Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1880-01-21
THE TAY BRIDGE DISASTER.
STORY OF AN EYEWITNESS

by an eyewitness of the calamity !:
Enjoying the cosey comforts OF my
own parlor lireaide On Sunday night,
| listened to the fierce clamor Of the
storm without and felt deep sense Of
gratitude for the security | possessed
mingled with feeling of compassion
for the poor sailors on the sea battling
with the storm. The children had
gathered round me for their usual
Bible stories, and with an instructive
sense of fear they nestled close to my
side as they heard the wild efforts Of
the blast to batter in the easement of
the window / chose the story of st.
Paul's shipwreck on the Island of Mel
ita, thinking that the storm without
might help me to impress upon their
young minds the terrible nature of the
dangers to which the Apostle was ex-
posed as the ship lay riding helplessly
upon the waves with four anchors be-
tween it and certain destruction.
While thus engaged blast of wind
more furious than before had caught
the chimney tops of house almost
opposite my parlor windows and
brought them down to the ground
with laundering crash that startled
every one of us to our feet.
Stepping over to the easement gazed
out upon the street, and just then
blaze of moonlight lighted up the
broad expanse of the Tay down below,
and the long white sinuous line of the
Tay Bridge came into view. looked
at my watch and saw it was exactly
seven O'Clock. The Edinburgh train
will he due Immediately, exclaimed
to my wife; come and let US watch
to see if it will attempt to cross on
such a night" So saying, We turned
down the gas in the parlor and pre-
pared to await the appearance Of the
train The light by this time had be-
come most fitful. Great masses of
clouds were sweeping across the ex-
panse of the heavens, at times totally
obscuring the light of the full moon.
There she comes, cried one of the
children, and, at that moment, the
slowly moving lights of the Edin-
burgh train could be distinctly seen
rounding the curve at Wormit, and,
passing the signal box at the south
side, entering upon the long straight
line of that portion of the bridge. The
train once on the bridge seemed to
move along with great swiftness, and,
when the engine entered the tunnel
like cloisters of the great girders, my
little girl exactly described the effect
of the lights as seen through the lat
tice work, when she exclaimed, Look,
pap, isn't that like lightning All
this takes some time to write down,
but to the eye it seemed as if almost
simult ,neous with the entrance of the
train upon the bridge A cometlike
burst of fiery sparks sprang out as if
forcibly elected into the darkness from
the engine In long visible trail the
streak of fire was seen till quenched in
the water below. Then there was
absolute darkness on the bridge.
OVER THE BRIDGE.
A silence fell upon our eager group
at the window. Then, with stunning
force, the idea broke upon my mind.
Heavens !" | cried, II fear the train
is over the bridge !" With growing
horror | watched the curve at the
north side to try if l could see the
train pass that point; bat, as several
minutes passed and no moving object
broke the continuity of the bridge at
that point, snatehed up my hat and
hurried down and across the Magda-
len Green, to meet several individuals
all bent upon the same errand as N.Y.
self. The terrific nature of the gale
at this time may be inferred from the
fact that, descending the slope of the
green, | had to crouch down upon the
grass to prevent my being blown
bodily away. 1t seemed as if the
wind had become solid compelling
power. One gentleman was blown
against another on the green, and
both tumbled together The massive
signal post beside the signal box on
the north end of the bridge was bent
by the wind like willow wand, and
on entering upon the esplanade the
sand and pebbles were dashing about
with such force that the hands and
face were positively sore with the vio-
lence of the impact. My hands held
behind my back for minute, were
completely filed with the drifting
sand and pebbles Looking toward
the river nothing clearly could be made
out. The water from the broken New
port water pipe on the bridge was
pouring into the river, and, being
caught in its descent by the wind was
lashed into misty spray that helped
to veil the gap that had by this time
been made in the iron highway. A
number of gentlemen having now col
lected below the bridge on the es-
planade, one of them climbed up into
the signal box above, and there learned
from the man stationed less than
mile from the scene of the great catas-
trophe that he knew nothing more of
what had happened than that the train
signalled to him as having entered
upon the bridge fully fifteen minutes
before had never reached his station,
and that all telegraphic communica-
ton with the other side had ceased.
What had in reality happened the pub
lie knew now as well as they will ever
be likely to know. An entire train,
with its living freight, had been swept
into the bosom of the Tay. The rest
was left to the imagination. In the
clear sunlight of this morning | have
again visited the spot, but so calmly
was the river then rolling onward to-
ward the sea that, save for the incon-
| testable evidence of the great gap in
midriver, it was difficult to think that
the significant scene of last night was
other than a horrid nightmare.
Edison AND HIS CAT-One of Mr.