New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-11-27
FATAL FALL OF A SCAFFOLD.


UNABLE TO ACCOUNT FOR II.
Five wOrkmen were thrown into the Harlem
River yesterday afternoon by the sudden fall
of the staging between two OF The piers of the
new bridge ut Ted-and-tiity eighth
ST. Tie men were shifting heavy iron
girder designed az n part OF the
bridge truss, when it slipped from
them and fell upon the staging, which WIS
already supporting three other pieces OF the
truss. The added weight and shock OF the
fall broke through the staging and scattered
it N al directions. One of the men was
instantly killed and the others were badly
injured
AN ACCIDENT NOT YET EXPLAINED.
The temporary +caaoldlng between the th rd and
fourth prrs ct the new bridge of the Metropolitan
Elevated Railroad across th. Harlem River nj One
hundred-and-ffg--i Sh,h-st.. gave way suddenly ar
haifpast 2 O'clock eserday afternoon, and Ave
workmcu employed by d. r. Kelly. the contractor.
were precipttated uto The river. O1e Of rhe men,
Louls Gcguil. was instantly killed and one Of them,
Frederick Goguia was so bady iured that he will
probably die. The ot or three, Patrick Cavanagh,
HeuEy 4. Case aud Henry OC0nnor, were painfully
hurt. The body OF che dead man was taken 10 BE
Thirty-secaiu Precinct station and the wounded
men were ta.sn 20 tb' Nu.ty-nnth Stree H. spial.
The bridge was b,gua last summer aud the work
has oeeu pushed forward as rapidly as possible.
Besides large stone rer 10 the centre Of The river,
there four stone PIERS on either SIDE. The ZION
worA had been laid rs tar as 10 the third pier from
the ives; bank Of the ryer Three of the gIrders be-
tween tie third and fourth piers hal been
placed upon the scafoIding and the fourth
girdcr was raised yesterday by derrick. When It
wa, released from the derrick, II Is claimed by the
wOrkmeu, the additional weight imposed upon the
scaOidiug was more than II could support, and the
sudden collapse of the whole structure was the re-
suit. Henry A. Case the assistant foreman ac-
counts for the accident III another way. and says
that the scafolding was strong enough for the pGr
pose which ID was designed to serve
When the scaf,lding collapsed 5he men were first
thrown into the ar aud then tell into the river
distance of TWEEN y-hye or thirty feet Ine timDers
and the iron Orders flew IN all directions, and the
men were struck by tn il wing pieces. Tie tide
out and there were not more than two
feet Of water m tne river at the point where work
men ana tnbers descended together. 1t Is to this
fact tina. the escape from drowning Of several Of the
men is due as much as TO the prompt action Of the
stonecutters and other workmen engaged mon the
bridge, who instantly busted themselves with the
rescue Of the fallen mel.
LOUIS Gogna was Instantly killed either by fall
ing upon one Of the IRON girders or receiving the CIR
der upon himself. Cayauagh caught between
girder ana great mass Of tImbers,
and was forced down IN such way thai
he must nave been drowned had not one Of tine
stonecutters waded in through the mud and water
and held his head above the water. Cavanagh
IN the water a quarter of an hour and from eight
to ten men were required to release him from the
timber that pressed MIN down. Case managed
to make his way TO the shore unaded and
declined all offers of assistance until ne was assured
that his companions had been taken from the river.
lie then confessed that his arm was fractured and
that he was bruised ali over, and was persuaded TO
90 10 the hospital
Brown. of he IhIrty-secOud Precinct, arrived
almost Immediately after the accident occurred and
rendered assistance To The injured men. Captain
steers and squad of police were sent for. and AM
balances were ordered from tine Nlnety-nInth Street
Hospital. The body Of Louis Goanla was taken IN
culr-e by the police, and the wounded men were
sent TO the hospital.
reporter of lHE TRIBUNE saw Henry A. Case
the assistant foreman, at tue hospital last evening
and obtained from nlin story OF the cause 81 Inc
accIden: that is discredIted by tine theory of the
wOrkmeu engaged about the bridge Ease
was great PAIN and apparently cOuld
not speak commercially. He SAID - can
not account for the accident at all. built the
scafiOldlng with the tm0crs furnished to NE. aud
think It was strong enough TOR rs work. nave
been this business tor Twelve years, and TINS Is
my first accident. | do not think anybody was
to blame this matter but that 10
was pure accident Inc hve OF Us
were getting the end section of Toe ton chord of the
central truss position to connect the truss 10 wa
standing on it, euge and we gave Il matt 10
lay it over when somehow 10 trIpped on the block
ing aud turned clear over lt got n tall By this
means of abOut a foot aud half, and the sharp
struck the thinkers, carrying away two sections
or bends OF tho staging.
weighed ABOUT two tons. THEE other pieces of the
truss were the staging and We We're about to lay
IL down -
on the staging and another was just coming up.
had just got tnere myself. Frederick Gogna
cannot. for the lite Of me, understand
how the thing happened the iron got away from
III a flash. nave ALWAYS told the men To De eau
nous wAen handling tine IRON pieces ana not 10 20
too fast. When SAW that the lrOn 1ad slipped
Jumped. was struck Dy plank and dOu'C really
know what did happen after that"
Several OF the men who work upon the bridge
were net lat evening by tribune reporter III u
shop at Ouc-nuudrUd-and-IOrty- tOurtl-st. and
Elghth-ave. lhey DID not hesitate to asSer'
that IN their opinion the accident oc-
CURED because the staging was i'm
properly anu hastily constructed tEey said thai
the tImbcrs were not strong enough and that they
were not properly braced. The staging raised
i've or SIX inches above the height of the piers
either side OF it, in order that the parts
Of the truss might be ald upon lt
and be connected together. When this should
have been accomplished 1t was the lnten-
ton t. withdraw the staging and al
low the truss 60 come directly upon
the piers TOR It's support. Tbs workmeu said that
the staging bOre the weight OF three OF the pieces
but that 1t went down under the weight OF four.
The following the list of persons who suffered
by the accident:
KILLED.
GoGsn LoUIs, age thirty 1--WE; He was married, and
was a French Canadian. he was dead when
from the water, his sEull having been crushed.
WOUNDED.
CASE. HENRY A assistant foreman, fOrty-iv He
rs married, ana lives at No. 22G East One-nUndred
aud. twenty His right arm fractured
near the shoulder, and his body WAS confused nearly
all
CAvASAGH PATRICK, an Ishman, thirty four years Old
III. L. married aud lives in Ole-hndrtd Il n-st. De-
tween EIgnLG ana Nutn-lv One Of Hls tmghs