Los Angeles herald., 1906-09-11
SCORES INJURED
IN BAD WRECK
Continued from pnge one.

Continued from pnge one.
score are under the careful watch OF
physicians and surgeons with fight
ing chance to win out in their fight with
death. The others are nursing their
injuries and threatening all manner or
lawsuits against the Southern Pa
cific railroad company, which they ac-
cuse of carelessness and negligence.
The Sea Cliff stretch of track richly
deserves the nickname of Dead Mans
Leap" 1t stretches several miles along
the sea wall north of Ventura and fire.
quently has been reported as danger
Gus by railroad experts from all parts
of the country. But there the track
has been kept while the heavy travel
of the north and south has daily been
shipped owe" it because of the fact that
1t would cost few dollars to switch
the track to place of safety. Within
the past few years there have been
three ugly wrecks at the same spot.
and yesterdays catastrophe adds an
other to the list.
Officials Non-Communlcative
The railroad officials state that they
know nothing of how the wreck oc-
Cured, but they never know anything
to the detriment of their own interests.
According to the statements of pas
sengers, the great mogul, going at a
frightful rate % speed to make up time
lost on safer ground, ran into broken
rail on the sea cliff. If the track had
been in prope' shape and the train
going at anything like the proper rate
of speed there would have been no ac-
cident, for the emergency brake would
have worked an2 the train could have
easily been brought under control, but
as it was the monster leaped forward
along the track the great driving
wheels hitting the spread rail and leap
ing to the ties, dragged and forced
the engine 500 feet, clipping the bolts
until by a merciful turn of fate the steel
monster was swung to its side, drag
ging the express and baggage cars
with it and holding them safe above
the rest of the wreck.
But the rest of the wreck was fright
f / to behold. The smoking car and the
two chair cars well filled with passen-
gers, many of whom were women and
children, leaped the rails at the lurch
of the engine and with no obstruction,
plunged over the edge of the cliff.
thirty feet to the beach below.
Cars Land on Sides
Again the trick of fate probably
saved the lives of many, for the cars,
instead of turning turtle, landed on
their Sides
Then from that mass of twisted iron
and steel and splintered timbers, came
the shrieks of the imprisoned injured.
Thrown from their seats without a
moments warning and hurled into
space only to go tumbling about
while the cars shot to the beach below
was the experience of the imprisoned d
passengers, an experience they will re-
member to their dying day. AS the
coaches fell women and children were
thrown the entire length of the car
several times, striking their heads
against the floors and ceilings and
breaking limbs on the sharp edges OF
the seats, but the women, hysterical
and driven to madness, suffered torture
before the rescuers arrived.
SiXty-fiVe were taken from the mass
of wreckage and their white faces and
injuries told of what they had been
through.
Word was sent to Ventura, Santa
Barbara and Los Angeles of the wreck
and relief trains were hurried as rapid
ly as possible to the scene of the wreck
bearing physicians and nurses. Be-
fore the trains arrived, however, the
injured had been lifted from the
wreckage and made as comforta BILE as
possible on the beach. Coats, scraps
of blankets or any kind of wrap served
it's purpose in securing some kind OF
comfort for the injured. Many of the
injured women tainted repeatedly be-
fore the arrival of help
Relief Train Arrives
AS the first relief train arrived at the
sea cliff, the wreck was a sight to be-
hold. The monster engine rested on IT'S
side in the ditch, while the baggage
and express cars were, piled on top OF
1t. In the sand thirty feet below, over
the edge Of the cliff, mass Of wreck
age marked the spot where the pas
senger coaches had taken their head
long tumble and about fifty feet away
stretched out on the sand, were the
injured and manned victims of the ca
tastrophe.
Upon their arrival here they were met
with condition almost as bad as thai
of the wreck. When the train bearins
the injured arrived IN Los Angeles las
night the Victims were spirited away
No one was allowed on the coaches
Southern Pacific officials kept anxious
relatives out while burly negro porterl