The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1880-01-29
UNDER TIDE TAY.
Four Divers Who Explored the Bottom for Dead
Bodies.

Four Divers Who Explored the Bottom for Dead
Bodies.
The Dundee correspondent of the Lon
don Times gives an account Of the opera
ton of the four divers employed in the
portion of the river Tay where the train
is engulfed. Of their investigations it
SAYS: 1.-THE belief that bodies may be
found in the remains of the carriages
still undiscovered has been pretty gen.
orally abandoned. All of them, it is
thought, must have been swept away by
the tide, and as the time is approaching
when they may be expected to float,
measures are being taken for recovering
them Some fifteen boats from the
whaling feet are to begin search in all
the sand-banks and bays Of the Firth to.
morrow, and Mr.. Walker, General Man
ager of the Ninth British Railway Com
pany, has written to the chief Constable
of Forfarshire, Fifesbire and Berwick
shire, asking them to instruct their off.
GERS to keep diligent lookout along the
shore. Mr.. Walker has.also asked that
the greatest care should be taken in the
treatment of the bodies, and has offered
not only to pay all expenses so incurred,
but also to give gratuity of Go for every
body found. Evidence is already on
hand for the Identification of nearly
every body on tho train. Many relatives
and friends of the dead have come from
distance, and are patiently waiting in
the town, Others have sent photographs,
In several instances the numbers marked
on keys carried bv the missing passen-
gers have been furnished.
Such quantity of wreckage has now
come ashore that very little of the undis-
covered carriages can still be remaining
inside the girders. The action of the
tide is evidently breaking them up more
and more every day."
THEtRIEs OF THE ACCIDENT.
The Pail Mall Gazette thus discusses
tho accident: 1.-THE first point ascertained
by the discovery by the divers of a part
of the wreck Of the train is, that the
bridge did not fall before the moment
when the train was upon the portion that
fell. If so, the idea of an independent
destruction of the bridge by the gale, and
the leap of the engine and train into the
chasm, must be definitely abandoned.
Next, it is evident that the train was
proceeding at foot pace of three miles
or thereabouts per hour. The theory of
of violent conCussion of the engine
against the girder, must, therefore, be
given up. 1t would be too much to de-
clare it impossible for the train to have
left the rails provided as they were with
guards) at that speed; BUTT is extremely
improbable that such was the case. We
have thus to regard the girders that gave
way as supporting a slowly moving
weight of 80 or 100 tons, distributed over
the length of one span of the bridge. As
far as weight is concerned, this would
have added to the stability of the bridge,
unless 30 considerable an amount of os-
citation had been set up as would have
passed the limit of safety were the bridge
unloaded. We are thus led to regard the
bad effects Of the train on the bridge as
mainly limited to the addition of sur
face Of some 1000 to $500 feet to the re-
sisting area OF one or two girders at a
time.