Los Angeles herald., 1907-05-13
SHR|NERS DELAY
THEIR DEPARTURE
WAIT FOR NEWS OF WRECK OF
SPECIAL
Organization VIII Take No Concerted
Action to Insure Fewer Wrecks,
but Individuals May
Make Fur Fly

Overwhelming in its message of deatl
and disaster to the most favored mem
bers Of the organization, the wreck o.
Saturday which snuffed out the lives O.
more than score of Shriners left tn,
majority of the visiting mobiles whC
nave not yet departed in state OF
gloom yesterday. While some few ex.
cursions which had been previously
Planned were carried out, the majority
or the pilgrims left in Los Angeles
haunted the bulletin boards for news
from the scene of the disaster, and all
symptoms of joy were obliterated.
AT the Alexandria, recently head
quarters of the imperial council, the
MOBILES stood around in groups and dis
cussed the dread calamity of Saturday
MANY were congratulating themselves
that they did not depart on the Mecca
special, which was the wrecked train,
while still others, fatalists in the ex-
treme. stated that had they gone out
on the Inflated train all would have
been well unless it was predestined
otherwise.
Ihat the Shriners as an organization
VIII take no action toward more strin-
gent legislation in regard to the rail-
roads and their methods of conducting
their train service was apparent after
converse with two of the most promi-
nent mobiles in the country.
Treat shriners courteousIy
According to the statements of these
mobiles, or at least one of them, the
railroads have always treated the
Shriners with the utmost liberality and
courtesy, and despite the accident of
Saturday no official action can be
taken. Shriners as individuals, and
particularly those who suffered most
through loss of some dear relative or
friend in the wreck above Santa Bar
bara, may use their influence toward
doing something to compel the rail-
roads to take greater precaution against
wrecks than at present prevails, but
as an organization nothing will be
done.
while Saturdays wreck is deplor-
able and particularly poignant in it's
sorrow after the joyous week spent
here preceding it, it seems that the
railroad is not entirely to blame" said
G. w. Mccartney of Des Moines, Iowa.
one of the leading Shriners, who has
been in attendance on the conclave in
Los Angeles. "In the past the rail-
roads have been most lenient toward
our organization in the matter of rates
and transportation, and in the whole
history of the Shrine I cannot recall
another serious accident.
II am not railroad man and have
never been connected with any line,
but 1t appears to me that Saturdays
sad accident was unavoidable. Many
of our most beloved and prominent
members were in the Inflated assem-
blage which met death when their
train left the rails, but at the same
time the railroads must not be blamed
too much.
VIII Take No Action
"It is highly improbable that the
Shriners as an organization will take
any action toward more stringent rules
in regard to the running of trains by
railroads. or toward a more forcible
expression of the laws now on the
statutes of the various states. While
Individual members, and particularly
those who suffered through the death
of some dear friend or relative, may be
urged by the exigencies of the occa-
sion to unite with some civic or state
body in working against the railroads,
the Shriners as a body will do moth
ing"
Fred A. Hines, a member of the i'm
perial council and one of the most
prominent men in Los Angeles, was
overwhelmed with the needs of the
present and could not say what would
be done later by the Shriners as an
organization.
"We are confronting an actuality.
not theory, at present." said Mr..
Hines, land I cannot tell what the
Shriners will do. The present is all
compelling in it's demands for immedi-
ate action. Some relief must be thought
of for those who suffered through the
dread accident of Saturday, and until
the crisis of the day is met it is i'm
possible to say what will be done. How
ever 1 do not think that the Shriners
will take any concerted action, for the
railroads have treated us too fairly in
the past. and the unavoidable accident
in which some of our fellow mobiles met
death is still too poignant in its sorrow
to think of the morrow
Four Left Behind
Thanking their Maker that they did
not depart on schedule time, four of the
visiting mobiles from Columbus, Ohio,
spent yesterday at the Van Nuys hotel.
Ralph Rickley, R. M. White, j. o. La
thern and H. Gabriel were the Shriners
who escaped death as though by a
miracle, and they were not corry that
it occurred.
The four nobles many of whose fell
low townsmen and companions went
out on the Inflated special, failed to get
to the depot in time Saturday to catch
the train, and to the tardiness of their
departure they owe the fact that they
were not among those who were at the
scene of disaster and. perhaps, among
the dead.
Completely unnerved by the calamity
which overlook their fellow mobiles,
many of the Shriners who had planned
to leave the AL Malaikah oasis yester-
day deferred their departure for a day
or two, and in consequence several
specials which were scheduled to de-
part yesterday did not leave the depot.
Those who are still here had no room
for other than sorrow in their plans
and the day was spent in grief.
Sensheimer Goes Home
Stress of circumstances and the ur-
gent need of his presence at home
caused Joseph Sinsheimer potentate Of
the Galveston, Texas. temple to brave
the dangers of the return trip and start
for home yesterday
Mr.. Sinsheimer, one of the most
popular Shriners in the country, was
due to depart Saturday night, but as
soon as he heard of the calamity which
had overtaken his fellow mobiles he
stayed over and offered his assistance
in whatever manner it could be used.
Many other mobiles from the south and
middle west acted in the same manner,