Mower County transcript., 1902-12-24
! WEN RE 4 KIIILED
TERRIFIC COLLISION OF PAssEN,
eER TRAINS ON THE SOUTH .
Z ~.~ERN. PACIFIC ROAD. II
Many Of the Victims Meet Instant e,
Death !. and = I, Other. D'e.ILatsr ofs'n. I:
Juries Sustained >. In the Disaster:
Engine Of One Train PIoughs Its
I Way Through the Rear Coaches et 4
Train Preceding Il.

* -
Martinez, Cal, Dec. 22.-As result
of q rear-ehd collision between the
Stockton flyer and the. "owl' train on
the Southern Pacific at Byron Saturt
day night, twenty deaths have already
been recorded. Most Of the pas
sengers who were too severely injured
to be taken to their homes were taken
to the Southern Pacific hospital at
San Francisco during the day and on
the way to that place five victims
died. Twenty-Five Of the injured
reached the hospital, where it was an
nounced that r. Post of Foweler, CAL.
and Lee Sou, a Chinaman of San Fran
cisco, would probably succumb. OF
the twenty-five patients only three
were permitted to receive visitors, so
seriously were they suffering.
The names of the dead so far OBJ
tainable are:
Elizabeth N. Smith, Clarence D.
Oluffs, Miss Birdie Elliott, i Mabel
Vesir, George Sessions, Charles
Owens, Miss Meyers, Robert Renick,
Ten Irwin, w. F. Temple, Tung Tia
Gong, Richard Post, Mini Magowa.
70 It was a rear-end collision. the en-
gine of the local blowing it's way into
the last coaches of the "owl," which
was filed with Fresno people. The
passengers who escaped death we're
hurled to the fOrepart of the coach
and crushed in the mass Of. debris,
and their sufferings and danger we're
intensified a hundredfold by the clouds
upon them from the shattered boiler
Of the Stockton engine.
Injured Receive Aid Quickly.
After the "owl" left Molite it was
noted there was a. leak in the flue of
the boiler. This increased to such an
extent that it was decided to stop at
Byron and take on freight engine
for relief. The train known as the
Stockton local was following half a
mile behind and dagman was sent
back down the track to give warning
of the presence of the ''owl." It is
said that the Stockton train, in charge
of Engineer Mcguire and Fireman
Joyce got the warning signal in due
time and gave the usual responsive
whistle blasts. Why the incoming
train was not checked, however, has
not been thus far explained, the men
who could give the facts being num-
bered with the badly injured. On
came the train with apparently scarce
ly any diminution of speed and the
Fresno coach was completely tele-
scoped. So forcibly did the local
meet the rear end of the fowl" that
the second car, the dining car, was
smashed in and the three cooks were
seriously hurt. The penned-up pas
sengers were spared from fire, be-
cause the oil burners were extin-
guished when the crash came. Relief
quickly came to the passengers who
were penned in the wreckage, axes
and saws being brought into play and
passengers and train crews lending
every aid. Messengers were sent to
Byron and Hot Springs, a short dis
tance away, and DIR. Bird of the
springs, with DR.. j. D. Davidson Of
Fresno, who was guest, came quickly
to the station. A trained nurse ac-
companied them and first aid was at
once given to the mangled, bruised
and crushed sufferers who were lying
near the track. Every effort was
made to alleviate their sufferings and
those who were unable to proceed on
their journey were taken to the
Springs hotel or to the church in
Byron, which was temporarily con-
verted into hospital.