The Mena weekly star., 1907-04-04
TWENTY IHREE ARE DEAD.
Disastrous Wreck of the Sunset Ex- press on the Southern Pacific
 at Cotton, Cal.
OVER THREE SCORE OTHERS INJURED
Twenty Of the Dead Were Italians from New York and New Orleans on Their Way to San Francisco Several Of the Injured Expected to Die.

Cotton, Cal, March 30--As a re- suit of the disastrous wreck of the west bound Southern Pacific Sunset Express in the east Colton yards late Thursday afternoon, 23 dead bodies lie in local undertaking establish ment, eight terribly injured are in the Cotton hospital and more than 50 others whose hurts are less serious have been taken to Los Angeles on special trains. The dead were all passengers on the wrecked train with one exception:
 Aibert w. Shie, mail clerk 555 Ruth avenue, Los Angeles; George L. Sharpe, Muncie, Ind; F. I. Walters. Sacramento. a Southern Pacific fire man, who was passenger on the train. Twenty Italians, of New York and New Orleans, on their way to San Francisco. One Italian woman was killed.
 Of the seriously injured. those now in the Colton hospital are in the worst condition. One of them is sure to die, and several of them iray not survive Walters. Sacramento fire man, was the only ono of the injured to die Thursday Among the injured nine years of age, respectively, sons of Mrs. s. Giacoma, the only woman killed. The woman and her children were on their way to join her husband at Point Richmond
 The exact cause of the wreck will not be determined until tho coroner's inquest is concluded.
 The train was running fully 40 miles an hour at the time it struck the open switch The Southern Pacific 'a still blocked at the point of the crash Ten of the IA coaches of the trafa were derailed and three of them were smashed completely The Italians, who numbered nearly 100. were in TWO old immigrant cars and these cars were literally crushed into kindling wood The passengers in the Pull mans escaped injury
 At o'clock Friday morning Coroner Vanwye commenced to take preiimin ary testimony from the switching crew to ascertain whether they should be held for responsibility tor tie wreck of the Southern Pacific over land train near Colton Thursday.
 Switch Foreman Alvord was the first to make statement He ex- plained that when he came to work in the morning he saw that the fir st section of the Sunset Express known as No. 9, was chalked up on the board as eight hours late. When he returned from his lunch he inspeeted the board and found it silent as 10 No. 2 and as the eight hours limit had expired he concluded the over land had gone through during his absence This error was not discov- cred by him until he heard his en- gineer whistling frantic signal at the switch to the overland to stop. The Overland was then half way across the Santa Ana bidge. It was impossible to get back and close the switch because the fated train had reached it.
 Tn this statement Alvord is cor roborated by his switchmen. He evidently means to be understood as placing the responsibility or part cf it. on the operator, whose duty 1t was to keep the time board check ed up as a guide to the switchmen. The coroner later stSted that under the rules of the company the switch fore man seems to have good defense. That their first order in the morrfng was that the Overland train would ar rive at l:45 o'clock, eight hours '@tc. when in fact it was tcn hours pe- hind: that the operator should have notified the switching crew, who were far removed from all telegraphic communication. furthermore that the rules prohibiting trains over ten min- utes late entering the yard without having their train under complete control and the yard limits at Cotton arc over a mile east cf where the af- cidcnt occurred