Los Angeles herald., 1906-03-17
RAILROAD WRECK
KILLS TH|RTY-FIvE
SCENES AROUND DISASTER
SICKENING
PinIoned Passengers, Seeing Flames
Creeping Toward Them, Beg to
Be Shot Before They Are
Inclnerated
CONTINUED from Page ons1

(Continued from Page One)
on at a point midway between Port
land and Adobe, twenty-seven miles
west Of Pueblo, at 2:20 o'clock this
morning. Immediately following the
collision several Of the wrecked cars
burst into, flames and were consumed,
a number of passengers being burned
to death. over thirty others were in
jured, but of these it is not thought
any We're fatally hurt.
The cause of the wreck Is attributed
to the failure of an employee of the
road to deliver an order which
changed the meeting place of the two
trains.
The Utah and California express No.
8, westbound. left Pueblo over an hour
and a half late and was given orders
TO meet the Colorado and New Mexico
express No. 16, eastbound, at Florence.
This order was changed and the west
bound train was directed to pass the
eastbound train at Beaver, about
twelve miles east of Florence. The or
der should have been delivered to the
train crew at Swallow, but for some
reason still unexplained the operator
there neglected to do so. In the mean
time the eastbound train had received
its orders and expected to meet the
westbound train at Beaver.
Both trains were running at the
usual speed, the deep snow and high
wind making 1t necessary to exercise
exceptional care. Suddenly both head
lights flashed out from the darkness
and it was realized for the first time
that something was wrong. Accord
ing to the story of Fireman j. III.
Smith of the westbound train. En-
gineer Walter Cosslett opened the
emergency brake and the train was
checked for an instant, but the Slip
rofI nd 40 mn
heavy train carried 1t on.
From the stories told by several OF
the trainmen who survived and were
in the forward part of the train, the
impact was scarcely noticeable, but the
crushing. grinding noise that followed
warned them that something had been
struck The helper on No. 8 evidently
acted as a sort of cushion, minimizing
the force and weight of the heavy
mountain engines that haul the trains
where the grade does not require as
sstance. This helper was crushed like
so much paper and the monster ma
chimes ran through. locking themselves
together as if in death struggle. Fire
man Smith was the only one of the
engine crews who escaped. The bag
gage and mail car and coach of No. l6
buckled, but none of the cars were tele-
scoped, as was first reported
The baggage car of No. 3 broke In
two and the three coaches squeezed to-
gether.
Horror Is Realized
Hardly had the trainmen and pas
sengers reached a realization that all
was not right when to their horror a
sheet of fire ran through the cars on
both sides of the engines and in
twinkling the cracking sound of
breaking timbers started them to ac-
Il. 1,
bound train every seat was occupied
by passengers, most of whom were
homeseekers on their way to the north
west. A number of foreigners were
among them, and in their terror they
gave up life without making any at
tempt to reach safety outside the burn
ing car. Paralyzed with fear and with
prayers on their lips they sank to the
floor and were roasted. The cooler ones
in the car, seeing their danger, rushed
for the windows and doors and with the
aid of the passengers in the rear of the
train and those members of the train
crew who were unhurt, managed to
reach the open air. Many of them
We're injured more or less seriously by
the rough handling they received, or
from flying glass and timbers.
Although many were willing to un-
dertake the risk, efforts to rescue those
who remained in the burning cars
would have been suicidal, as the heat
was unbearable. When the occupants
of the two standard and two tourist
sleepers of the westbound train saw
that nothing could be done to check
the flames they aided the tralnmen in
pushing back the sleepers and these
cars were not damaged in the least
The sleepers on the eastbound train
were also pushed back and soon after
they We're placed out of the reach of
the leaping flames. The wrecked cars
were soon reduced to a mass of smoul-
dering ruins.
Communication was opened with the
Pueblo offices of the railroad from
Portland, mile or so away, and a re-
lief train with physicians was dis
patched to the wreck at once. AS
quickly as possible the injured We're
placed in the sleepers and the engine
of the relief train started back to Pu-
eblo with them and also the passengers
of the eastbound train who had been
saved
Burned Beyond Recognition
Another relief train came from Flor
ence and the engine was coupled to