Year: 1870

filed. Scarcely was it concluded when we
looked towards the State Capitol and saw q
crowd rushing from every direction, and soon
ascertained that the courtroom of the Court of
Appeals, in the second story of that building,
had given way and precipitated the crowd at
tracted there to hear the decision in the Rich
mond mayoralty case into the hall of the House
of Delegates below.


Little was, of course, then known of the ex-
tent of the catastrophe, but the heart sickened
to contemplate the fearful loss of life and suffer-
ing that had necessarily followed. The best and
wisest men of Virginia were there, and the age
and experience and the flower of the youth of
Richmond were there, and through the crowd,
with sorrowful faces and fearful eyes, fathers,
brothers, and friends rushed eager to hear if
those dear to them were among the dead the
dying, the wounded, or the saved. Would that
during life we may never again see such heart
sickening sight Men who had stormed Gettys-
burg and seen the flower of their country moved
down around them by grape, and shot, and
shell, shook their heads, and said, as mangled
bodies and bleeding friends were brought from
the ruins, never did we witness anything so sad
and heart-rending as this.


And as each one was lowered by careful hands
from the windows of the hall of the House of
Delegates each spectator peered with anxious
look to see if, beneath the blood and dust with
which he was covered, they could discover the
face and form of him they feared had been
killed or wounded. An hour passed before it
was known certainly who the dead were, and
oh the agony all felt, for their loss was public
calamity.


An hour more and the dead were laid out at
homes they left few hours before with hearts
bounding with hope, and with not thought
that ere the sun reached meridian they would
have departed to their long homes.


The wounded had in the meanwhile been
cared for, and then for the first time did our
people seem to realize to its full extent the great
calamity that had befallen them. Business
ceased, and citizens stood upon the sidewalks in
groups, and with sorrowing countenances talked
over the circumstances of the tragedy, and gave
expression to the deep grief all felt, not only at
the loss of beloved loW-citiZens, but for their
sorrowing families.


There may be pens adequate to the task of
portraying the remaining scenes of a day which
will go down in the history of Richmond with
tho burning of the theatre in 1911 and the bridge
catastrophe of 1869, when poor Colonel Branch
was killed; but the writer of this, unnerved, and
stricken down in spirit by the loss of friends
with whom he has been associated so many
years, and to whom he was bound by ties
Scarcely less sacred than those of blood, finds
himself utterly untitled to write either at the
length or in the detail that the mournful occa-
sion calls for, and can only pray, in conclusion,
that the Father of the fatherless and the Friend
of the widow may be shield and constant
protector of the families of those He has, in the
wisdom of His divine providence, stricken SO
suddenly and SO sadly.


The Enquirer contains also sketches of a
number of the victims. We append the notices
of Mr.. Aylett and DR.. Brock


PATRICK HENRY AYLETT.


Patrick Henry Aylett was a native of the
county of King William but had been for many
years a resident of this city. He sprung from an
honored ancestry and was lineal descendant
of his great namesake. After liberal education
in the institutions of his own State he attended
for one or two years the Law School of Harvard
University, in the days of Story and Greenleaf.
He returned to Virginia, and began the practice
of his profession in his native county. While he
remained in the county he achieved position
at the bar and in the community which gave
promise of his future distinction. Within a few
years he removed to this city, and for nearly
twenty years has been identified with the for
tunes of our people in all their vcisstudes. His
literary taste and eminent ability as o writer
made him frequent contributor to the press,
| and many of the most brilliant and effective
editorials Of the Richmond Examiner, in the
palmy days of its history, were from his pen.
| He did not allow his attention, however, to be
diverted from the pursuit OF his profession, the
| practice of which he continued with such sue
cess as to command from President Buchanan
| the appointment of United States District At
torney for the then Eastern district of Virginia.
| This position he continued to hold until the
secession of the State and upon the accession
of Virginia to the Confederate States was ap-
| pointed to the corresponding Office under that
Government. Since the war Mr. Aylett was for
some time identified with the daily press of this
| city, and the early popularity and success of the
Richmond Times was due entirely to the inte-
| rest which his facile and vigorous pen elected.
Mr.. Aylett enjoyed no mere local reputation.
| Everywhere in Virginia, and among all beyond
her limits who were familiar with her people,
he was regarded as one of her most enlightened
| and valuable citizens. lie was in the prime OF
manly strength and usefulness; and in the many
long years of active manhood which seemed
assured to him, his friends and fellow citizens
looked for the fullest realization of the bright
promise of his earlier life. But it was not SO tc
be. His sun has gone down at midday.


DIR. JOSEPH BALDWIN BROCK.


DR.. Brock, who was killed yesterday on duty
as a reporter of the Enquirer, was born il
Madison county in 1928. He entered the Uni
versity of Virginia in 1S48 as a student of medi
cine, and graduated in 1850 with distinguished
honor He settled soon afterwards in Spotsyl
vania, where he practised his profession witt
decided success until the breaking out of the
war, when he entered the army, serving as
surgeon until the surrender at AppomattoX.


The war over, DR.. Brock found the field of hit
former practice in Spotsylvania little bettel
than waste-two contesting armies having
fought over it and occupied it from the
first evacution of fredericksburg unit
1865. The profession in Richmond was over
crowded, and as prudent father and husband
he at once Eetook himself to journalism as Tho
readest and surest means OF gaining a certail
support for his family. He had not been lOns
in his new profession before he became one o
the staff of the EGagp5,eer, and was retained il
the same position when that paper was merged
into the Enquirer.


He not only wrote well and poiutedly, bu
was one of the most interesting takers in regarC
to medicine and its collateral topics within tn
range of our whole acquaintance. The fact i
he was designed by taste and requirements fo
professorshlp, and would have made an excel
lent lecturer.


To the press of Richmond his loss is a sa


one and we look around in vain for one who
.,laaa f.,.