The San Francisco call., 1898-01-24
ONE BREAKS RECORDS TO
 LOS ANGELES
Never Has Such SpeedB Been Attained in the Run to the Southern Me-
 trOpOlis.

who were there to see the departure Faster and faster 1t sped until a speed
 of sixty miles an hour was attained.
 and this was kept up all through the
 night until near the dawn of day. when an accident to the engine caused
 delay of almost two hours It was
 one of those providential accidents
 which prevented one that would in all probability have ended not only the trip
 but the lives of all on board the train.
 The breaking of a small bolt caused the engine to stop, and after remedying this an inspection of the big machine was made which resulted in finding a broken pin in the driving rod. But a few more revolutions of the wheels would have thrown the rod around and against the ties. which would have sent the train into the ditch
 By this accident an honr and forty five minutes was lost between Modesto and Fresno, but on arrival at the latter point new engine and crew took charge of the coach, and on being urged to make up as much time as possible the speed was increased until at times seventy miles an hour was attained. As the train plunged along at this fear
 
 jumped as if it might leave the track at any moment. As the train thun- dered by the small stations the startled inhabitants rushed from their beds only to gaze on the blackness of night, for the cause of the disturbance had disappeared in the distance As day light approached the people were seen gathered at the stations, for announce 5 a was tearing along the road. They had little time to look and no time to see what it was, for before they could get their wits collected the train bearing its load of Jubilee Calls had flashed up and by and was vanishing in the dis tance.
 At Fresno a five minutes stop was made in order to change engines. and there the people had an opportunity of learning what it was that was causing such commotion on the road. On all sides were heard commentators of The Call for its enterprise and progressive spirit, and the demand for the magnif- cent edition was so great the agent was compelled to ask for more than the quota allotted to him.
 From Fresno to Goshen the run was made in three-quarters of an hour; thence to Bakersfield the time was kept at seventy miles an hour almost the entire way. and by the time the second change of engines was made there was very little of the lost time to be made up. Bakersfield was reached in seven hours from the Long wharf and in this time must be included the two hours lost, which makes the actual running time between those two points the fastest in the history of the road. There have been other special trains run in hurry on the Southern Pacific. but none of them have made the record that has now been set by The Call From Bakersfield came the long grade up Tehachapi Mountains. and this run was made in the remarkably short time of one hour and forty minutes. Once over the range, where a heavy snow increased until seventy miles an hour was reached, and this was continued until Mohave was reached at 11:25. The engineer was spurred to greater effort at this point, and he was asked to make every endeavor to reach Los Angeles at 2 o'clock. He said he would do it if 1t were in the engine and we did not go into the ditch. It was in the engine and we did not go into the ditch, for just as the long whistle blew an- nouncing the approach sto the beautiful city of the south, the hands of the watches marked exactly the hour of 2. | Speed was slowed down on entering the limits of the city, and the greeting of the people of Los Angeles to the special train of The Call came just at 2:2O. marking the finish of the remarkable run from San Francisco to Los An geles, distance of 490 miles. in twelve hours, including stops and delay of two 1 hours from accident.
 There are many incidents that kept the mind busy on this long run which did not seem long. There was too much | excitement to permit of interest lag ging, and during the entire distance there was not a minute or a mile that | did not have something in it that made the trip an interesting one from a tray- eler's point of view.
 During the night the train seemed | enveloped with a cloud of luminous | dust. and to the people who saw it | flashing through the darkness it must | have seemed something uncanny and | unearthly. AS the morning dawned | aocks of ducks and geese rose from the | marshes and fields along the track and | here and there coyote could be seen sneaking along on his way home | after a nights hunt for a break fast People started to run to the de- pots to see the spectacle, but before -hey reached the platform the train was out of sight. leaving but cloud If cinders and dust to show that some hing had gone by. At one station an