The Express.
London, England, 1861-11-26 00:00:00

LOBB OF TWENTY-TWO LIVES.

One of the most ealamitoua and heartrending
occurresese which it has ever been our duty to record took
plass • few minutes after one o'clock on Sunday morning,
is the sudden fall of a densely-populated " land," or tene-
ment of dwelling-houses in the lower division of the High-
street, Edinburgh, which resulted—so far as has yet been
ascertained—in the death of twenty-two persons, and the
injury, more or loss severe, of thirteen others. The tene-
ment was situated on the north side of the street,
between Bailie Fyfe's close on the west, and
Paisley's close on the east, and was joined at the
back (ca the east side) by the gable end of another " land,"
which anteaded down Paisley's-close. The ground &or,
feasting tteliigb•stnst, was occupied by the shops of
Ir. thirna, grocer, No. 99, sad Marrs. Brows sad Co.,
victual dealers, No. 103, while Mr. Moir, iroemooger, and
Mr. ICLuskie, shoe merchant, coequal the first floor.
The remainder of the tenement, which caseated of six
stories at the front and seven at the back, including
Maas, wee occupied as dwelliagthouses by working men
sad their families, many of them weekly termite of the
poorest elms. Altogether, it is believed that the
building contained about twenty-five householders,
many of whom kept lodgers, and that the total number of
inmates was not less than eighty or ninety. The great
majority of these persons, including nearly all the older
people and the children, had retired to rest ; but a number
of the younger men and women had not been housed foe
the night at the hour when the disaster occurred, and so

HOG/ as has been ascertained the circumstances
Maly attending the calamity were as follows :—Sergeant
Bennie, of the night police, was passing down the High.
Street, and had got in front of Cairns' shop a few minute*
after 1 o'clock, when be heard a scuttle and a cry of
"Murder" from • house in Skinner's-cose opposite; he
immediately ran across the street to see what it was, and
was followed by a number of persons who were standing
about the close /ads, so that the north side of the street
was left for the moment wholly deserted. The male
turned out to be caused by a quarrel betweea a man and
his wife. The disturbance was quieted in a minute or two,
and Rennie was returning up the close, along with another
policeman, when they heard a loud noise, sod beheld the
whole "land" houses, beforewinch one of them had been
only three minutes before, fall with • tremendous crash,
and is another instant it was apparently swallowrairelar2
amid clouds of dust and rubbish. As the dust c
away, a yawning chasm, 30 yards in breadth, bosuns
vloiWe ; the whole of the doors from top to bottom had
given way end fallen perpeadioulariy downwards, while the
beet wan fall outwards, end only the back wall (pertly
supported by the back land before mentioned) and the two
houses,
being party-walls connected with the adjoining
were left standing. In most of the stories all
armed the walls thus laid hue In a menisci fires were
buraing—the dre-places being left Mending, as well as the
=reamed in the wall, with all the contents of the
oonieting of crockery, household and cooking uteri.
Idle, ho., exposed to view in the clear, calm moonlight.
lambently waillog sands mese from the ruins, with here
and there mime of " Mother l mother!" from little children
rudely amassed out of sleep by niters and rubbish felling
twos them is their beds ; but over the greater portiou of
the mass brooded • ghastly edemas, which was yet more
doleful. In a few mumble the street seemed alive with
people winning about, eagerly laq what led happened;
sod the accapeate of the surromiliog startled ban
their slap, reload that window*, as soca es
some vague idea of the awful nature of the calamity
reached them, poured forth Into the streets.
In • short time the members of the ere brigade ad a large
detmelimeet at polioemea arrived on the ground. IMiM.•
germs was also mat as some as possible to the Lord Provost
and magistrates, the sheriff, the members of the Dean of
Guild Court ; Mr. Macpherson, superintendent of streets
sad buildings; Mr. Dymxk, procurator-fiscal; Dr. Little-
john, police surgeon, In. All them gentlemen, as well as
moat of the members of the town council, were speedily on
the spot, and continued to give directioes and to lend what
&miasma and advice they could up to four o'clock in the
afternoon.

By two o'clock a.m., the street was blocked up with
=Piand bemosdee were placed across it, above and be.
ste ruined building. The firemen, reinforced by a
number of labourers who volunteered, were formed Leto
pegs by Mr. Mitchell, and immediately commenced opera-
tions. The night was calm, but frosty, and the clear MOO.
light shone down upon the appalling scene. There was not
light enough, however, for working, and • number of
flambeaux were brought from the ponce-otßee, while the
jets and globes were removed from the street lamps sees to
give as much lightu pandits to the workers. The patient the
ruins from which the cries proceeded were Bret examined,
and after great, arduous and cautious labour, beams of
wood were raised, and toes of claris were dug
out, and 21 or 22 poor creature* men, women,
and children still in life, but nearly all of
them more or less injured, were extricated. Fifteen of
them were taken to the Royal lidirmany, and the remainder,
most of them children, who had providentially escaped
with a few bruises, were wrapped to such euvennip as
could be found, and were carried to the police-office. The
efforts of the brigade were then directed to get at the dead
bodies. The beams of wood, smashed furniture, stones,
&c., were piled on the street, as the work of turning over
the rubbish proceeded. This was • work of imminent
danger to the men engaged in it, as the gable
wails, and the back wall, though still standing, were
rent and broken, and might any moment be ex-
pected to hill. The western portion of the back 'wall
especially, which had no support, seemed as if even • breath
would have blown it over. Fortunately there was not the
slightest wind up till 6 o'clock in the morning, when it began
to rise, and blew some of the lamps out, but it fell away
again till the afternoon.
-• •

The discovery of • body among the ruins soon became
known to the crowd by the stretchers being taken up on
to the pile for the purpose of conveying the remains to the
police-office. When aoy body was exhumed, a deep and
mournful hum might be heard on every side, and • teeling
of intense sorrow seemed to be depicted ou the counte-
nances of the people as the shattered remains were
borne along the street to the police-office. Here there
were large another, of people who had either rela-
tions or acquaiutauces who resided in the land which had
fallen, frantically running to and fro inquiring as to the
fate of those with whom they were connected. On enter-
ing the cell where the bodies were laid, one of the must
harrowing spectacles that could possibly be conceived was
presented to the eye. At one side of the room was stretched
the body of a woman with her infant daughter beside her,
while at the other lay an aged woman, whose face was hor-
ribly mutilated. Between these were placed seven or eight
other bodied., the features of some of which were so much
disfigured that identification was a task of the
greatest difficulty, while others presented an ap-
pearance little different from that which they
milht have borne previous to the occurrence of the
sad calamity which had so suddenly deprived them of life.
On • table at one side of this room was placed for identifi-
cation the body of a tall, stout, middle-aged mar, his face
totally discoloured, and slightly bruised. In an adjoining
and somewhat dark room a inelai choly family group pre-
sented itself. The bodies of a man, woman, and child oho
were found among the ruins, lying together in the same
parities as they had occupied in bed previous to the disaster,
were ranged alongside each other in the same order. The
face of the woman, which was turned towards the
door, was mutilated in a meat frightful manner. Hee
ri,;ht cheek was entombed in, :ier mouth, which was
open, was twisted considerably to the left side and
her whole face was fearfully discoloured. The appear-
ance of the man was such as to lead to the belief that his
death had been caused more by suffocation than by any
injury received, and the body of the child gave similar
indications. As other bodies were brought in they were
ranged alongside of this group, und by the time that
operations at the ruin were suspended, each of the two
apartments mentioned was filled with a long row of human
bodies, several of them much mangled.

In another cell in the police-chambers a very affecting I
scene was witnessed. Nearly the whole of those who bad
been rescued uninjured from the ruin, and who were prin-
cipally children, were here aasembled. They were all lying .
in their night clothes, just as they had Leen taken from
among the debris. None of them. though all much ex-
haustod, were able to sleep, and • feeling of intense terror
seemed to pervade their minds. Their cries had a most
heart-reeding effect, the agony of one little boy especially,
who unfortunately had been apprised of the death of both
his parents in the catastrophe, being painfully affecting. In
the course of the afternoon these children were removed
either to the houses of friends or to some of the charitable
institutions in the city.
About ten o'clock • cry was raised among the crowd of
people collected opposite the ruins that some other building
was falling. The people who heard it instantly incased to
get out of danger, and this movement excited and flightenei
every one in the vicinity to such an extant that the whole