Wisconsin herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1846-1849, 1847-07-24


examples Of verbosity Of description.
10 the hands ofthe London paragraph
lists, an item of news is dilated to the
extent OF an essay. and the possibility
lof catastrophe, through the faculty
of peculiar elcquence Of diction, is
inflated into an almost agonizing real
lity. One of the most striking exam
piles Of this power of grandiloquent
style is exhibited in late account of
an accident on a railway, the train
having included amongst its passen-
gers the very Rev. Bishop Phillpotts,
from Paddington for Exeter. When
they had reached as far as Maiden
heart, the passengers were alarmed by
the smell Of fire; the attention of the
guard was aroused. and the engine
with great difficulty stopped. The
train was examined, and it was dis
covered that an axle was broken, and
that the friction OF one of the broken
parts against the bottom of the Bish.
ops carriage, had set fire to it,
All parties of course were thankful for
the timely discovery, and after short
detention the train proceeded. The
fact, which we have thus brishy mar
rated, is stated as follows in the Wes-
tern Times, and we transcribe the ar
ticle in order 10 give a specimen of
English peany-a-llning verbiage:
Narroto escape Of the Bishop Of
reter.-The diocese has escaped
the sensation Of a shock more calami-
tous than has fallen on the church
within the memory of the Oldest in
habitant. The Bishop - the Lord
Bishop coming down by the Railway
train OF Saturday last, the 22d inst,
narrowly escaped being burnt alive
An axle broke beneath his carriage
The rude fragment Of iron, irritating
by violent and incessant attrition the
excitable wood which composed the
floor of the carriage, chafed il into
violent heat, which speedily increased
till fire burst forth, and the wood un-
der the Bishops feet was blazing
without, and the smoke and burning
odour ascending within the carriage.
From the first moment Of the alarm till
the full discovery of the impending
horror was made, but few seconds had
elapsed. The train was flying thro'
the air at the rate Of rapid BIRDS
progress. The faster it flew the more
greediIy the destructive fire fed upon
the freshening breeze--madly was its
Unsuitable and forky tongue licking up
the vital air as the breeze ran by,
The glass was dashed down, and the
doors thrown open. The Bishop
raised his voice, and cried aloud for
help. The flames were beneath his
feet, the thick smoke was curling up
and dinming his sight, and sitting his
voice. Gods will be done. Five
minutes of that fire, fostered and lei
as it is by the mad breeze, and the
whole carriage will be in blsze!-
The Bishop calls aloud for The sguardp
Alasi he calls in vain. The roar of
the train browns the half-stifled voice.
The guard cannot smell the fire, for
the treacherous wind that lashes it in
to madness carries far into the rear The
evidence Of the terrible calamity
which impends over them. The
train outstrips the wind, which, pas
sing on and falling to the rear, bears
with it smoke and odor which would
otherwise tell the fearful tale, and
rouse the unconscious engineer to res
cue them. EDWARDS they fy Al
ready the heated floor is too hot for
their feet The flames will soon DC
actually within the carriage, and ter
ribie death inevitably awaits them
This is the express train-they are at
Maidenhead-they have 90 miles yet
to run before the engine win stop to
disclose the awful wreck. There are
moments in which the experience Of
the soul seems to cover ages Of dura-
ton. Those who were in this terrible
peril before US will never forget the
impressions of theintolerable suspense.
By miracle they were preserved, and
yet no one can tell how the inteFposi-
ton first arose. One guard was a.
reused; he screwed down his brake,
and passed on to his fellow, at the i'm
minent risk CT his lie, Had he fallen
the fire would have still burned on
The train, though slightly checked,
was not yet stopped. His mate screw
ed down the second brake, and they
both roared at the enginsman. Bot