The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1852-11-18

The X. IL. Accident.

The deporab!e occurrence on lhe line Of the
B. L. & NJ. Railroad, on Thursday, 7ih inst 4. is
equaled BY no other accident in Ne;. hampshire
SO FAR as oG, reading or recollection is guide
within the last rs years There took place,
Sept. Z, l7.3. in the ,own Of Wilton, a caiasiro-
phe, more disastrous than even that Of las;
week. The following f,.cis regarding it are con
piled from an address delivered al the Centemni-
al Celebration in Wil,on, September 1889, by
Ephram Peabody -
g. The acciden. took place at the raising Of tie
frame of a meeting house. Mul,i,uies of pes
pie-nS was then the cuscni--coected upon the
ground "a large portion Of the citizens of inc
town, but many from ad accent places
. The crowd consisting Of men. women, and
ehifen. Among other things provided by the
Town fof tins occasion was barrel Of w. ].
Kun, i've barrels n. f. Rum, one barre! Of
brown sugar, half box of lemons, and two
loaves OF loaf sugar. 1t was an occasion of hi-
larity and great excitement. The tnbers were
all prepared, the wcrkrnen ready. and the mas
ter-worhman, full Of The dignity Of h, Office, L.
sung ms orders All went ou prosperously.-
ne good cheer, the excitement Of the work
The crowd OF spectators, ali ni1de ii srene Of
general rejoicing. When the sides Of The house
were up, and also part Of the east end, one Of
The men engaged upon The Wnr<-a Capt. Brad
iord, oi Lyndebor, Ugh--ob%erylng that one Of
the centre post O. The end siI To BE raiaed was
detective, beng worm ten, and already ,ie.d-
ng under the lTe>>ure uaan i, Informed the
master-workrnan of tue fact, who replied that if
he was afraid he might 20 home, as they wanted
no towards there. Indignant at the rebuke, he
took the over>eer Of tbs building al his word and
proceeded 10 dwelling near iy, where he had
oi has " Ite; tut on his way ;!.ther fall of fore
bodins as to the result he looked back, and The
frame, after seeming to vbraic for {. moment,
suddenly ieh inwards, throwing tnbers, tools,
boards and men down n prorliscu0us mass,
under Il shock, the noise Of which wa heard
more than mile fo, Il moment all was silent,
and then the air filled with groans ard
shrieks, mol only from these beneath the fallen
mass, but by spectators of the irighiul scene-
There were 50 men on that part OF the frame
winch ieli. 81 hree 1--WE quote from the Ad-
dress) were instantly Killed. and w o died short
iy afterwards; others wege crippled fer .ife, and
most Of them more pr less nangIed or
wounded 1t caused general mourning, fox
there were few families which had not lost q
member, or some one of " hose connexions were
not among the wounded 4 fast was ke pt soon
afterwards, when the pastor, Rey. Mr. Liver
more. discoursed from the ,est--"Except The
Lord build The house, they labor in vain ths,
build it
The event furnished prolific theme for 4 ma
live poet 10 throw Off multitude OF s.anZas OF
that description o verse so peculiar IN style to
those ancient times. They mad wide ciicula-
ton, and were repeated by many people long az
ter the event which gave rise to them, and were
sung by the young women of Wilton, az they
carded or spun BY then tiresides. A few slanzas
" ii suffice -
''In seventeen hundred seventy three,
September, seventh day,
In Wilton DID Almighty God
His anger here display.
All OF a sudden broke beam,
And let down tiiiy-three,
Full iwerty-seven feet they fell,
shocking sight TO see.
Much timber wi ith these r,en did fall,
And edged tools likewise,
AL in heap together lay,
WHh groans and bitter cIies,
Some lay fast bleeding IN the ground,
All baihed with crins IN gore,
CRYING TO Jesus, strong TO save,
Ills mercy 10 impiore.
Some lay with broken shonder bones,
And some with broken inns,
Others lay speechle-s on The ground
" iih diver other harms
y. l.. Statesman.