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Train Ditched.
No. 17 Leaves the Track Near Los Angeles.
Engine and Tender Roll Down an Embankment — Some Miraculous Escapes.
Los Angeles, February 1. — Southern Pacific train No. 17, which left San Francisco at 4:30 p.m. yesterday, was ditched about two miles south of Ravenna this morning at 11:20 o'clock, but aside from a few superficial bruises sustained by Fireman Iler, no one was injured.
The train was running at the rate of about twenty miles an hour, and while rounding a sharp curve on an embankment in the Soledad canyon, between Ravenna and Lang, the forward trucks of the locomotive left the track.
With remarkable quickness and presence of mind, Engineer Ferguson applied the air brakes and brought the cars to a sudden stop, but the engine and tender broke from the coupling and rolled down the embankment, a distance of forty feet. Just before reaching the foot of the embankment the engine turned bottomside up, and in so doing Engineer Ferguson, who had stuck to his post, was thrown through the cab window a distance of thirty feet and landed on his head in a heap of sand. Aside from a severe shaking up he was uninjured.
Fireman Iler was engaged in cleaning the bell of the locomotive when the accident occurred and immediately jumped. He rolled down the embankment and was somewhat bruised and scratched in his rapid descent.
The passengers expressed their gratitude to Engineer Ferguson whose timely action in applying the brakes prevented a serious disaster, and in recognition of his bravery a sum of money was subscribed which will be used in the purchase of a token of their appreciation. A purse was also made up for Fireman Iler.
A wrecking train was dispatched from this city to the scene of the accident, and the train is expected to arrive here about 2 o'clock tomorrow morning.