then, and only then, did the pursued whisk her lights out of sight. The stories of the two lightning runs are told below by the correspondents on board the trains. LOS ANGELES, Jan. 23.-This after noon all Southern California is talking of the enterprise of The Call. It has accomplished what has never been done before, and the people of Los Angeles were reading at 2:30 in the afternoon the edition which started from the long wharf at o'clock this morning.
 Within ten minutes after the arrival | of the tug carrying the immense load | of papers across the bay the special i train, drawn by the fastest engine be- | longing to the Southern Pacific, went | flying out toward Oakland, along the | Mole and through the city at a speed which astonished even the railroad men