Albuquerque evening citizen., 1907-04-26
FLYER WRECKED
At CAJON
PASS
Railroad Man Killed and Many
Injured Brakes Had Been
Tempered with.

The Santa Fes crack train, the
California limited, was wrecked Tues
day night on the Cajon grade, with
one man killed, another one badly in
iured and several passengers hurt.
BY narrow margin the train escaped
from an accident that would have
eclipsed in horror the Cotton wreck
on the Southern Pacific "A few weeks
ago. Without an engine, which had
been cut off to assist in clearing the
way for the train to pass through the
wreckage of a Salt Lake freight, the
dozen cars composing the limited,
filed with hundreds of passengers,
started down the steep grade, WITHOUT
guidance or control, gaining momen-
| tum ever second until they struck the
engine that was returning to pick up
the train. The ongine was smashed
| to pieces by the impact. Had the
cars run a few hundred yards farther
down the steep grade they would
have attained a speed that would have
resulted in an awful catastrophe. AS
| it was. it is a miracle that no more
| were killed and injured.
| The runaway of the train was
| caused by some one tampering with
| the hand brakes that held the cars.
The brakes We're released without the
| authority of the conductor, and it has
| not yet been ascertained who released
| them and started the cars on their
| errand of death.
Among the passengers who were in
| jured by the impact of the collision
| were a number of we'll known per-
| sons. They were taken to San Ber-
nardino and later sent from there to
| the Santa Fe hospital i'm Los Angeles.
The worst injuries were sustained
| by the trainmen riding back on the
! engine. They were caught between
the steel locomotive and the platform
| of the onrushing cars, and several of
them escaped death only by the mar
rowest margins.
| THE DEAD.
| John ]. O'Rourke, Victorville, Sec
ton foreman, head smashed to pull
and almost torn off his shoulders.
THE INJURED.
F. w. Howbert, Denver, United
| States internal revenue collector fol
| Colorado and Wyoming, spine badly
injured and scalp torn.
Miss Georgella Lay Chicago, ac-
companist for Ellen Beach Yaw, spine
injured and scalp cut.
J. ID. Jones. Chicago, colored por-
ter on Pullman car, spine injured and
| shoulder hurt.
Trainmaster ]. b. Calvin, San Ber.
nardino, back hurt, badly bruised and
shaken.
About ten other passengers bruised
and shaken.
| Traffic Tied Up Twenty Hours.
| The first westbond train to gC
through here on the Santa Fe since
learly yesterday afternoon was the
wrecked train No. 3. due here at 3: /;
o'clock yesterday afternoon, which ar
rived here at 1852 O'Clock this morn.
ing and went on TO Los Angeles after
a brief stop. The other delayed pas
senger trains, Nos. ! and Z, of th'
Santa Fe. and POI of the Salt Lake
followed fast upon No. 3, goinl
through on block ten minutes apart
The body of John j. O'Rourke, th'
section foreman, was brought to tn
city this morning and his family a
Victorville notified. The dead ma
leaves a wife, three sons and a daugh
ter. He was So years old and hat
been i'm the employ of the Santa F.
for a long time and was highl,
thought of by his fellow workers.
J. G. Taylor, the injured brake
man. whose home is in san Bernar
dino, was brought here on a stretche
and placed in the baggage room a
the Santa Fe depot. Here he was at
tended by DR.. j. y. Baylis and Mis-
Madeline Smith, the Santa Fe nurse
and later in the day taken to tn
Santa Fe hospital in Los Angeles.