Connecticut western news., 1880-11-24
A Years Disasters.
SOME OF THE DISASTERS WITH LOSS OF
 LIFE DURING THE YEAR 1880.

The New York Times says: The loss of the Sound steamer Rhode Island, the burning of the St. Peters, Minn., Asy- lum for the Insane, with loss of life, and the Stellarton disaster, which killed tif- ty men and made thirty three widows and no orphans, and all within few days, combine to make record such as happily can scarcely be duplicated with
 in 8 period of equal brevity outside of this remarkable year. The horrors of 1880 began early. On Jan. 5 the Turn Halle fire in this City resulted in seven deaths. Two weeks and two days later seventy lives were lost in an explo- sion in the Fairlady pit of the Ly- cett colliery, Newcastle under Lyme. On January 27 twenty-four deaths re- suited from an explosion in the Santia- go (Chili artillery barracks. On the 2Oth of February two lives and a half million dollars were lost by the fire at 384 Broadway. In March, on the 31st, forty-two colliers lost their lives at Anderlues, Belgium. In April, on the 21st, the walls of the Madison Square Garden fell, killing four people. May had accidents which would be re- markable in any other list, but which scarcely deserve mention in this list. On June II occurred the Narragansett- Stonington collision, resulting in thirty deaths, and at the end of the month the Seawanhaka was burned and thirty six lives lost. In the middle of July came to Risca (Wales) colliery disaster with 8 death roll of 12O. A week later occurred the collision of the Garland and the Ma mic, on Detroit River, by which sixteen pleasure seekers were drowned. The railroad disasters began in August with the excursion season. On the 11th twenty-six persons were killed in the collision at Mays Landing, on the West Jersey Railroad, and on the next day seventeen persons were injured by the result of broken axle on the New York and New Jersey Road at Spring Valley. The City of Vera Cruz and sixty weight lives were lost off the Florida coast in in the storm of August 29. In the first week of September there was another colliery horror at Seaham, England, by | which 130 lives were lost. On October 10 twenty seven deaths were caused by the accident on the Pennsylvania Rail road at Pittsburg, and ten days later an uncertain number of lives-not less than fifty-were caused by the loss of the Alpena on treacherous Lake Michigan The Jones Station collision on the Gin cinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway, on Oct. 20, which injured fifteen per- sons,' brings down the cases mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph Nothing, it will be seen, has been said of some score of cases by which five or ten lives were lost, nor of the dreadful earthquake at Manila, and the land slip in Bengal, as to which remote events the cabled information was not clear or full. What is specially dis | heartening about this matter Is that so many of the accidents were prevent 1 able. The reluctance of @ Coroners jury to hurt any ones feelings is pro- verbal, yet even they have this year been frequently compelled to harshness. The Madison Square walls fell because they were of faulty construction, one railroad accident was clearly traced to the fact that the engineer had never seen the patent brake before the trip on which his act killed score of persons, both Captains in one marine collision were severely censured, etc., and yet, so far as has been made public, no one has
 been adequately punished.