Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1860-01-21
THE DISASTER AT LAWRENCE.

The dreadful catastrophe of the falling of tn
PEN berton Mills, the frightful destruction of hu
man life which accompanied it-a multitude hur
ried out of the world in a few moments, som,
crushed under the ruins and others perishing NOR,
miserably 10 the flames which succeeded the fal
of the buildings-oford a lesson which we ouch
not TO neglect. We are putting up structures NOR,
and more spaciou, FOR almost every purpose of life
for mills Of various kinds, for churches and othe-
public edifces, for warehouses, and for dwelling
houses; the new buildings everywhere overtop The
older ones and overshadow a larger area, and the
temptation is to built them slightly and economi
cally. We hardly ever consider that the broad
and lofty structures we are rearing should je more
solidly and substantially built than if they were
smaller-that the walls should be thicker and more
securely cemented and that all the materials EN-.
ployed should be carefully chosen for their strength.
Frightful consequences sometimes follow, but they
do not seem to much affect us. We not unfre.
qucntly hear of buildings giving way while the
workmen are employed in rearing them and some.
times with the loss of lives. Others stand O little
while, and then fall and crush their inmates.
This carelessness,if it be not rather an inexcusa.
oN SeH'y peibohJ, &c y " tue
buildings We erect the bridges which carry rail.
ways over our streams, and over which pas. heavy
trains loaded with passengers and with freight,
are too often constructed with the same fimsiness
and insecurity. We hear, every now and then, Of
tn ,ss bridges breaking under the weight of the
trains, passengers drowned or crushed to dseh
and cars carrying large herds of cattle precipita.
ted into the chasms below. 1t was only a few
days since that q disaster Of this kind occurred
near Schaghtichoke. The prevailing tendency il
everywhere to avoid any unnecessary cost for the
sake Of safety, never TO admit of any superfuous
strength or solidity, to stop the expense at tina,
limit at which bare security is thought to be at
tanned. We used formerly to build our steamer.
for coast and deep sea navigation on this plan; we
constructed them almost AS slightly as if we in.
tended them for inland navigation on our smooth
rivers, and we paid dearly for our parsimony.-
Steamer after steamer was wrecked hundreds
after hundreds went down to :heir graves in the
deep, till we learned to give our steamers the
same strength Of construction and capacity of
resistance that the builders Of Great Britain gave
to theirs.
The fall Of the Pemberton Mills is not one of
those cases in which it can be said with any plau-
sibi!ity that nobody is TO blame. They were
regarded as of scandalously slight construction
when they were built they have now stood seven
years, and those who knew the defects of their
construction at first, must have wondered how the
walls held together 50 long. The jarring Of The
machinery within that period had probably shaken
the cement to powder, and the hour at length ar
rived when the materials could no longer coherc.
The proprietors, who could scarcely have failed to
know the insecurity of the building, have a heavy
responsibility to support-that of the death of
more than two hundred people suddenly sent GU,
tha world, and others mangled, manned and bear.
ing life in pain.-N. y. Post.