St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-01-05
The Lake Shore Disaster.

The Lake Shore Disaster.
Under the above head the New York
Tribune has some forcible and convinc-
ing remarks, a portion of which we
copy:
That all our discoveries, inventions,
facilities for travel which have put a
new face upon the earth should come to
this Why, this very bridge which
went crashing down like rotten wood
was ''an improvement" upon the old
trestle-work. This very bridge, which
sunk under 10 very extraordinary
weight, was considered one of the safest
of its kind in the country. 1t had been
put to the strictest tests and had not
been found wanting. 1t had been tried
with the weight of six locomotives.
Heavy trains had crossed both it's tracks
simultaneously without causing any i'm
portant DETECTION. Engineers approx
ed it, travellers confided in it, the cor
poration, as we are told, had done all
that it could do to make it safe, and
there it lies in ruin, all it's iron and ma
sOnry in chaotic confusion, with one
hundred human lives lost as the dire
result of an insufficiency which was
suspected by nobody! What is there
to say? What is there to do?
1t is now self-evident that the bridge
of the Lake Shore road, while strong
enough for the test of weight, at the
time of its construction, has since that
time lost its strength. Ten years ago
the art of building that class of iron
bridges was, compared with the pres
ent, in its infancy. The fatal defect
may have been in construction or in
material or in both. There is popular
belief that iron or steel at low tempera-
lures becomes brittle. Before the in
PRODUCTION of steel for rails, it will be
remembered that they were constantly
breaking during the cold season, some
times with lamentable results. Not
many years ago the iron roof of a rail-
way station at Troy gave way, involv-
ing considerable loss of life. 1t ap-
pears certain that cast iron can never
to any extent be used in the cOnstruc-
ton of railway bridges, and that any
iron with constant use and under daily
pressure will lose something of its
strength. On the other hand, many and
very thorough experiments by careful
experts give no such result. Iron and
steel have been subjected to the low
temperatures which chemical mixtures
afford, far below anything possible in
an American winter, and while in that
condition have been tested by every
variety of strain. 1t is the firm con-
viction of those who have made these
experiments that the metal is not in the
least weakened by extreme cold, or
even by frequent and great changes of
temperature. There is also a theory
current that frequent vibrations, such
as are caused by passing trains, change
in time the molecular constitution of
the iron, rendering it more crystalline
and brittle. This theory seems to be
supported by the practice of condemning
and dlscarding cannon that have been
fired certain number of times, though
there is then no external evidence of
their growing weakness. But it is re-
Piled to this that cannon are subjected
to strain which is far beyond the elias
tlcity OF metal, and it thus becomes
permanently stretched. When the met
al has been subjected to millions of
blows and strains, each one of which
was within its capacity for separate en-
DURANGO, the closest tests revealed no
change in its structure or strength. But
here is the terrible fact before us: the
bridge at Ashtabula gave way under a
weight that was far below its nominal
and tested breaking strains. That
change has taken place during the ten
or eleven years it has been in use.
Whatever the laboratory experiments
on the effects of cold or vibration NAV
teach to the contrary, this disaster
ought to and will confirm the popular
belief, unless some different and more
complete explanation can be offered.
The bridge, as now appears, could hard
ly have been safe for very heavy trains
under any circumstances. In the wealth
er of that bitter night it was no better
than trap.
The Brooklyn fire has led to a very
strict inspection of theaters, and the
Lake Shore accident ought to occasion
very severe inspection of railway
bridges. We wish we could be sure
that it will, and that the companies at
any cost of money or of convenience
will give their whole system of bridges a
thorough investigation. With the ac-
knowledged engineering ability of this
country there ought to be no difficulty
in arriving at minimum of risk, wheth-
er we regard construction or material.
If iron is never safe during our severe
winters we must go back to wood. If
the present method of construction is
not to be relied on, we have men of
ability who can find out a new and a
safer one. Companies can better afford
to pass dividends, and even to suspend
the running of their trains, than to
murder travellers in this hideous and
miserable way. There is no fatalism in
the matter. There are ways of know
ing whether bridge is safe-better
than the clumsy and uncertain one of
testing it with unusually heavy trains :;
these are problems which can be work
ed out with slate and pencil, and which
every builder of bridges should be COM
petent to solve.
B In frantic endeavors to break
down the testimony of Eliza Pinkston
in Louisiana, the Democratic news
papers seem to be labering under the
impression that this woman is the only
witness of Democratic outrage and
cruelty in Louisiana, and consequently
anxious to break down her character
and discredit her testimony. There are
hundreds of living witnesses, and the
details of scores of fiendish murders
implicate the Democratic leaders of
Louisiana with the instigation if not
commission of the crime.
The winter term of Dartmouth col
lege, for twelve weeks, opened Thurs
day, with smaller number in attend
ance than usual, as many are teaching.
President Smith is still confined to his
house, and is too i'll to be seen. During