The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1852-07-09
TERRIFIC INCIDENT.

aeoiesI wagon, | kept my seat, but il
a mihuie or two the driver turned To-
wards the lamp counlepance on which
,errns was so Irgibly written, that | in
sian'ly opened the door and sprung ont
"Fm G"d's, sake, take care" shouted
The conductor, who, seated on the box
beside the coachman, with one hand helt
The wheel horses on their launches
while with the other he firmly pressed
the handle Of the drag 1t wasa pi'cby
dark night, The sides Of the road being
Iiwisliyts excepting where the lamps
shone. Besides me the driver, his teeth
chaiierinp with fright. conld say moth
ing bmt "Oh. mon DER" ] heard snme
where or ether the roaring of a torrent,
and op tree near me screech.owl ad
ded lis shrill .crv TO tho voices o|
tie night. Several minutes elapsed be.
fore could realize the awful nature oI
the peril which thinks to the ex'raordina
rv presence of mind displayed by the
conductor, we had almos, miracnlously
escaped. Had h. not Iefi his nsnal place
to sit on the box, humanity speaking, moi
one would have survived the hour 10 mar.
rate the terrible catastrophe. A wooden
suspension.bridge. seventy feet in height,
and spanning rapid river, had been
swept away by rise of The waters, con-
sequen, on thunder storm in the monN-
,ains. On the brink of the peciplcc thus
caused we stood, our leading horse hav-
ing fallen over il. and been instantaneous
" killed. Had his harness been of stout
leather, no morisl power could have saved
us; but, providen'ially, he had been at
iached To the vehicle only by tw" rope ira
ces and a slight back strap. The tremu
lnus mcsion | had felt was the struggle
between The wheel. horses pulled hack by
the heroic conductor, (fnr The driver was
powerless from terror, (and this ar rforiu-
nate animal, as il hung suspended in mid
air over the roaring ioue1i. The crash
was The recoil ofthe vehicle when the
traces broke and the victim fell headlong
into the abyss below. Cautiously ap-
preaching the brink Of the chasm, we
fund the remains Of the harness, and
discovered the exact naiure OF onr sitna
,inn. have travelled mot little, both
by lars, .s,i asa, in al manner OF convey
ances, and on every kind of road, but
such scene as thai | never expect to
witness again, though | should spend the
remainer Of my years in wandering to and
fro over the earth. The dread hour Of
midnight, the solitude Of the Alps, the
rushing of the river, the cries of the
screech.owl, the chaItering teeth Of the
poor driver, the signing Of tho wind, the
cold air from the glaciers, the terrible ma
lure of the danger, the miraculous man
ner Of escape, combined to fill my MIND
with an awe, which returns to produce :
rremour even while | write. II was on'
of those awful scenes which sololnnze
The feelings of the most callons, and re-
mains engroven on the memory while life
itself endures.
Had The conductor been inside, had the
harness been of leather, had we attempt
ed TO cross when the bridge was sinking
instead of after il was sunk had 'h'
horses been at a gallop, our b"dies nigh
even now have been buried in some o
hose rocky cnldrons from which ,h'
Rhone struggles TO get free. y
The supports Of The bridge were s''l
s,anding. bnt the roadway had fallen in
so cross ths vehicle could not. Th
stream was not only deep, hut wide an
rapid besides having precipltons banks
so; fDrding was ou, OF the question. But
for,una,el, for us, the conductor hat
proved himsslf man equal to an emer-
gency. As soon Jas we had recovered
from the shock, the diver was sent will
a lamp to scramble along the side rails o
the ruined bridge and alarm village
abou, half a mile beyond. Wearily die
the minutes pass away before, amind ,ht
darkness, we heard the cheering cry from
the opposite bank, "Au secomse, au Sc
coms." In a very short time, the active
peasants had laid planks along the ruins
on which, one by one, led by ouI inter
cpid conductor; we crossed The stream
Our trunks and bags succeeded, while
the horses dragged back the deligenc'
To the place from which they had started
Three hours Of darkness we spent IN al
empty room Of The village vern, un'i
two chars d banc arrived from the neares
post station of Tnurtemage, WHITTIER VI
| proceeded. Similar vehicles conveyed III
to Vierge. our baggage meanwhile fol.
lowing in cart; where again we chang
ed carriages, before ,ravelsng desolal
uact covered with stones, and the debri
of mountain torrents, which in some p'a
ces had obi Grated all trace Of the road
"Danc me III dou', believe the world
a whecl-barrow," said a jolly inebria,e
sand Pm the wheel revolving on the hax
is."-"Now I'm in the mud" SAID he q
he Cell headlong in the gutter, "and nov
I'm on dry land" as he iatched UP OF