The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1927-04-01
EDITOR, 81, TELLS
OF WRECK IN 1856
COLLAPSE OF BRIDGE IN MIS-
souri, RESULTED IN 81
DEATHS
Daniel NJ. GrissOm, Veteran St. Louis
Newspaperman, Was One of Sur
vivOrs of Wreck of First Railroad
Train to Start for Jefferson City

One of the survivors Of the wreck Of
the first railroad train to start for JEFF
fersOn City from st. Louis is Daniel M.
GrissOm, veteran st. Louis newspaperman,
who Is now 81 years old. He still re-
members clearly the events of that tragic
day, seVenty-tWO years ago, when thirty
one OF his fellow excursiOnists were killed
when the bridge over which the train
was passing collapsed. His story, as told
in the st. Louis GIObe-DemOerat. is a
description of the first disastrous train
wreck in the state of Missouri.
Six hundred st. LOuisans, dressed in their
best ana Keyed to a high pitch of excite
ment, boarded the long string of wooden
passenger coaches.
There was much confusion on the plat
form. The arrival of high railroad officials,
directors of the line, aldermen. state gov
eminent OFFICIALS, bankers. editors, poll
t~icians, the most prominent citizenry of
st. Louis and of the state of Missouri All
was hustle and hurry.
Among the distinguished company travel
ing to Jefferson City that day to be vel
coined and entertained at the state capital
as hOnored guests was a young newspaper
man who had come to st. Louis from Ken
lucky only a few years before and was al
ready editor of a paper which had given
much support to railroad building projects
in the state. He was Daniel NJ. GrissOm
blue-eyeu, eager for new experiences anC
already making a reputation for himself
as a writer or strong editorials.
The Train Wrecked
Telling the story of that day, GrissOn
1T was about noon and we had beer
going along, smoothly enough, since earl
morning. We were approaching the bridg
over the water. Suddenly there was al
awful crash, a Sickeniug lurch-anOthe
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. We were mOvin.
forward Jerking, sickeningly. HOrrid sound
came from ahead. We realized in a fasl
what must have happened-the bridge wa
gOne-we were being pulled into the rive
by the weight of the cars ahead, whic
had already crashed over the bank! The
our car was going, too. The violent mo
ton threw us to the floor.
Il was the first to gain my feet. l ma
have been unconscious for a moment, 70
the movement had stopped. When I &C
sight. No one in the car was seriOusl
hurt, though we were all badly shaken Il
and some of us we're bleeding and so wea
from shock that we were hardly able {
walk.
''Thirty-One persons had been killed i
the cars ahead of us, however. first amor
them the chief engineer of the rOCd, VIII
was in charge of the locomotive"
: GrissOm, who was % years old Jan. ?
is probably also the oldest living resideI
/ of KirkwOOd. He has made his home thel
since 1868.
Y Newspaper Career
T For thirty-fve years after transferrin
e his home from Davis county, Kentuck
where he was born in 1880, to st. LOui
GrissOm was actively connected with S
Louis newspapers.
/ AS a boy he had felt the urge to wri
and the career of a journalist attractC
him strongly. st. LOui seemed an a
prOpriate place in which to make a begi
ming, so he went there when he was
years old.
The young stranger from Kentucky d
termined to make a living by writing, a
lG