Year: 1877



 Story of Death.

 The following is from special dispatch from Ashtabula, Ohio, relative to the dis aster on the Lake Shore railroad:

 The haggard dawn which drove the darkness out of this valley of the shadow of death seldom saw 8 ghastlier sight than was revealed with the coming of this morning. On either side of the ravine drowned the dark and bare arches from which the treacherous timbers had fallen, while at their base the great heaps of ruins covered the hundred men, women and children who had so suddenly been called to their death. The three charred bodies lay where they had been placed in the hurry and confusion of the night. Piles of iron lay on the thick ice or i'm bedded ill the shallow water of the stream. The fires smoldered in great heaps where many of the helpless victims had been all consumed, while men went about in wild excitement, seeking some trace of 8 lost one among the wounded or dead The list of the saved and wounded having been already sent the sad task re- mains of discovering who may be among the dead The latter task will be the most difficult of all until the continued absence of friend here or there will al- low of but one explanation-that he was among those who took this fatal leap.

 All the witnesses agree as to the main facts of the accident. It was about eight o'clock The train was moving at moderate rate of speed, the Ashtabula station being just this side of the ravine. Suddenly and without warning the train plunged into the abyss, the forward loco Fo4r Almost instantly the lamps and stoves set fire to the cars, and many who doubt less were only stunned and who might otherwise have been saved fell victims to the fury of the flames. On the arrival of the Cleveland train the surgeon of the road organized corps of assistants and made tour of the various hotels, where the wounded were attended to, such help being given to cash as was possible. The people of Ashtabula lent willing hands, and all that human skill could do to save life or ease pain was done. The train which came from Cleveland for this pur- pose was immediately backed into posi- tion, and long before daylight the per sons least wounded were being prepared for transportation to Cleveland to be sent to the hospitals or to their homes.

 The scene among the wounded was almost as suggestive of horror as the nearest the station contained a maj jority of the wounded. They were scattered about on temporary beds on the floors of the dining-room, parlors and offices. In one place man with broken leg would be under the hands of Q surgeon, who rapidly and slzillfully performed his yOT.Ir A1on ], bruises and spotted with plaster, looked as though he had been showed upon, except where the dark lines of blood across the face or limbs told different story. In another corner a poor woman morned from the pain she could not con- ceal, while over all there brooded the hush of awe which always accompanies calamities of this character.

 From Mir. Charles Collins, chief en- gineer of the road, it is ascertained that tirely of iron eleven years old. It had an arch 15O feet long in the clear, the whole length of the bridge being 157 feet. It has been tested with six loco- motives, and at the time of the disaster it was considered in perfect condition. Mir. WILLIS $5LNCHo ho OP4IAoll 12' oO uAIO ct1uoC of the accident, expressing himself as be- ing utterly unable to do so.

 have just returned from the ruins, and have seen the smoldering remains of at least dozen bodies, only one of which has any resemblance whatever to a human body. By the side of another heap of embers was found pair of scis- sors, also tuft of grayish hair No others means of Identification could be found, although the hunt may be more successful when the removal of the up- per rubbish begins. The irsn of the bridge is twisted in endless confusion with that of the cars, while the locomotive is wrecked in every part.

 Charles s. Carter, of Brooklyn, N. Y., says he was sitting in palace car with three other persons, engaged in a friendly game of cards, when suddenly he heard the window glass breaking in the forward part of the car and almost instantly the car began to fall. He was seated with his back toward the front of the car, and as he went down he sat as quietly as he could and held O..

 When the car struck the bottom of the ravine he found himself almost unhurt, although one of the men who was play i ing cards with him, whose name he did not know, was killed, while another, q MT. Sheppard, of New York, had his leg broken. MT. Carter says the front of the car was much lower than the rear and that the flames in front begun to eat their way upward and spread with great