The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-01-28


a,,,ro ,crcth the middle was the part where
10 !, cess M many kinds had 10 be guarded
sgsin.t. This central portion extepded Ior
q o00 feet. and was composed OF giruers,
forming "a spans Of 2f5 feet each and 20
feet In height above the piers on when 'ney
rest The rails were laid on the bottom OF
these central girdcrs, and the sides iormea
Lind Of jattice.work from the intcriacing OF
The rods and beams; being pnrposeiy eit
amen 40 that there should be less surface
10 offer resistance to the wind. Practically,
tbese q. 600 feet OF central structure formed
aiunnel through which The train passed. But
Svbon the train passcd. the in:erstices lett
Tar the free rush Of the wind were momen-
ts,tly allied IN --.he side OF the bridge, Tor
rbe length and height Of the train, became
sol,d: ire whole immeasurable pressure OF
the tornado came against an uBbroken
wsll-a wall OF great height and narrow
base. The leverage on the supporting
columns and braces was enormous; tue
strength Which sufliced for ordinary wea-
Their proved unequal 10 the stress OF ths
terrible gate; and the whole mass-piers,
c;rders, engine. carriages, and hundred
human bcings-toppled over together into
the furious food beneath.
Not one human being escaped. III Is this
completeness OF the catastrophe when
makes IL so tragic. Sudden II was, also;
but railway disasters are always sudden.
But here was train out oil when no one
came alive, snd no one had airy more chance
Of coming out alive than il the earth nad
opened aud swallowed it up. The speed
was probably about twenty-five miles an
hour. At the moment Of the collapse the
train was in an iron cage, and train and cage
Of cd than
hundred feet sheer down into raging
stream thirty feet deep. For a little while
the people on the Dundee side who waited
for the coming over Of the train, and who
knew that something had happened because
IL did not come, fancied that the driver
might have pulled up before the bridge
went down. Two or three men started to
walk over to see, but came back in panic
at the fury OF the tempest. All they could
make out was that part Of the bridge was
gone, but nobody knew positively that the
Train had gone with the bridge until some
OF the mail-bags bad been washed ashore
some miles away. The crowds who
swarmcd into the Dundee station on
the first Jumor of 3n accident-the hus-
bands and wives, brothers and sisters,
relatives and friends OF the passengers
we're kept for hours in suspei Sc by what
one paper calls the iudiciOus silence OF the
railway officials; by what should call the
cruel callOusness common to the official
mind on such occasions. so fierce was the
storm that all communication between the
opposite shores was suspended. No steam
er dared leave port. BY and by one came
over from Newport 10 Dundee, and the gale
having abaed, the provost, the harbor- mas
ter, the railway people, and some citizens
OF Dundee embarked on voyage OF dis
coyery at about 10 O'Clock. AS they reached
the bridge the moon came out. and by her
light they first saw the CHASTITY rent in the
feet cut clean out OF il by the
storm. A boat pulled through, but nothing
could be seen OF tie wreck save Il huge
girder o. two. The Tay had swallowed tue
whole; and down 10 this moment. two days
afterWard, but one body has cen recovered.
Divers have been down, but they came up
again with the report that nothing can be
seen Of the wrecked carriages. There are
1uickssnds all about, and il is doubtful
whether anything will ever be seen except
The bits Of splintered wood and various
waits and straya which are floating ashore
from hour 10 hour.
Nobody, we are assured, from London
was among the victims. There were no
through passengers. 1t was local train |
1t was filed, moreover, mainly or wholly, |
with thrd-class passengers; persons in !
whose lives and fortunes the superior |
classes can be supposed to take. a. rule, |
but lukewarm interest. Yet j can only |
end as began, by saying that all London
is aghast at this calamity. You see stran- |
gers stop each other in the streets TO ask for
news The papers come out with their
meagre bulletins from hour to hour, and |
are Just as eagerly bought As if they had |
TO tell The Queen has telegraph
cd 10 the Provost of Dundee that she is in
eXpressibly shocked, and feels most deeply
for those who have lost friends and rela-
tlons. The manager OF the North British
railway announced at first that the number
OF dead was 200 or 800. How the blunder
happened is not known, but he has since
said that the whole number will not exceed
ninety and he is heartily cursed for add
Ing a needless horror TO the story. Public
indignation takes odd shapes sometimes.
In consequence Of the disaster, North
British Railway stock fell 10 per cent. l
heard more than one man say he wished it
would fail 90, if only 10 punish them for
cxaggeratiDg the number of killed. But
these justly angry persons, it is perhaps
needless TO add, are not owners OF North
British stock. G. w. ).