The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-12-22
4OWL" TRAIN TELESCOPED
BY The STOCKTON FLYER
To Add TO the Horror of the Scene
Clouds of ScaIding Steam Pour
ed out on the Victims in
the Debris.

of a rear-end collision between the
Stockton flyer and the "owr' train on
the Southern Pacific railroad at Byron
Springs last night twenty persons were
killed. one more may die and more than
a score were injured. severely. Twenty
seven injured passengers were put on
train to be taken to the Southern Pacific
hospital at San Francisco. Five persons
died on the way and of the twenty-five
injured who reached the hospital are
Richard Post, of Fowler, Cal, and Lee
Sou a Chinese, may die. The owl train
had stopped at Byron Springs on account
of broken locomotive. A brakeman
went back to flag the Stockton train,
but for some reason the flyer" did not
STOP
The Dead.
The list of identified dead Is as fol-
lows:
Elizabeth L. Smith, Fresno, Cal.
Clarence D. oluffs, Fresno.
Miss Birdie Elliott, San Francisco.
Mabel Vesy, Modesto, Cal.
George Sessions, Oakland, Cal.
Charles MCGOWAN, Fresno.
NJ Myers, Fresno
Robert Renick San Francisco. ,
Len Irwin, Oakland.
w. f. Temple Oakland
Tung Tia Gong, a Chinese girl.
DIR. D. j. Vernon, Fresno.
D. j. Vernon, Jr., Fresno.
The unidentified include one white man,
evidently a sailor; two Chinese, one ia
panese woman and a Japanese child.
The dead were brought here this morn
ing
An inquest will be held tomorrow.
Most of the corpses are terribly mutt
lated. This made the work of identif-
cation very difficult.
The injured were taken to Oakland.
List of Injured.
A revised list of the injured include:
Edward Joyce fireman, Stockton; S. S.
Critics, Bakersfield; three Chinese women;
George Washington, cook; Ed. Slaughter
second cook; Charles Harris, third cook;
Towels, fourth cook; A. A. Sanderson,
waiter C. C. Alexander, waiter;
Fresno; Engineer Mcguire; W. Emily,
mayor, San Francisco; ]. F. Carroll, Carl
Keller and VII, Florence, Col; Lawrence
Hunter, Eugene Ore. Richard Post,
Fowler, Cal, badly scalded; E. e. Lee,
Louisville, Ky, burned; f. H. Eastman,
Paris, Me-; George Moke, Japanese, San
Francisco; Lou Len, Chinese, San Fran
cisco.
Edward Joyce fireman of the Stockton
flyer, in a statement explaining the col
lision, said:
1--WE saw the fagman's light ahead of
us and put on the brakes at once. They
seemed to work well enough, but we
could not stop in time to avoid smashing
into the rear of the ''owl' train. The
engine went right through the car"
Inquiry into the cause of the collision
shows that Engineer Mcclure of the
Stockton flyer was not to blame for the
disaster. When Conductor William Dolan
of the "Owl'' stopped at Byron he found
a freight standing on the other track and
he sought to secure its locomotive to
supplant his own faulty one. 1t is assert
ed that time was lost in trying to
range the transfer b. ore the plan was
found unavailing Then it was decided
to send a fagman back to signal the ap-
preaching train. One man says that the
second train was running sixty miles an
hour, and that the man who went to the
rear to flag the Stockton flyer did not
go far enough to give the engineer a
chance to stop.
Rear End Collision.
1t was a rear en- collision, the engine
of the local plowing its way into
the last coaches of the "owl,"
was filed with Frisco people. The pas
sengers who escaped death were hurled
to the fore part of the car, crushed
in between the mass of debris, their suf-
ferings and danger intesifed a hun
dred fold by the C louds of scalding
steem that pored out upon them from the
shattered boiler of the Stockton engine.
After the "owl' left the Oakland Mole,
1t was noted that there was a leak in the
Arta ~ fbn aeip
such an extent that it was deemed ad-
visable to stop here to take up freight
engine for relief. The train officials
knew that the Stockton local train was
following a half hour behind and flag
man was sent back to give warning of
the presence of the "o-H."
1t is said that the Stockton train In
charge of Engineer Maguore and Fire
man Joyce got the warning signal in
due time and gave the usual response
with whistle blasts.
No Explanation Made.
Why the oncoming train was not
checked, however, has not thus far been
explained, the men who could give the
facts being numbered among the badly
Injured. On came the train with appar-
emily no decrease in speed, and the
Fresno coach was completely telescoped
So forcibly did the local meet the rear
of the "Owl" that the end of the Sec
ond, the dining car was smashed in and
the cooks were seriously hurt. 1t seems
miraculous that the horror of fire was
not added to the direful disaster, but
the penned-up victims were with SEEM
ingly providential intervention spared
from flame. for the oil burners were ex-
tinguished when the crash came.
Relief quickly came to the passengers
who were penned in the wreckage, axes
and saws being. brought into play, pas