The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1907-05-12
The Imperial Potentate
Receives News Of the
Disaster.
Catastrophe Occurred
Near Surf, Few Miles
from Los Angeles.
Most Of Those Whose Lives Were
Taken Were From Temples
In the Eastern States.

Santa Barbara, Cal, May l1.-At
least twenty FIVE persons are believed
to have persisted in a disastrous wreck
on the Coast Line of the Southern Paci-
fic this afternoon. A special train car
rving three delegations of Eastern
Shriners returning from week OF
merry making at Los Angeles, left the
track at Honda, fifty miles north OF
here, and piled up on the beach.
Engine, tender, baggage car and
diner. with three coaches, were heaped
In hopeless confusion and terror was
added by the wreckage taking fire.
The flames were quickly extinguished
by the survivors. Many persons We're
scalded and burned while buried be-
meath the shattered cars. From north
and south aid was rushed at once by
special trains. Doctors and nurses
from Santa Barbara and San Luis
obispo raced to the wreck. Two car
loads of dead and wounded were hur-
ried into San Luis obispo shortly be-
fore Q o'clock and white the bodies of
the dead were turned over to volun-
teer corps of Masons, who had learned
of the disaster, their brethren, the in
jured, were hurried to hospitals and
private houses, where doctors and
nurses were Immediately summoned.
The prominent among the dead Shri-
ners is J. Douglas Nipple, potentate
of Rajah Temple, Reading, Pa, aged
IS. A number of the dead are from
Reading, at least eight. A man nam
ed Henry from Lebanon, was killed
outright Nipple was a conspicuous
figure at the os Angeles conclave.
The Reading Shriners besides Nipple
killed are:
Harry Hiende Oliver Kaufman, Geo.
Hagerman, Harry slttz. Harry Miller,
A. l.. Rother. 1t is also known that
at least five other persons are in the
wreck.
shriners Special Train.
The wrecked train, a portion of the
northbound coaster left Santa Barbara
at 1910. While travelling on the
schedule Of a regular train, it was act
ually a special, known as the Ismalia
special and carried among others, rep
resentatives of Rajah Temple of Read
ing, Pa, Ismalia Temple of Buffalo, N.
Y, and Alkoran Temple. of Cleveland.
While 1t is probable that the dele
gates from other portions of New York
were aboard the train. the list of dead
shows that majority of the victims
were from Reading. Pa.
Two statements have been made as
to the cause of the wreck. One, 1t is
said, gives the cause as drafting sand,
which formed an obstruction on the
rails. The other report received just
before midnight from Lompec, ascribes
the disaster. to a switch rail broken or
improperly placed.
According to the Lompoc correspon-
dent. who viewed the wreck and OBJ
tanned the statements of survivors, the
engine struck three projecting points
of a switch rail, ran along the rail for
about forty feet and then jumped off
the ties for over a dozen yards, final
der was flung over the engine. The
baggage car and the diner, which was
eveidently the second car plunged over
the engine followed by the sleepers.
The greatest loss of life occurred in
the diner which seems to have been
filled with passengers. Not a person
in this car escaped death.
The doomed passengers were burned
under the rear cars and most of them
were scalded to death. The bodies TAX
en- to San Luis Obispo almost without
exception were mostly horribly dfsfig
ured.
Conductor Johns was in the next to
the last car and was uninjured Honda
Station is nothing more than a side
track and there are no stations be-
tween Santa Barbara and Guadalupe,
a distance of ninety miles, except LON
pee, twenty miles away. Conductor
Johns, connected with the telegraph
wires by meas of a telegraphone, and
notified San Luis Obispo to send doc
tors and nurses.
The work of caring for the dead was