, 1880-01-24

medical student, son OF the postmaster
and Mr.. Russell, druggist, also formed
members of the party. and showed great
willingness to do all in their powes
should their services be required. The
Dundee left the Craig-pier shortly afte'
| 10 o'clock, and, after steaming out to the
| deep.water channel, the steamers head
was turned to the wind.
Considering the force Of the gale. which,
however, had abated considerably, che
vessel made good Roadway. The moon
was somewhat obscured by clouds. aud
although all eyes were strained to see
where the break had occurred, it was with
the utmost difficulty. owing to the force
of the wind aud the driving spray. to
make out anything until the vessel got
quite near the bridge. By that time the
moon was less otscursd and it became
painfully evident that the whole stretch
Of the high glrders, upwards OF s3.OO0ft.
in length, had been swept away. AS the
steamer neared the wreck, the remark OF
the late Mr.. Patrick Matthew came forci-
bly TO the mind-nsmeIy, that an excep-
tionally violent gale might blow the struc-
ture into the Tay. There. sure enough,
was a wide gap where the high Orders.
the most conspicuous feature OF the great
bridge. spanned the navigable channel
In the uncertain light, some on board the
steamer thought they saw human beings
on one or more Of the piers. Thls was
soon seen to be an illusion due 70 :be. 70.
mains of the lronwork left standing on the
stone portion of those piers. One vaIniy
strOve to CONJECTURE how the AS maSHivs
cirders could have been blown 50 coru-
pletely down without leaving some traces.
Various surrnises were hazsrded, the most
probable seeming to be tibet the tram had
gone we'll on to the girders when o gust OF
greater strength had caught the structure.
There would thus be, in addition TO me
ordinary vibration of the train. an enoFm-
Gus lateral pressure from the wind the
carriages of the train would, OF coufsey
also feel the full force of the blast, ana,
once the weakest part yielded, the whole
would 60 With q sudden crash. The
astonishing thug is that the TALL OF q
an enormous mass of iron was not heard
in the town. 1t would appear that no
noise beyond the roar of the gale was
heard even by persons who were on tne
watch for the crossing of the train at the.
Dundee end of the bridge. This in itself
is q proof of the violence OF the gale. As
the steamer neared the bridge what
appeared to be broken water was observed
stretching across the gap, marking, it was
presumed. the submerged girders sna
train.
It was seen that it would be hazardous
TO approach too near the wreck, and q
boat was i'm mediately manned bysa bold
crew, Captain Robertson. the harbou,r T.
master, taking the helm. They then pull
ed away out into the darkness and were
soon lost to view. While the boat was
absent there were those on board who still
expressed hopes that a few of the Inflated
passengers might be found clingiug to the
piers. The boat was pulled as close to
the bridge as was deemed safe, aud then
her head was turned towards the north
shore. She was pulled across the whole
open space to the first pier intact, then
through between the piers and back again
along the west eide till the standing piers
on the south side were reached. The
task was a difficult and hazardous one, and
the gentlemen forming the crew deserve
great credit for their gallant s~xertions.
They were occasionally withinia boat's
length of the remains of the piers, without
seeing q vestige Of the wreck On tbe
stone portion Of one or two of them Afew
iron bars still remained; it Was, those