The Scotsman - Monday, 29th December 1879, page 5

A CATASTROPHE so appalling in its niagnitmie iiiJ sajdauh&sa ds at-first almost Id Laffla one ' s aSorts io reallEB it, occUl-red last tugLt m the fall af a portion of the Tay Bridge , with, it s feared, a passenger train that hid been in coursa or transit when the accident happened. It was pretty late in the evening when the intelligence reached Edinburgh, and Dp fco an advanced honr only tha most meagre inforiflalion was hcra obtainable. Such as it was, however, the news received only tended to confirm ths fears entertained -crhsn the first va:yie intimation cams to hand , that the fall of two or more girders of the bridge had involved lamentabia loss of Inc. The i.19 Snnaay evening train from Dundee had reached Edinburgh all right at tn-eutyfivu minutes past seven, or sumc ten miuutca late. The 1.1;} train from Edinburgh to Dundee left to time, and it is this train which is believed to bava been upon tha briil; ;e when two of its great central girders yielded to the force of the gale. Headers will ramember thai a notable feature <ii this liridgs v;as the ser ies of thirteen great g irders, varying in length from 227 to 245 feet, which spanned the navigable channel of the Tay. Two g irders rent Vi form each span, tha Yme passing in between the great iron frameworks, at the height or 88 feet above high-water level. So far as can be gathered from tho brief telegrams received at the railwiJ oSicea, two girders , or ono span iroald appear to liavo given way. If the train fcad Z^ept time, it must have besn due to cross Ihs bridge batw.iesi 7.8 E.ud 7.20 I ' .U- Th6 SUrnsisa is that, as it was in tho act of crossing, a terrific gust had swept down the valley, and that the resistance offered by the train had helped to intensify its destructive force, whn;ii consequently proved sufficient to hurl girders end train into the river- From what ire can Isarn, the train on leaving Edinburgh consisted of six carriages. It is Qndcistaoi to have rarrie-l auoiit. 200 pilssengera. Or these a lar^e number would no ioabt leave as the trail passed through Fife, stoppin?; at every station, but, oil the other hand, some Dundee passengers may be supposed to have joined in the course 01 the journey ; so that at present it is impossible to estimate the extent of the disaster so far as human life is concerned, So soon a? it reached Edinburgh, intelligence 01 the cata3trophe v.a& communicated to Sir V. 'iilker, tL& general ir.iinager, and Mr 3I1.aren passenger 5uperintendent, 01 the Horth British Itaiiitar , as also to Sir Tlionias Boucli, the enginerr of the Tay Bridire. Arrangements were rorfcli' .Tith ^iade fur the despatch oE a speciKl train, and at 1 ' -' .2^ tins (Monday) morning the geni ' Emaii inentioLie' - i, along with l5Ii Hell, jnn., of the company's engineericg staff, ltdt for tlic scene (ii the disaster. OFFICIAL ACCOUNT. At ten inhrotes past four o'clock tins moruin^, the following telc^rr-m v. - as received at tee XVaverli.'y Station iruin ^Ir Walker, the general iiiiiiiascr i who had accrdnpanicd tlie special train. Tt v;as i lespatched ironi Lcucliars , aud the s. -.d fact wiil be aotsd tliat instead of having found tlia lirdt featiluate of the number of passengers to have born exaggerated , Sir Walker l>ilie7e;i that it v. 'i.s nnderstaied ;—" LEL'CUAia, 4 A.SI. " 5'rom the reports made to us here of the lerr.Ua calamity : i i. the T;.y Bndse it appears iliat Stfveral fcf file large girJers ot the bridae, along nitli tha last train from Edinburgh were precipitated iutu the river about halt-past seven last night. " There were , 1 deeply Jeplora to say, nearly SOO passengers, besides Company ' s servanis in the train , all of whom are believed to have perished. ltc^-uso of the i'.ccident lias not yet been ascertained." ACCOUNT FJIOM DUNDEE. Since the above was written, ire ha'/e received the following fro'ii onr Diinuue correspondent;—Yesterday (Sunday) aftrrnoon, Dundee was visited bv ons oi the inoat fearful hurricanes winc^i ^a-s ever l>ueu expcrien^eA in t^lis neiglibourhood , and which I ' -?-? fcee' -i sccompanied with unparalleled uestructiU!! of propel ty. A portion of the lar ^ 'e centra! g irders of the Tav Bridge haa^ bean biown doirn during a fesnul blast; and, * :t is a ' lso feareil , that tbe passenger tr:»in from ILe south, which was seen entsmsg on the Bridge nt the ^NeTC^'DTfc side a few minutes b&;ure xhe accident, and wliicli lins not ilinee been heard of has, will! its p.isssiyers, been carried airay alons;; witii tlio fallen g irdera, and with these nov- lies in tlie bed of the rirdr. It was a&out half-nast seven o 'clock v. 'lieu a rumour of the catastrophe spread through the town. As the report passed from mouth to mouth, ?t 'was thought incredible ; ana people reiam'led ons aiio;!iL-r that the bridge, since its completion, iiad withstood inauy a terrific blast. Tile news, however, v.-a3 ' so appalling that, allliouga it v.as geiiflrally i-ccelruJ .ilt,k rc.<erratiou , every inie ulio hea.i'!.! it mada on at auce, -a-ith bated breath, to the Magdalen I ' ard Point or to tile Tay liridge Station witli the t-ie-tr <St staceriaiain. ' -what fonndation there mi g ht be for it. In the course of a very short time, those in quest of information could be counted by hundreds. At the Tay Bridge Station, however, the officials ware uaable to give any mtonnation beyond the fact that since a few minutes after seven o'clock, soiiiiiniiiication between the !i!. 'n;il cabins »t TOch enil of tlis ri il ^c hr.d been cut aff. Froni the station, inquirers proceeded by Hia Perth road and tile Esplanade to the Magdalen Yard Point, where tlie north signal cabin is situated , in order to (lick up whatater particle sf information couldtherohs fouuil. A good many persons entered the cabin and inquired at tlie signalman 23 to the supposed calamity ; but he ;onl<l throw no further li g lit. on the matter. The railway otSci—ls, -wlio liad -naturally 'become alarmed, especially sines they became aware that there was no communication with the sonth slid of the bridge, resolved to satisfy themselves whether the structure was saTe or not. Accoril" :iig!y Mr 'Roberts, Superintendent of the Lucomot've Department, determined to go ilnnc the br idge. This he did at considertbie risi;, for the force of the hurricane nras still such that at times he was almost coma ]el<i]y lilleJ off Ins feel, and was in great danger 3f being blown into the river. U r^ d, hon-evef, by mssety to learn tho truth, he p. r :tfvercd in Ilia perilous task; and having -.1 aiked along the bridge as far as lie cou!d. crawled on his lavCia and knees to the point where the liiyi girders begin. Here 2iis course was arrested. Horror stricken ho found that t^«= laiao'ar in ciTCQ\atioii was too true , the "whole of - the thirteen girders, each 24;> feet in width and 250 tons in weight, and which, as it were, had formed a tunnel in the middle of tho bridge, were gone, anal nothing remained buttaebareiron pierawhichhadsupporfed tl.em- Sir Siaith , the stationmaster, al so made a similar journey dong the bridge from the north end, and found that what Mr Roberts reported ss io the destruction of the middle ot the bridge was absolutely true. After inquiry it -was learned that shortly after seven o'cloA tha train had Leen seen s'lleriug 021 the bridgfl. A miaute tir two ai ' :ar3'ards there was a fili 1 ! . and then all was dari;. The train

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