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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (May 10, 1920)
TIIE 3I0HNING OREGOXIAX, THOXDAT, MAT 10, 1023 HUMANITY PROVES TEMPER IN TESTS Teacher's Seat Companion and Friends Killed. TWO OF THE KILLED AND TWO OF THE INJURED IN WEST SIDE SOUTHERN PACIFIC WRECK NEAR BERTHA STATION SUNDAY MORNING. WATCH STOPS AT 10:23 Souvenir Hunters Invade Scene; Supposed Corpse Revives; Good Samaritans Are on Scene. (Continued From First Page.) had time to think o but one thing apply the emergency brake," said R. A. Bland, motorman of train No. 107, the outgoing passenger. Bland was brought to Good Samari tan hospitaf with severe cuts about the head and face and with his left knee badly crushed. His condition Is not serious and he will be able to leave the hospital within a few days. Cause Will Remain Mystery. "1 never will be able to explain why I was not killed outright," he said. "Just as we rounded the curve I eaw the other train rushing toward us. I realized the crash could not be averted, and I had no more than applied the brakes when the two trains came together. I had no time or opportunity to jump, and the first thing I knew the other train was plowing through us." The injured motorman would not offer any possible theory for the train crash. "I know I was not to blame," is all that he would say. Later he said that his orders showed that the trains were to pass at Bertha. Bland displayed every evidence of grief when he learned that Motorman Willett of the incom ing train had been instantly killed. The two motormen were close friends and the injured man would not say one word which might tend to shift the blame on the dead motorman. Watch Stops at 10:23.' W. H. Fisch, brakeman on the in coming passenger. No. 124, had Just left the front car and had entered the smoker in the rear .when the crash came. He was thrown to the floor of the car and sustained pain ful lacerations about the face and head. His nose was badly cut and bruised. Fisch said the two trains crashed head-on without an instant's warn ing, and he found himself crawling out from under the debris before he realized what had happened. After being brought to Good Samari tan hospital, whera his injuries were dressed. Fisch was taken to his home at 748 Reed street. The injured brakeman's watch had stopped at 10:23 A. M., and this is be lieved to have been the exact time of the crash. Teacher's Seat Companion Killed. "I was sitting directly back of two women who were killed and across the aisle from a woman and little child who were Rilled, and luckily escaped with nothing more than a few cuts and bruises," exclaimed Miss Belle Conlogue. a school teacher of Warren, Or., who was a passenger on the incoming train. "Some man who was sitting In the seat with me, 1 was told, was among those killed. The first crash threw me to the floor of the car. beneath the seats and I believe that this small shelter is all that saved my life." Miss Conlogue was taken to Good Samaritan hospital, where her in juries were dressed. She later left the hospital and went to the home of friends in Portland. "I lost my purse containing between JS0 and $90, my gold watch and my glasses." she said. "But I have no cause for complaint; I should be de voutly thankful 1 did not lose my life." Gallantry Saves Lives. That Joe F. Humphreys and Frank Kemp, Southern Pacific bridge car - penters, were not among the list of dead is due to the fact that shortly after the incoming train left Hills boro, they gave up their seats in the forward car to two women passen gers and went back into the smoking car. "The two women to whom we gave oir seats were both instantly killed," said Mr. Humphreys after his Injuries had been dressed at Good Samaritan hospital. "I was Just starting to sit down in the smoker when I felt the' brakes being applied, and the first thing I knew I was being pitched into the air. I was thrown over five seats and was thrown against another seat, striking my nose." Mr. Kemp escaped with a few minor cuts which did not even re quire medical attention. Man In Wreckage Half Hoar. Harold Johnson, 179 Morris street, Portland, was seated in the front seat of the smoker in train 107, the Corvallis passenger, the smoker be ing the first car in that train. He was dug out of the wreckage un conscious about half an hour after ' the wreck. He was thought dead, but five minutes after being laid on the grass. be revived and sat up. His only in juries were a broken nose and i oaaiy cut nana. His hand was clenched tightly, and when he un clenched It, he found he was clasp ing a piece of broken glass. A deputy sheriff reached out his hand to take the glass. "No. sir,' said Mr. Johnson, "I'll keep this for a souvenir." Passengers Hurled Through Seat. Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Foss, 509 East Mohawk street, were seated about the middle of the last car of the train from Portland. "I felt the brakes being applied and then came the crash which carried my wife and me against the back of the seat In front, with such force that we broke it off." said Mr. Foss. "My knee was cut slightly and my wife was jarred considerably." F. J. Drynan, in front of whose poultry farm the wrecla occurred, said that tys wife, four visitors and he were singing in their front room, which is about 200 yards from the tracks, when they heard a terrific erash. Drynan rushed to aid the in jured and Mrs. Drynan prepared water and sheets. All seemed to think that 'the train from the south was going the faster. Louey Wa, a Chinese merchant. Fourth and Flanders street, received a badly bruised lower jaw and right elbow and was seriously shaken up. . Major's Wife Unconscious. Mrs. E. S. Hadley. wife of Major Hadley, an overseas man from Camp I,ewis, now in recruiting service, and staying at the Cornelius bote, was rendered unconscious from head and sptne injuries, but revived later In Good Samaritan hospital. Her hus band and son were uninjured. The three were seated in the second car. the major and boy facing forward and the wife with her back against the women's dressing room. When the crash came they all fell together between the seats. Former City Attorney Frank S. v - . h:-i: I I " ' I V 1 ' i - ?v s I I - r - I . i 1 " ' ' l nMan!! L.-... w, rrtl,..J .rpr -i Tjpper left. TSewton Hoover of Beaverton, killed i npprr right, Frederick Feebler, 304 Ross avenue, Portland, killed) lower left. Miss Camllle Dosch (from a photograph taken several years ago), seriously Injured; lower right, W. A. Fish, brnkeman on Inbound train, seriously injured. Grant was on the outbound Portland train, on his way to Yamhill where he had an engagement to meet with the city council of that city today. Mr. Grant was sitting in the rear seat of the last car. His first inti mation that anything was wrong was the sudden setting of the airbrakes. Following this he found himself on his knees on the floor between the seat ahead, having been thrown over the seat in front. Injured Assist Injnred. After picking himself up and re gaining his composure, Mr. Grant began rendering what assistance he could to those more seriously hurt. He discovered Mrs. Sophie King, a former employe of the juvenile de partment of the city, whom he knew, who was apparently suffering from a severe injury to her back, Mrs. King being almost unconscious. Mr. Grant stated it was a case of the injured helping the injured, as every occupant of the car was more or less injured, some slightly, others severe ly. Owing to the difficulty of getting the injured out of the cars, Grant thinks may have resulted in the death of some of the injured before aid could be rendered. Another difficulty ex perienced was the falling of the high power electric wire, which snapped and fell alongside the wreck. Mr. Grant says the most pathetic scenes attending the wreck were those in which little children were either hurt or their parents injured, and in some cases killed outright. Good Samaratln Praised. Mr. Grant spoke in high terms of a neighboring woman, whose name he did not learn, who was on the scene quickly with sheets, which were torn up and used for bandages, and who rendered heroic assistance. After the first shock of the accident had passed, Mr. Grant discovered he had sustained painful bruises to both legs when thrown over the seat and a bad sprain to his left hand. He ex pects to be out tomorrow. . "I was in one troop train- that was wrecked in Texas, but it was nothing like this smash today," said Elmer De Wert, a printer, who was on his way to McMinnville in one of the two trains which collided. He was riding yesterday in the rear car of the out bound train, and escaped with a se vere gash under the chin. Though wounded himself, De Wert joined the rescue party and helped to drag the dead and dying out of the wreckage. Seven Die in One Car. "The trains crashed virtually at full speed," said W. E. Wright, farmer of HHlsboro, who was in car 602 of the inbound Hillsboro train and within three feet of the front end where seven persons were killed in the one car. Mr. Wright miraculously escaped with a slightly bruised knee i and a pair of smashed spectacles. I "Our train had been making fast time all the way from Hills ioro. Peo ple on the train seemed to think we were trying to beat the time of the jitney buses in from Hillsboro. "We did not stop at Bertha, but went through there at high speed. We were going probably 35 or 45 miles an hour. Just beyond Bertha, suddenly the air brakes of our train were applied and I had just time to brace myself when immediately there came a terrible crash and I was thrown forward against the seat ahead. People In Tangled Mass. "People behind me wre hurled over and on top of me. I found myself un der a tangled, struggling heap of men, women and children. I had difficulty getting out. "At first I tried to break a win dow, but the car was tilted over on its side so much that it seemed it would upset, and I found my way out at the rear door. "It . was a terrible scene. Bio d was spurting everywhere. Women were screaming. The dead were mostly penned up just in front of where I sat, in a terrible tangle of wreckage. 'TVith others, 1 worked to get them out. Two women died there before we could get them from the wreck age and out of the car. A little dead baby with a crushed head was lying there in the wreckage. Steel Cars Save Many. "Our car was not crowded, but was well filled with men. women and children, the smoker being at the rear instead of in front. "Had these cars been of wood, not a person' aboard. I verily believe, would have escaped death. It was the steel construction that saved us. We were going very fast. "How 4 ever escaped is more than I can say. Providence must have had a hand in it, for everybody in front of me was killed, and persons behind me were badly hurt." Elsie Perry, daughter of John Perry of Hillsdale, had boarded the train to attend services in 'Portland. Shs sang in the choir at the Master's church, at Bancroft and Corbett streets. "All I can remember," she told her father, "is -that when the crash came I fell ' forward and the seat fell in my face. I was sitting by a window." Miss Perry, who Is 17 years old, was taken to her home and medical attention was called. She sustained a broken nose and her back was wrenched from the shoulder blades down. Woman and Daughter Spared. "I was in the train from Beaver- ton bound for Portland and was just handing the conductor a $10 bill when the. crash came," said Mrs. Clara Mc- Ewen. who was taken to St. Vincent's hospital to have a badly cut lip treat ed. "My little daughter Pansy and a man whom 1 do not know were in the same seat with me. The crash and jar threw my daughter and myself to the floor of the car. The man along side of me was killed and a woman and her little daughter in the seat in front of me also were killed. I don't see how either my daughter or my self escaped unless it was because we were thrown to the floor, for the roof ot the car caved in and I think it was the wreckage from up above that killed the three people around me. "Mrs. Johnson, who is here in" the hospital, too, pulled her little daugh ter, Margaret, from under the wreck age before she collapsed. I hope she comes out of it all right." Orchards to Bloom Soon.' WHITE SALMON, Wash., May 9. (Special.) By the end of the week White Salmon's orchards will be in bloom. The roads of Klickitat county are now in fine shape and the North Bank highway from Stevenson to White Salmon is in gsod condition. The route from Stevenson through w nite fealmon, Goldendale to Yakima is thoroughly road-signed at every intersection. ONE PASSENGER SEES WIFE AND CHILD DIE Grief in Double Measure Met , by C. R. Arundell. OTHERS ARE PROSTRATED One' Woman on Way to Church Is . Killed in Wreck; Widow of Engineer Collapses. Phone your want ads to The Orego nian. Main 7070, Automatic 560-95. Grief in double measure came to C. R. Arundell of Hillsdale with the tragic death of his wife and 'little 4-year-old son. They were seated with him In the front end of the forward coach of the Hillsboro train when the crash came. I Mr. and Mrs. Arundell have been residents of Hillsdale for the past two months, tluring which time they had been tenants of the W. Roy Cox home, while Mr. and Mrs. Cox were absent in Arizona. Mr. Arundell is a federal employe in the land office department, with offices in the post office building. Yesterday Mr. and Mrs. Cox returned and the Arundell's were on their way to Portland, to look for a new residence, when the tragedy occurred. Woman Instantly Killed. Mrs. Arundell. instantly killed, whose body was carried from the coach by her husband, was born in Vermont and spent her girlhood in St. Johnsburg. Vt. Her small son, Robert, who died with her, was the only child. Mrs. Lillian A. Crooks of Dosch station, who met death in the wreck, was on her way to attend services at First Church of Christ, Scientist, here. Her husband is Charles A. Crooks, engaged in the transfer busi ness, formerly stationary engineer at the Hotel Portland. Mrs. Crooks was born at Yamhill, Or., where she spent her early life. For nine years she had been a resident of Portland. A Bister, Mrs. James Wilson, resides at La Center, Wash. Brothers are living in Seattle, Wash.. Yamhill and McMinnville. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Abraham, are ranchers of Yamhill. Silas K. Willetts of 868 East Kelly street, Portland, engineer of the Portland-bound train, was 46 years old and has been in the employ of the Southern Pacific company for 30 years. He was a Shriner, Mason and Elk and belongs .to the Brotherhood of Railway Engineers. His widow survives. They have no children. Mrs. Frederick Feebler, the wife of one of the victims, is prostrated with grief at her residence, 304 Ross street. The pair have no children. Mr. Feebler was an engineer of the Southern Pacific and was off-dutyv when killed. He had been in the em ploy of the company for many years. Friends said that he was merely pass ing time by the trip, running to Beaverton and back. Newton Hoover, another of the eight victims, was an employe of the Southern Pacific working in the Beaverton shops. He was 35 years old, and is survived by his widow and three small children. Hillsdale Woman Is Victim. . Miss Ina Hatch, one of the vic tims, and sister of Florence Hatch, who was seriously injured, was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Hatch, of Hillsdale. The young woman was aged 22, and had been employed by Olds, Wortman & King as a book keeper. Fleurot Dosch Josselyn, 7, was the son of Mrs. David Campbell of Port land, and the grandson of Colonel Henry E. Dosch. An uncle, Arno Dosch-Fleurot, attained note during the world war as a correspondent from the Russian front. His dis patches have appeared regularly in The Oregonian. He is yet abroad. The little boy was on his way to Portland from Dosch station, in care of his aunt. Miss Camille Dosch, so ciety editor of The Oregonian. He was Instantly killed and Miss Dosch received terrible injuries. While none of these is necessarily fatal, her condition is said to be extremely seri ous, due to the blend of shock and suffering. Miss Dosch is widely known in the social world and has been a member of The Oregonian staff for the past six months. GUARDS liUCKlLY MISS WRECK Team Was Due to Go to Hillsboro by Red Train. The Multnomah Guard baseball team personnel was thankingg its lucky stars and the gods of fate last night for their lucky escape from participation in the Southern Pacific catastrophe at Bertha station Sunday morning. The team was scheduled to travel to Hillsboro aboard the red cars. Just as the party of 20 or more were about to board the train it was suggested that they charter three auto busses standing nearby. This was done and as the party ar rived at Bertha station they were stopped and told of the Wreck just down the line. They rushed to the scene to render what assistance they could and were among the very first there. Several slightly injured persons were taken to their homes near Hills boro. Great anxiety and grief pre vailed throughout that district and the guardsmen were besieged with questions from anxious ones who had friends and relatives aboard the ill- fated train. STATE TO PROBE WRECK PTJBIIC SERVICE COMMISSION ER BEGINS INVESTIGATION". Air Brakes1 Found to Rave Worked. . Order Shows Meeting at Bertha Ordered. Complete investigation of the wreck is now being made by the public service commission to determine the cause and to promulgate such orders which will obviate similar disasters, if it is found that the wreck was In any way preventable, according to Fred G. Buchtel, chairman of the com mission. Mr. Buchtel and Fred Rasch, chief examiner, were at the scene of the wreck yesterday within an hour after it had occurred. The investigation began at that time and will be con tinued today. Chairman Buchtel will attend the coroner's inquest, and en gineers of the commission today will test electric cars operated .by the Southern Pacific to determine if all prescribed safety appliances are in operation. These same engineers will test two and three-car trains over! the particular stretch of track on which the wreck occurred yesterday to determine how quickly they can be stopped. In addition the commis sion will hold a preliminary hearing! today with officials of the railroad company, with a view of obtaining I information pertaining to yesterday's I wreck. "Every possible angle of the wreck I will be investigated, said Chairman Buchtel. "If all the pertinent evi dence does not develop at the coro ner's inquest, the commission will I hold a final investigation immediately."- The air brakes were operating just prior to the wreck, judging by the burns shown on the rails, according to Mr. Rasch. The brakes on the wrecked cars were tested by Mr. Rasch and found to be set, showing) that as far as the brakes were con cerned they were not faulty in any I way. , "Upon observation of the rails we found burns which showed plainly that the brakes held. We tested the air and found that it was still on. We also saw the train order, signed by the conductors of the two trains, which called for the trains to pass at Bertha station. The out-going train was on a curve and on a down grade. As near as can be estimated, the trains were between 300 and 400 feet apart before they came into view of the engineers of each train." ILLNESS THEORY SCOUTED "Dead Man's Control" if Released Automatically Applies Brakes. Possibility that the wreck on the Southern Pacific electric line might have resulted because of- the sudden illness of Engineer Willett was dis counted by officials of both the rail road and the public service commis sion because of the so-called device on the electric trains known as the , "dead man's control." This device, attached to the con trollers on the trains. . must . be gripped securely by the engineman. and should the englneman for an; ;j f" tji yS3Pj whiteness of the J rJL (I bread it bakes de- 1 ' Olympic Flour U I l ! I 9 J I p gg and 49 lb. sacks at A i lA IvksZJf V t J 4 B -ffi your nearest grocer. yW kMMMMMHMaMMMMMMMMMMaMiiaMaMMMa)HiMM Wr tM 7 mother, W father, the boys .teiliiiJl' and -girls. It's the JSlPii! sweet for all aaes SM0J? at work or play. Ji nMWw Tne beneficial A i lir ody. - . 1 II When you're nervous j'jpill and tired, see how A Wlk K3i It refreshes! M ppf The M&w 171. 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