A FOURTEEN-YEAR PERIOD 315 



whereupon I obtained leave of absence from my superior 



officer County Clerk Shore and hastened to the spot. O, 

 horrors of horrors! Among the dead whose memory I 

 shall ever honor were: 



\Y. T. B. Sanford, Banning 's partner and brother-in- 

 law. 



Capt. Joe. Bryant of the SS. "Ada Hancock." 



Thos. Workman, Bookkeeper. 



Dr. II. K. Myles, Louis Schlesinger. 



Robt. Johnston, son of Gen. Sydney Johnston. 



Capt. Seely and many others. 



Among the wounded were: The indefatigable Phin- 

 eas Banning-, Airs. Banning and her mother, Mrs. San- 

 ford ; Miss M. Hereford and many others. Of the about 

 fifty persons who happened to be on board but three or 

 four escaped injury, among them the engineer, Clark, 

 and the fireman. The wreck sank immediately. 



On my arrival at San Pedro I found my beloved friend 

 and employer unable to concentrate his mind, and I at 

 once realized that I had to take matters into my own 

 hands, which task I did not underrate. The large busi- 

 ness needed a most competent leader in times of com- 

 plete calm, and was now so shaken in its very details 

 that confusion seemed to reign supreme. In addition 

 to this, the many able hands that lay helpless in death, 

 and the sight of the many noble men whose hearts beat 

 no more actually dazed me. 



When I entered the large warehouse, so well known 

 to me, I found it partly turned into a morgue, as more 

 than twelve bodies had already been brought in and 

 stretched out on primitive frames. In some cases it was 

 impossible to recognize them, as even the very features 

 were distorted or torn to pieces. My first duty was, of 

 course, to put order into the interrupted course of busi- 

 ness. With a number of good men I started the routine 

 work of assorting a few tons of freight in the warehouse, 

 where the victims had found a temporary resting place. 

 Gruesome as the task was, we tried our best to clear the 

 cloudy sky, but whenever a new body was brought in 



