The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-06-16
A GREAT DISASTER
The Horrors of the JOhnStOwn
FlOed Rivalled.
A Railroad Bridge in Switzerland Gizes Way,
Precipitating the Cars into the Water
Below-Over n Hundred Killed.

BERNE, June 15.-The total number of
people who lost their lives yesterday by the
collapse of a railroad bridge on the
Moenchenstein & Bale railroad is now
placed at l20, with hundreds more or less
injured. Another account of the disaster
says fifty-seven bodies are already recov-
cred and that forty persons are severely
wounded. 1t is feared many others are
dead whose bodies have not been found.
The victims were mostly leading citizens of
Bale and its neighborhood.
The scenes were heartrending which
were witnessed in Bale to-day when the
bodies of q large number Of victims were
taken there by the Borrowing relatives, for
representatives of a majority of the best
families OF Bale were among the killed and
injured. Several families are practically
wiped entirely out of existence by the dis
aster, the full extent OF which can not be
known even at this hour. Bale is now the
scene of bitter desolation and mourning.
Nearly every family in the city may be said
to have been touched by the calamity, for
those families who have not actually
lost one of their members have dear friends
or acQuaiDtances either among the dead
or among those who are mourning
the loss Of relatives. Those who are
wounded include so many serious injuries
that almost each hour records another death
or another case In which the physicians
have given up all hope of saving the pa
TENTS life. Everything the local and mu-
nicipal authorities can do to help the
wounded, recover the dead or assist those
in distress, is being done. Clergymen,
priests and physicians, large force of
troops and firemen and scores Of vehicles to
be used as ambulances, have been dis
patched to the scene OF the wreck. The
81.
moving the wreckage, recovering the bodies
of the dead and transporting the wounded
to their homes or to hospitals. Physicians
and ministers of the gospel are doing noble
work in administering to the wounded and
comforting the bereaved. The neighbor-
hood of the collapsed bridge now resembles
in many features the after episodes of
battle, the closing acts in some warlike
struggle. Still moro so was this the case
last night, when the river banks were illu-
minated by huge fires, troops and firemen
working increasingly, dragging the river
for the dead, nursing the wounded and
keeping guard around spots where it was
not thought advisable to admit the crowds
of people who had fiocked to the scene from
every village in the canton.
The work Of the soldiers in dragging the
river is greatly impeded by the fact that
the stream is considerably swollen by melt
ing snow. Thus the waters carried away
many bodies, and several days. dragging
will be required before the soldiers work
can be complets. That somebody" is to
blame for the accident nobody doubts, but
the people are so taken up with their pres
emit duty that the question of blame is post
poned for the present from offitial con-
sideration.
Shortly after the first horror Of the
crashing of the engine and cars through
the bridge and into the swiftly running
stream had died away, the survivors saw
at once a scene which rivaled in horror the
most heartrending features of the Johns
town disaster. Beneath what remained Of
the bridge was hideous mass Of car wood,
car wheels. engines, ETC., intermixed with
still quivering heads bespattered with
blood and brains, protuding arms and legs,
bloody garments Of all descriptions, hats
and bonnets, umbrellas and pFrasols, hands
and feet. while floating down stream were
numbers Of dead bodies and family strug-
Cling men, women and children, fe now
and then uttering horrible cries. After
the first moment Of partial paralyzation,
which followed the revelation Of this hor-
ror, the survivors did their utmost to res
cue those whose lives were in danger. The
work of pulling those who still remained in
the two suspended cars from the perlious
position in which they wore placed was one
of great danger and difficulty and resulted
in number of instances of he
roic conduct. In the meanwhile pas
sengers were dispatched on all
sides for medical relief, which was
most urgently needed by hundreds of
wounded people whose distressing cries for
help and prayers to God, asking him to re-
lieye them of their sufferings were most
heart rending When the relatives Of
the dead and wounded began to arrive and
identify some of the victims, there was
another most awful series Of incidents.
The widest grief was expressed on all
sides: weeping and mourning filled the air
and several people were with difficulty re-
strained from casting themselves head
long into the stream. AS night drew near
enormous crowds Of country people and
citizens of Bale gathered around the fatal
spot, taxing the power Of the military to
the utmost in the efforts Of these people to
to get nearer and close view of the hor-
rors piled beneath the bridge. To such an
extent did this prevail that crowds of peo-
pie initiated the soldiers, firemen and rail-
road men, and bivoucked for tho night in
vicinity Of the remains of the broken
bridge.