The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-01-03 00:00:00

ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.

Writing en Tuesday the Dundee correspoudent of
The Tinto says ; _ _

"People here are beginning to recover from the mingled
excitement and stupor into which they were thrown by the
catastrophe of Sunday night and to take a calmer view of the
sltuation. The announcement that the first estimate of the
numbers lost was greatly exaggerated has brought to most
minds a welcome sense of relief; but this, of course, cannot
assuage the grief of those who have only too much reason to
believe that their friends have perished. All the efforts of the
authorities are being directed towards the discovery of the
wreckage of the bridge and the train, but hitherto
without succegs. Fragments of railway carriages and
their furnishings, of inggage and of personal apparel, have
been picked up on the shares of the firth, and one body,
that of a woman, has been found. It may be assumed,
therefore, that the bull; of the teain, with its conteute, ie
still embedded in the river. It should be remembered that
the part of the bridge which has disappeared was that in
which the lattice girders stood above the platform carrying
the line. The train was, therefore, enclosed in a huge iron
cage at the time of the disaster, and this makes it un-
likely that any considerable portion of it can have got
free from the wreckage. Judging by. the fragments
left above water, the masses of metal Ruder water
must be tremendously distorted, and it Will be no
easy matter to extricate the carriages and their contents
from the confusion. This state of matters greatly increases
the difficulties of the search. The divers resumed opera-
tions this morning at eight o'ol°o4, under somewhat favour-
able conditions; but about ten the weather became squally,
and the search had to by given up without the whereabouts
of the train having been discovered. In one case, near the
south end of the break, the girder seems to be bent up, so
that divers can walk under it. Of the twelve piers thrown
down, the pillars, excepting two, which lie towards the
west, nave fallep toward & the salt. In one beetepce t4e
pillar lies under the girdees.
"As has already been announced, a Board of Trade
inquiry has been promptly ordered. Major-General
Hutchison sod Major Marindin, to whom it has been
Intrusted, are now here, the latter having arrived last night,
the former this forenoon. At noon they started for the
Beene of the catastrophe in a special steamer. aceomnanied
by Sir Thomas goaoh, the engineer ca tke bridge ; Oblotiel
Tolland, Mr. Maclaren, gene;al superintendent of the
north British Railway; Mr. Bell, the engineer, and a
few ethers. Their survey was confined to a general
inspection of the fractured remains of the structure ;
but this sufficed to show how completely the terrible
blast bad don.: its leo:1r. Let raa fast that in its
central portion the trellis work was some 20ft. higher than
elsewhere. This central section, whlch measured 1,001
yards, in 13 spans, was thus a distinct and homogenous
structure. It is the whole of this section, with its 12
sets of supporting iron pillars that has been thtown into
the water, As seen from a little distance, it wohl4 be
cult Irfwhich
the t. e oue an c p era on
the iron columns rested looked like so many gunboats
moored athwart the stream. To-day we could see the frag-
ments of the ironwork which covered all of them, but so
nearly perfect are the partings of the bridge left on either
side of them that one inVit easily suppose that the beidge
was only in course of eiection end' that the central section
had just been begun. It was strange to r4ect, as we
cruised about there, that within not many yards of us some
eighty or ninety fellow-creatures were imprisoned in the
grip of a terrible death." . . . .

Another Correspondent of The Times, writing from
Dtlndee on Tresday night, !lays
"This morning three dtvers went out at dawn. Yester-
day the bed of the river between the first and second of the
broken piers on the south side was explored. Operations
was accordingly begun this morning at the third pier by
two of the divers, while the other set to work on the north-
ern aldp. The weather wu at test v9ey calm, bv.t about 10
o'clock a sharp squall came on, attended with Wind-
ing rain ; and the short period during which
the men could work was thus cat still shorter.
They managed, however, to explore the space be-
tween the second and third and the third and
fourth piers on the south side, and the last or 12th span on
the north aida. Thp reanit vic, another disepPnintment.
All they had fo report was the position of the fallen girders.
Not even a piece of matchwood was found. The water was
so muddy that 12f I. below the surface the divers found
themselves in inky darkness, and what little they could do
they had to do by groping. •
"Very little information is to be gleaned from the few
persons who may be described as eye-witnesses of the catas7
tropho. It wise full moon at thp time. ;nd tila 4ight vas SC'
cordingly ilaht, but there was too much send and spray flying
for anything to be distinguished at more than 100 yards'
distance. The only visible evidence of the terrible occurrence
was the flash of fire already reported, and the sudden dis-
appearance of the train lights while crossing the bridge.
The eye-witnesses who seem to have seen most were two men
—namely, Thomas Barclay, the signalman on the south side
of the bride, and a foremaa curtown;al4, namecitW4t.' . .
. ,
opezatiop.s ware resumed at ebb tide, towards
evening, and fortunately revealed the whereabouts of the
train. A diver, on going down for the second time between
the fourth and fifth piers from the south site, discovered
what, on examination' he found to be a carriage. It was
lying on its side, with the wheels next to the bridge, abqut
30ft . eastward from the line. groping ;long {t as far as he could
reach from the ladder op he was standing, the
diver discovered a doorway from which the door had been
detached. Thrusting his hand in, he felt something soft,
which he at first took to be a body. Examination showed
him, however, that it was only a cushion. Close beside this
he felt a diprent substande, which proved to be an oil-
cloth, such as its placed on the floors of first•class rail-
way carriages. Both these things were hoisted to the sur-
face by a rope, and it was then ascertained beyond a
doubt, not only from the oilcloth, but from the nature
Of the cushion, that what the diver had discovered
was the solitary first-class carriage in the train. At this
point, unfortunately, the ebb of the tide put a xtpp tp further
bpersaione, and the sWasner retarna with its trophy to
Dandee, where the news caused great excitement. It is
known that there were no passengers in the first-class car-
riage"

The Dundee correspondent of The Times says:—"J ha
been ascertained that among the %dims virezo tvo men
named rOorbes and Cunningham, Masons,. -belonging to :Fife,
but residing In Lochee. They were about 24 years of age.
Their landlady says they left, as was their wont on Saturday
afternoon to spend Sunday with their friends at home. She
expected them to return to their lodging in Loehee on
Sunday evening but as they did not put in an appearance
she crossed to Newport on Monday, and nscertained from
app, of thp relattyes that they laft theiz homes
to return to Dundee with the 111-fated train.
ajjiliktpnit,all.2lffparts of age, tablemdd to' Mr. Walter
spend the Sunday at St. Fort, and Intended to come home
by the Newport steamer, but it is supposed that the rough-
ness of the sea had made her take the train. She was enlace
of A4n Cruickshank, who was lost, Snigt was qgagl.4
be married lb George ionnstcn, son oil the park•keeper of
St. Fort, who was also in the train.
"James Crighton, unmarried, a ploughman in the service
of Mr. Bell, farmer, Mains of Fintry, left home on Thursday
in lad week to attend the funeral of his father near Lady.
bank. Mr. Bell told Crighton to remain over the Sunday
with his mother, and to return to his work on Monday, but
it appears that CFlpton joined the tram tit taqbao On
Sunday nigl4.

"Thomas Davidson, unmarried, farm servant at Lbolathen,
left home on Saturday to visit his friends at Kilconqubar.
He travelled by the railway to Cupar, and joined the train
there on Sunday evening to return to Dundee.
"Alice Upton, 16 years of age, residing in Union•street,
Dundee, who was given in the list of those also ml§sinc, is
safe. She has telegraphed to her ?mother ;mai clhaburgh
"
to that ellect.'