The Coconino sun., 1927-05-27


been following caution signals all the
way. MY air was tested at iSeigman
and all was reported in good working
order.
"Two torpedoes were set out by the
brakeman on section two, and when
saw the flag man with it was
about half car length back Of his
| train"
Simmons said if section two had
been two and half to three car
| lengths farther down the grade he
could have stopped in time. AS it
was. when he first saw section two,
he said, he believed he could avoid
collision. From $50 feet or SO behind
section two he used sand under the
wheels. The brakes on his drivers
were burned blue from the friction
Conductor Smith of section three as
soon as his train stopped Sent; flag
man back. He said that only for fast
work on the part Of the flagnlan, sec
| tion 4, following closely, would have
run into the rear of his trafl.
Had section three hit the train
ahead at 20 miles an hour it is doubt
full if any of the. cars Of the latter
would have stayed on the track. In
the squeeze between the two giant
| locomotives they would have been
crowded to the north off the outside
OF the curve and down the embank-
ment. Also, had section three been
going little faster when it hit, both
| its engineer and fireman almost GER
| tainly would have been killed. as the
| observation car would have gone back
over the top of the front of the en-
CINE and into the cab. As it was,
while both men on the engine We're
! hurled to the cab floor, neither was
hurt. J.
What would have been the fatali-
| ties had the cars been of the old
| fashioned wooden construction is aw-
| full to contemplate. Fatalities would
have been many
This is the third wreck at that point
within the memory of people who
have lived here longest. Twenty-Five
wears ago a passenger train from the
west went over a burning bridge just
below that point, the engineer seeing
| It too late to stop and putting on all
sneed to get across. The diner caught
! fire. No one was hurt. The late Mrs.
| M Wisehart, mother of Mrs. B. 5.
| Kennedy of Flagstaff, was on that
train. Fifteen years ago train went
| off there and the engineer and ire
man were killed.
Many of those at the scene of the
wreck Monday wondered why the
block signal is set just where 1t Is.
Experienced railroad men said II It
were a few hundred feet farther up
| the grade it could be seen much far
| ther from the west
The coroner's jury found that one
| torpedo had been placed by the brake
man of section three about AGO feet
behind his train, the other 70 feet
nearer his train.
Mountain Glen was the name OF
the observation Pullman. The Pull
man ahead of it was "Cape Kiwanda. {
The leading train had IL cars and
baggage. the other train nine cars.
First reports from the Santa Fe
station here were that four were
killed. During the next hour accord
ING to rumor the fatalities were great
lv in excess of that number. Then
when the relief work was pretty Well
done, it was believed none We're dead.
A few minutes later the body OF Mrs.
Watson was found.
The two women taken out Of the
wreck by Mr.. Cooper were within
three or four feet of the dead woman
and separated from her by q single
steel partition. From where they lay,
either woman could have seen the
feet of the dead woman through a
narrow space next the floor from
which the partition had been Jarnmed.
But both women were so seriously IN
iured that neither could have realized
much except her own terrible suffer
ing.
In an hour after the news became
known in Flagstaff there were hun
dreds of Flagstaff people at the
wreck, all eager to do anything pos
sible to help. But there was nothing
| for any more than a very few or them
to do, as the doctors and nurses had
everything in hand. There was little
excitement apparent. AS soon as pos
sible those worst injured were given
hvpodermics and only occasionally a
low moan could be heard.
The logging road leads to within
few feet of the wreck, and was JAM
med all day with automobiles.
The wrecking train was not taken
to the wreck until late in the eve
ming. Many railway division officials
from Winslow arrived in automobiles
within three hours after the accident.
But the necessity of keeping the
west-bound track clear until the
many east-bound trains, including the
| five other sections of No. 4, could be
| detoured over it past the wreck! de-
| layed getting the wrecking car there
and while many Of its workmen were
there early in the afternoon, the rig
/ itself was held in Flagstaff until un-
/ interrupted use of the west-bounc
track, on which the wrecker had te
work. could be assured without much
| interference with schedule. Of course
all of the passengers on the disabled
| Pullmans had before then been taken
/ on in other trains.
One set of trucks on the third cai
from the front of section two was
| knocked some distance out Of place
and that car had to be lifted back or
! before it could move.
Both trains were filled to capacity
/ For the first couple hours following
/ ~. .....<alx II x4rnrn xuY.ifiuO fpleQT'a11E