The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1910-03-12
TRAINMASTER BLACKBURN, BE-
LIEVING TRAIN SAFE, REFUSED
TO TAKE PEOPLE OUT TO
SCENIC.

passengers on the treat NOrLn-
ern's Inflated train No. Is on the
night before the big avalanche, ask
ed the roads representative to send
125 men, working with snow pillow
crews at Scenic, to guide the men,
women and children down the noun
tains to safety. The request was re-
fused.
Even if the railroad people had
agreed to the plan, the tragedy
would not have been prevented. The
meeting was held Mon1ay night,
February %, and the passengers
asked that the guides be sent the
following morning. Had they come,
they would have found the trains
buried and most of the occupants
dead
The man who told the meeting
in the observation car that night that
1t was impossible to send the 125
guides to them is dead. He was
Trainmaster A. r. Blackburn. All
of the passengers, except one, who
attended the gathering are dead-H.
A. White, a travelling salesman rep
resenting the American Paper COM
pany and we'll known in this city.
OF the men who asked the man
who refused, White alone remains to
tell the dramatic story Of that ILL
fated gathering.
''The passengers held a meeting
Monday night to ask Mr.. Blackburn
to furnish us with guides and ropes
so that every man, woman and child
on the train could be taken over the
mountains to Scenic" says Mr..
White.
1--WE knew that 1875 men were
working with rotary plows near See
mic and we asked that they be sent
to our assistance, for all of us fear
ed a snowslide
"Sol Cohen of Everett, Edge Lee
mann and myself were elected as
committee to present the request of
the passengers Mr.. Blackburn did
not attend the meeting at first. He
sent his secretary, Mr.. Longcoy, who
said that the Great Northern could
not send us the 125 men.
1--WE asked him to put that refusal
in writing, but he refused. Finally,
Mr.. Blackburn came in and we dis
cussed the matter with him.
He repeated what the secretary
had said He told us that eight
guides would be available on the
following morning to lead the men
who wanted to go, but that no wo-
man, child or invalid would leave the
train with the Great Northern's con-
sent.
This place is as safe as any on
the line said Mr.. Blackburn. There
never has been a slide here in the
history of the road and there never
will be one AS for bringing those
125 men up from Scenic, that is i'm
possible
81 have no doubt but that Mr..
Blackburn believed everything he
said about slides at Wellington. The
fact that he went to sleep there him.
self showed that. Now he, the sec
rotary and all the people at that
meeting except myself are dead.
1--WE also complained to Black
burn about the sanitary conditions
on the train-remember, we had
been stalled here a week-and about
the drinking water, which I believe
was nothing but melted snow.
cit was after the conference with
Blackburn that dozen of rs decided
to walk out the following day. The
men with families on board could
not go. One woman was going with
us. Her name was Miss Nellie
Sharp, nicknamed the Wild West
girl All the passengers got quite
well acquainted while we were
stalled and all of us had nicknames
Mrs. Latch was The Merry Widow,
one of the male passengers was Buff
falo Bill, and so on.
After the business meeting ad-