The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1869-10-14

the cattle pens. It. crashed through the roof
Of one and struck large OK on the horns,
breaking off the tips, passing entirely out Of
the enclosure Of the fair grounds. One of
the shafts, to which was attached an eccen-
trio, was thrown aside over Power Hall, and
landed at the side of Domestic Hail. One
of.thc rods was twisted off and carried at
least 300 yards in northeasterly direction,
striking man on the head who was standing
not far from thcamph!theatrc In almost every
direction smaller pieces Ct the machinery
were thrown, ard The air was literally full Of
splinters bc4tS, screws, nuts, pieces of rods
and such OF the lighter PORTIONS of the en-
CINE. Tauumcrable are the stories told of
how ieadly missiles aligned just in front of
people, arrested by gracious Providence in
their deadly fight.
To attempt pen picture of the scene
were folly. Imagine $4,000 people, pallid
with fear, rushing and crushing to and fro,
impelled by nameless something towards an
undefnable object; men bearing dead and
wounded into the various halls, women Shrek
ing and crying for fear their husbands, sons
or brothers might be among the killed strong
men convulsed and in tears because tempo
rarily separated from wives and children, and
in suspense as to their safety; here stumb-
ling across the mutlated form of man,
there appalled, with the horrid spectacle of
q skull absolutely stripped to its flesh; here a
side of flesh cooked until it looked like tripe,
there pool of cotted blood here horse
struck dead in its harness, with the occupants
of the carriage dumb and palsied with terror.
All this, and more, infinitely more, must be
imagined to fill in the details Of picture of
which it were next to impossible to give but
the faintcst outlines.
In time, however, this Babel and chaos
ceased, and the dead and wounded we're gath.
cred together, placed in wagons and started
for the, city, where they received every posi-
Bile attention that sympathy and skill could
bcstow. II. sa.-sf ~.ass
The procession of the manned and bleed
ing and of the corpscs into the city was sad
and sckening enough. It was forcible i'm
itation of that spectral panorama Of suffer
ing that engladed into the streets of Wash
ington city on that July morning when the
disorder from Bull Run za,.
The tidings of the accident reached town
in a very few minutes, and soon the
whole popuace was aroused Pennsyl-
vania and Delaware streets, as the principal
avenues from the grounds, were lined with
terror stricken people. eager to hear the news
At the gates stood groups of scared women
and children, shi,ering with the dread that
one Of those rude hearses might drop its load
OF blank miseries at their doorsteps. Never
have We seen the city of indianapolis, SO
thoroughly alarmed and aroused. The. pitch
| from JOY to horror was SO sudden and extreme
The newspaper Offices were crowded with
eager. news seekers; the rooms of w. w
| WeaTyer, the undertaken, whittier the dead
| bodies were taken to- await recognition and
| reclamation, were beseiged with. a crowd of
several hundred until midnight. The hotels
were ,thronged; the Surgical Institute, where
the wounded We're lying, was the focus, to-
towards which hundreds of people. converg-
ed, and wherever two or three could get. to-
gether there was "a hurried comparison l.of
notes and an exchange of the latest informa-
ton. "a ~rg...,
The accident happened not far from half
past four, and before six the fair grounds
were deserted and the city made tie deposi-
tory of the horrible story - s
There were twenty persons killed and
fifty wounded.1