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

TAY BRIDCE DISASTER.

A terrible disaster happened on Sunday night on the
Tay Bridge, during the height of a furious gale which
swept over Dundee. At a few minutes after seven
o'clock a passenger train from Edinburgh was signalled
from the Fife Bide; it was seen running along the
rails, when suddenly a flash of fire was observed, and
the train went over into the river. Although snbse.
quent particulars show that the number of those who
lost their lives by this terrible occurrence is much
smaller than was at first supposed—being about
seventy-five persons, including the servants in charge
of the train—the catastrophe still remains one of the
most appalling of which there is any record—the whole
surroundings of the event being calculated to heighten
its tragic horror to an Intense degree.—The followinj
particulars were siven by The Times of Monday :
DUNDEE, Sunday, Midnight.
To•night a heavy gale swept over Dundee, and a
portion of the Tay•bridge was blown down while the
train from Edinburgh due at 715 was passing. It is
believed that the train is in the water, but the gale is
so strong that a steamboat has not yet been able to
reach the bridge. The train was duly signalled from the
Fife side as having entered on the bridge for Dundee
at 7.14. It was seen running along the rails, and then
suddenly there was observed a flash of fire. The
opinion was that the train left the rails and went
over the bridge. Those who saw the incident repaired
immediately to the Tay•bridge Station at Dundee and
informed the station-master of what they had seen.
He immediately put himself in communication with
the man in charge of the signal-box at the north end
of the bridge. The telegraph wires are stretched
across the bridge, but when the instrument was tried
it was soon seen that the wires were broken.

Mr. Smith, the station-master, and Mr. Roberts,
locomotive superintendent, determined, notwithstand-
ing the fierce gale, to walk across the bridge as far as
possible from the north side, with the view of moor.
taming the extent of the disaster. They were able to
get out a considerable distance, and the first thing that
caught their eye was the water spurting from a pipe
which was laid across the bridge 1.. the eupply of
Newport, a village on the south aide, from the
Dundee reservoirs. Going out a little further, they
could distinctly see by the aid of the strong moon-
light that there was a large gap in the bridge caused
by the fall, so far as they could discern, of two or
three of the largest spars. They thought, how-
over, that they observed a re 3 light on the south part
of the bridge, and were of opinion that the train had
been brought to standstill on the driver noticing the
accident. This conjecture has, unfortunately, proved
incorrect, At Broughty ferry, four miles from the
bridge, several mail bags have come ashore, and there
is now no doubt that the train is in the river. No
precise information as to the number of passengers in
the train can be obtained, but it is variously esti-
mated at from 150 to 200.

EDINBURGH, Monday, 2 S.M.

The news of the appalling accident reached Edin.
burgh about nine p.m. It came in the first instance
to Mr. Paton, the station•master of the North British
Line, and some time naturally elapsed before the
tidings were made public. The first report was simply
that a portion of the bridge had given way before a
violent hurricane. Later despatches added the more
terrible fact that a passenger train had been engulphed
in the Tay, and that it was to be feared none of those
whom it conveyed had escaped.
Of the gale in Edinburgh it may be said that it was
of exceptional violence, blowing chiefly in a S.W.
direction. It came in fearful squalls, driving the rain
before it in blinding clouds. It began on Saturday
morning, and raged all the day and night, subsiding in
the course of the morning. Sunday forenoon was fine,
mild, calm, and seasonable, but in the afternoon the
storm again burst with redoubled violence, and it was
at its height that the dreadful disaster seems to have
occurred.

Whether the girders were blown down first, or
the train carried them away when it was blown over,
cannot be ascertained, and will doubtless remain a
mystery, for no one in the train has been saved. Im-
mediately after the disaster quantities of wreckage
and clothing and half a dozen London mail bags for
Dundee and Aberdeen drifted ashore, and by nine
o'clock all the beach was strewn with remains of
broken carriages and pieces of the bridge.

The Evening Standard of Monday gave the following
additional particulars :

"DUNDEE, Monday Morning.

'lt was thought at first that the train had not fallen
Into the river, but had cleared the breach. Soon, how-
ever, large quantities of wreckage, doors and tops of
carriages were seen burning on the bridge. Provost
Brownlee, with others of the leading citizens of Dundee,
chartered a steamboat at about ten p.m, in order to reach
the bridge—the gale by this time having somewhat
moderated. The steamer being able to get sufficiently
near, a boat was lowered, and the harbour-master and
a number of other seafaring persons manned it.
The boat was pulled around the structure, and by the
aid of themoonlight, which was very bright, it was
seen that the whole of the main girders, with the
colums supporting them, had been blown away, The
train was signalled as entering on the bridge at 7.14
p.m,, up to lame; but. laasxmodite44.l.7 o.f tom ma 'Oa her
lights disappeared. . . . Fearful excitement pre-
vails in Dundee and the district, the scenes of
anguish displayed by friends and relatives at the
station being indescribable. A large steamer left
Dundee for the scene of the disaster about eleven
o'clock, and as by this time the force of the
gale had considerably abated, the vessel made good
headway up the river, At this time the moon
was somewhat obscured by clouds, and it was
with the utmost difficulty, owing to the force of the
wind and the driving spray, that anything could be
made out until the vessel got quite near the bridge, by
which time the moon was less obscured; then it be-
came evident that the whole stretch of the high
girders, upwards of 3,000 feet in length, had been
swept away. There was no sign of even a single bar of
iron having been left. There was a wide gap where the
high girders, the most consoictions feature of the great
bridge, spanned the channel. The astonishing thing is
that the fall of such an enormous mass of iron was not
heard in the town; but it would appear that nothing
was heard beyotd the roar of the gale even by persons
who were on the watch for the crossing of the train at
the Dundee end of the bridge. This in itself is a proof
of the violence of the gale. As the steamer neared the
bridge, what appeared to be broken water was ob-
served stretching across the river, marking, it was
presumed; the submerged girders and train. It was
seen that it would be hazardous to approach too near
the wreck, and a boat was lowered from the steamer
and was immediately manned by a bold crew.
The boat was pulled as close to the bridge as was
deemed safe, and then her head was turned towards the
north shore. She was pulled across the whole open
space to the first pier, then through between
the piers and back again along the west side
till the standing piers on the south side were reached.
The task was a difficult and hazardous one. When
the vessel returned to Dundee, about one o'clock this
morning, her passengers were eagerly questioned by
hundreds of persons who had anxiously waited for
their return, When it was stated that no additional
information could be furnished, some heart-rending
scenes occurred.

"It was about half-past seven o'clock when a
rumour of the catastrophe spread through Dundee.
As the report passed from month to mouth, it was
thought incredible, and people reminded one another
that the bridge, since its completion, had withstood
many a terrific blast. The news, however, was so
appalling, that although it was generally received
i
with reservation, every one who heard t made off at
once with bated breath to the Magdalen-yard Point,
or to the Tay Bridge Station, with the view of ascer-
taining what foundation there might be for it. In the
course of a very short time those in quest of information
could be counted by hundreds at the Tay Bridge Sta-
tion. However, the officials were unable to give any
information beyond the fact that since a few minutes
after seven o'clock communication between the
signal cabins at each end of the bridge had been cut
off. From the station inquirers proceeded by the
Perth road to the Esplanade, to Magdalen-yard Point,
where the north signal cabin is situated, in order to
pick up whatever particle of information could there
be found. A good many persons entered the cabin and
Inquired of the signalman as to the calamity. He
could throw no further light on the matter, The
railway officials, who had naturally become alarmed,
especially since tney DeCSIIIO %Ware wer.s wow,. au,
communication with the south end of the bridge, resolved
to satisfy themselves whether the structure was safe or
not. Accordingly, Mr, Roberts, superintendent of the
locomotive department, went along the bridge. This
he did at considerable risk, for the force of the hurri-
cane was still such that at times he was almost com-
pletely lifted off his feet, and was in great danger of
being blown into the river. Urged, however, by
anxiety to learn the truth, he persevered in his
perilous task; and having walked along the bridge as
far as he could, crawled on his hands and knees to the
point whese the high girders began. Here his course
was arrested. Horror-stricken, he found that the
rumour In circulation was too true.
"The whole of the 13 girders, each 2451 t. in length
and 250 tons in weight, which, as it were, had formed
a tunnel in the middle of the bridge, were gone, and
nothing remained but the bare iron piers which had
supported them. Mr. Smith, the stationmaster, also
made a similar journey along the bridge from the
north end, and found that what Mr. Roberts reported,
as to the destruction of the middle of the bridge, was
absolutely true. The man in the signal cabin at the
north end of the bridwe states that at about ten
minutes past seven the Edinburgh train was signalled
as having entered on the bridge at the south end,
i and that n signalling a reply a moment or two after-
wards no communication with the south end was found
to exist.
"About an hour after the catastrophe had hap-
pened several gentlemen who reside at the west end,
what
te
t
and others who had bean walking along the Perth
road at points commanding a view of the bridge, pro-
ceeded to the Tay Bridge Station, &ad reported
Mr. Smith, the station-master, what they had seen of
the calamity, their testimony concurring ae ha
they had seen at the time at which the fearful &mi.
dent occurred. The evening was very clear, a full
moon shedding bright light over the line of the Tay
Bridge. At about ten minutes past seven the passenger
train from Edinburgh, which had left at 4.15 p,m,
made its appearance on the south end of the bridge:
It consisted of a bogie engine (No. 224), four third.
class carriages, a first-class carriage, a second-class
carriage, and the break-van. . . . As the train sped
on its way across the south part of the bridge the
lights on the front and sides of the engine, and in
the carriages were distinctly visible.
"It continued its way onwards, entered between
the high girders in the middle of the bridge, and when
just about to emerge from them at the north end, a
fearful blast with a noise like thunder swept down the
river. At that moment two intensely brilliant
sheets of flame and showers of sparks were seen at
the high girders, evidently resulting from the fric-
tion of the ponderous mass of iron as it crashed

64maris wit. sawi i

-
and tumbled into the river below, from the height of
about a hundred feet. Simultaneously with the dis-
appearance Of the two bright flashes of light the train
also disappeared. No one on shore, it seems, heard
the noise of the falling of the bridge, but this may be
easily accounted for, as the hurricane blew with a
noise like thunder."

OFFICIAL ACCOUNT.
EDINBURGH, Monday, Five a.m.
The manager of the North British Railway (Mr.
Walker) telegraphing from Leuchars, at four o'clock on
Monday morning,said:—"From reports made thus here
of the terrible calamity at the Tay Bridge, it appears
that several of the large girders of the bridge, along
with the last train from Edinburgh, were precipitated
Into the river about half.past seven last night. There
were, I deeply deplore to say, nearly 300 passengers,
besides company's servants, in the train, all of whom
are believed to have perished. The cauee of the ace!.
dent not yet rzcertained."

EDnuTußca, Deo. 29.
Ca llondsty aftbrooon r. Walker, the general manager,
telegraphed as follows from Leuchars
"In my telegram of this morning I gave the
number of passengers in the 111-fated train as about
300, on information supplied by one of our people,
who when questioned expressed himself very decidedly
on the subject, adding that the train was usually one
of the heaviest into Dundee. It is some relief to know
that the actual number will instead be about 75, in-
cluding servants in charge of the train."