Show Railway Tragedy Enacted a at Edge Of Valley o of Fire Victims Are Burned to Death Where Mocks Man With Optical Illusion By GEORGE GEOROE KNAPP KNAPP- The Kene- Kene ot of the which took a toll or of at least five I vea i then the Ehe sleeping car on the Union I Continental Limited wu was destroyed by tIre fire at 5 15 a. a a m. m I Wednesday to a. located on the tho desert dunt I directly etly opposite the western entrance en- en trance to the famous Valle Valley or of Fire one ot of the scenic attractions ot of southern lOuthern Nevada e The immediate te vicinity ot of the tragedy Is a desolate spot approximatelY thirty the mUM miles northeast ot of Las Vegas county county coun- coun ty meat ot of Clark county and nine mUM southwest ot of Moapa a town ot of people located at the head ot of the valley alley famed for tor Its cantaloupes cantaloupe small fruits fruit and vege- vege tables table most ot of which are cons consumed med medIn In Salt Lake I In the th entire stretch of fifty CUlY mlle miles between LAs Vegas s and Moapa 1 where the tire fire attacked the fated sleeping car thero Is not a drop ot of water to 10 be had except such as Is hauled In in 10 tank cars The essential thing to tight fight the tho tIre fire was lacking Likewise Like Like- wise the entire stretch Is uninhabIted uninhabited the only buildIngs being a see tion house or two scattered along the main line and at Crystal where the tragedy occurred the abandoned warehouse of the American AmerIcan Amer- Amer Ican Borax com company pan which formerly former lormer ly Iy worked mines located Inside the Valley of at Fire With the closing ot of the borax mines several months ago the only onty persons now residing at Crystal are two members or of the Nevada evada state road patrol who have charge of at a twelve mile divisIon ot of the state hl highway hw ty between Crystal and the I Mormon Mesa MeLla It is III at Crystal that the ArrowheAd trail leaves the railway rail rall- wa way swinging to tho southeast after having ha paralleled the tracks from Las Vegas The vicinity Is as picturesque as asIt asit It is b desolate de Just across the railroad rail rail- road tracks and the state highway paralleling It lies a 1 depression ten miles 8 long Jong and five tive miles wide where days In the year nature mocks man with the most realistic optical to be found an any any- where ThIs depression Is the Val Val- icy ley ot of Fire consisting ot of a veritable forest ot of rock formations each In Inthe inthe the shape e of at a tongue of flame shooting from to to- feet teet In the theall all air When the desert sun aun blazes down on these huge formations some somo reddish and others bluish In Unto tint the entire valle valley becomes a seething cauldron of at gigantic flames which to the eo of at the traveler tra seem to shimmer leap skyward In monstrous to toes es that lick the heavens wh the horizon Joins the earth T The e heat In this basin at midday Is so terrific that the Ion becomes complete It was on the tho very edge edse of this desolate yet pIcturesque place that the fire snuffed out five Jives fives shortly short short- ly alter after 5 o'clock Wednesday morn morn- Ins Ing |