San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1880-01-24
FROM. TINE OLD WORLD.
Ep1sBuRaH, Dec, 3Oth, 1879.

yVu su0 uuy uoiotV yvcSoAN"yt S"Ay
paper. containing an account Of the
most appalling railroad disaster, that
has ever occurred in this country, The
whole country stands aghast at the sud-
ness of the accident, and the fearful
fatality attending il. Not ono soul
was left to tell the tale Of sorrow to
the griet stricken friends Of the unfor-
tunate passengers, op the i'll,
train. Only one melancholy cousola.
ton is left the friends Of the lost ones,
and that is, that their safferipgs must
have been short. There could have
been but o moment of inaccessible an
guish as the train with all its precious
burden, was prscipitated ::from, the
highest point 10 the great bridge a
distance Of over 80 feet into the sesthI
ing, boiling waters Of the, ,Tay, No
sound could be heard above the roar
of the tempest although several persons
were looking at the train, or the lights
rather, from both sides Of tho rives, at
the poiut Of the catastrophe, in the
twinwling Of az eye il, was All over
One sudden crash and then q fearful
plunge, and all the train load / Of hu-
man freight passed into eternity. No
less than 13 spans Of, 245 # each gave
way at once, and gap is left in the
great bridge Of more than o mile in
length. The bridge was the h pride Of
this country, and was considered one
of the greatest if not the greatest ttri,
umph Of modern engineering skill Of
modern times. Scarcely two years
have elapsed since the bridge was
open for the passage. of,traips, and
this evening almost the entire strue-
lures lies buried beneath the turbid
waters of the Tay. A large amount Of
debris has been washed ashore at
various points consisting mostly of
petitions ofthe railway carriages togeth
er with mahy articles Of wearing ap.
parel, carpet bags, portmanteaus, etc,
belonging to the passengers. Although
more than 4S,hours have passed since
the accident. no bodies have been re-
covered from the wreck, except that Of
one woman which foated ashore at
Newport yesterday. The train being
confined in cage Of iron lattice work
on either side. and overhead, and. be
ing thus carried to the bottom of the
river toa depth Of twenty-five feet al
low tide. and 35 at high tide, it
is predicted that the bodies of the pas
sengcrs will be removed if at all With
great difficulty. Active efforts are be
ing made however toi that end. The
services = of skilled divers
have been procured tor the
purpose of locating the position OF
the train, but their efforts haye not
vet been crowned with success. Not
withstanding the frighttul loss of hu-
man life as well as the great financial
loss attending this almost unplralell.
ed disaster, the rebuilding ofthe bridge
is already talked Of as probable in
the near future. The storm was said
to be the severest that has visited the
country since 1868. I have never seen
anything to equal it here at Edinburgh
For more than two hours the tempest
ragged over this city, SO that it was al
most impossible for foot passengers to
keep from being blown down. But
little damage however was done to the
city. iD 5...i. ...''.'::. r'' 'i '.'
Dec. 3lst,-Later: BY diving oper.
ations yesterday evening, the lost car
riages we're discovered, and will be
raised together with their ghastly
freight, as sooa as the necessary ma
chinery is prepared and gotten ready
A careful inspection of the books OF
the North British Railway Co.,
along the line has shown that the
number of passengers On the il.-fat.d
train was much less than at first re-
ported. The total number will prob
ably not exceed one hundred. While
this is reason for graduation, it scaroe-
ly detracts anything from the appalling
nature of the disaster. Ii Is now be-
lieved that the train at the moment Of
the crash was. partially lifted from its
track. and tilted over against the iron
lattice work, on the east side, anI thus
by the tremendous lateral pressure.
caused the great iron girders to give
way at some poiB. aud OF course as
soon as it was broken at one point the
whole st: ucture fell. This theory
seems the most probable Of any yet
advanced az ia. storm reached its
acme Just as the train rss passing on
TO the bridge. Just about The moment
When the ridge fell. it has been as
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