The principal feature of Ashtabula is its harbor, which promises to lead all the lake ports in the amount of iron ore received.  From thirty to fifty vessels arrive weekly with cargoes of ore, while the shipments of coal nearly equal those of Cleveland or Erie.  From 700 to 1,000 men are constantly employed on the docks, a large proportion of them being Fins and Swedes – a thrifty people and good citizens, most of them owning their homes.  The harbor is three miles from the main town, but it is a part of the same corporation; it is connected with it by a street railway.  The rapid development and growth of Ashtabula in the past twelve years has been owing to the enterprise of the citizens, with the aid of the National government in developing its natural harbor.  When the work now in progress is completed it will have a channel with a uniform depth of eighteen feet.

Along the banks of the Ashtabula river are thousands of feet of docks, from which twenty to forty vessels are constantly loading or unloading their cargoes.  The iron ore is shipped to the manufacturing regions of Youngstown, Pittsburg and farther east, while thousands of tons of coal are conveyed here by the railroads from the great coal field of Ohio and Pennsylvania and shipped to Chicago, Duluth and other lake cities in the west.

Ashtabula harbor is supplied with the most improved machinery for handling coal and ore of any of the lake ports, and it is not unusual for propellers carrying 2,400 tons of iron ore to be unloaded inside of twelve hours.

In 1872 this district about the river and harbor contained less than 200 inhabitants, two or three struggling stores, and one or two old decaying warehouses, relics of former industry.  Now it has more than 2,000 inhabitants, is a flourishing community and a scene of ceaseless activity night and day.

Page 274

The Ashtabula Railway Disaster, which occurred at this place early in the night of Dec.29, 1876, was one of the most memorable in the history of railway tragedies.  The night was cold and bitter, a blinding snow-storm blowing at the rate of forty miles an hour in full progress, as the Pacific Express No.5, westward bound over the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, broke through the iron bridge over the Ashtabula river and plunged into the chasm, just seventy-five feet from rail to river.  The time was exactly 6:35, as afterwards ascertained by a clock in the engine.

The train was composed of eleven coaches, drawn by two heavy engines, having on board 156 human souls.  The span of the bridge was 165 feet long between abutments. At the moment of the crash one engine had gained the west abutment, while the other engine, two express cars, and a part of the baggage car rested with their weight upon the bridge.  The remaining eight cars were drawn into the gulf.  Of the persons on board at least eighty perished in the wreck; nearly all the others were wounded; five died after rescue. The wind was at the time blowing a perfect gale, the cars caught on fire and those unable to extricate themselves perished in the flames. From the burning mass came shrieks and the most piteous cries for help, and with these sounds mingled the fire-bells of the town, whose inhabitants hurried to the spot to be agonized by the sight of the awful scene of woe.

Page 275

Two weeks later Charles COLLINS, chief engineer of the railroad, shot himself with a revolver.  He was universally esteemed, and lost his mind through an undue sensitveness that the public would hold him responsible for the calamity.  Nineteen of the unrecognizable dead were buried by a public funeral in the Ashtabula cemetery; the sad procession was over a mile in length. Among these were supposed to be the remains of P. P. BLISS, of Chicago, and his wife.  He was the author of the famous hymn "Hold the Fort."  One of the engravings shows the bridge before the disaster, the other the spot after it. The debris was about fifteen feet deep. The railroad company promptly paid all claims for damages, the disbursements amounting to nearly half a million of dollars, averaging about $3,000 per head the for killed and wounded.

TRAVELING NOTES.

Ashtabula, Thurs.Oct.8 – A pretty custom is that of a hotel in this town where I am stopping. The house itself is an ordinary two-story, wooden structure standing off on a little side street, but its appointments are excellent.  Its name is the "Stoll House," but it is known far and near as the "Bouquet House." This because at each guest's plate is placed a freshly-plucked button hole bouquet neatly wrapped in tin foil, with a pin thrust through it.  The pretty waitresses often volunteer their services to pin these on the lapels of the gentlemen guests, an extra pleasant duty, I fancy, where they happen to be fine, fresh-looking young men, as I find them to be now. I know not how there can be a more fragrant prelude to tea and biscuit. In the evening the hotel office is filled with a dozen commercial travellers, each with the inevitable bouquet on his lapel, all apparently happy and full of joviality; a natural effect of the combination of a good supper with feminine smiles and flowers.

                The Fins.- What largely tends to render our country increasingly interesting is the great variety of people arriving among us, so we need not go abroad to study foreign customs and ideas. A new element has lately come into this region, emigrants from Finland; but recently subjects of the Czar.  Down at Ashtabula harbor is a large colony of Fins and Swedes, numbering several hundred, who are employed as laborers on the docks. They are highly thought of; their religion is Lutheran. Fins, young men and women, are scattering on the farms in this part of the State as laborers and domestics, and are noted for their industry and honesty. Their marriage ceremony is peculiar, lasting half an hour, it is partly kneeling and partly praying.  The festivities run through several days, consisting of dancing and carousal, during which the dancing capacity and endurance of the bride is taxed to the utmost; each gentleman is expected in turn to dance with her and at its conclusion to pass her over fifty cents as his contribution to her dowry. Those able dance many times with the bride. On their first arrival they wear their own home-woven garments, woolen and linen. Instead of bonnets the women wear shawls; also home woven and plain black silk. In their own country a man's yearly wages on a farm are twelve dollars and his boots! Ohio says for them "Come! we welcome you and at your option, with boots or without boots