New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-06-01

q. - $50 =
tho Bridge every day sinss ne puhlie ogenine saa
they hsd not permitted any proEDsdonal thieves 70
remain there. He thought the panic was . natural
result Of mismsnagcment II was supposed, no
said, that tho Bridge authorities would provide
enough SPECIAL policemen to keep all tho passases
open, but it was evident thst they had failed.
Superintendent Walllng said that in his tudg-
ment at least fifty policemen ought to be on duty on
tho Bridge every day. and on holidays the force ought
to be increased largely. 1--WE wore asked BY tho
trustees" he said "to provide officers on this side
Of tho Bridge for Q few days until they could make
other arrangements. believe the trustees are en-
powered to appoint policemen who have authority
to keep order and make arrests when No
cessary, on the Bridge. We cannot furnish
enough regular pstrolmen to keep order
there because We are short of mon now. On
extraordinary occasions We could send policemen
to assist 10 keeping order. I think the trustees
ought to have appointed special policemen enoug
to keep crowds from collecting on tho Bridge"
An officer familiar with the faces Of
professional offenders in this city and
Brooklyn said there were large numbers of thieves
and "roughs" on the Bridge during tho afternoon
and at tie time Of the disaster and that to rush
made by them the fatalities were primarily due.
Ono man. who was close by tho first woman to fall.
but who BY somo miracle escaped being
buried under the mass Of dead, dying and
frantically struggling human beings said that
thief tried to pick tho pocket of the woman. and
which held Its victims like wise.
Police Superintendent Campbell, of Brooklyn,
was asked by TRIBUNE reporter for an expression
of his views to the proper police arrangements OF
the Bridge.
1T should be thoroughly policsd by competent
men" said be. land these men should be selected
from the force in the two cities. Al to tho number
OF men and other details could hardly express an
opinion because have had no occasion TO investi-
should b precinct 81 issslf. The: n
should have regular beats the same a. policemen on
duty elsewhere and they should have officers to SEQ
:" Do Won consider Captain Ward. who has charge
Of the Bridge police. competent man to 90 80 I'm
eide They could have found out oil about Ward
at this Office II they had cared to give themselves
the trouble. Tho record is a public one open to
''If there had boon competent force of policemen
on the Bridge, properly handled. do You think thst
Wednesdays accident could have taken placer
mon such disaster would be- possible: Aside from
tho inexperience Of the force under Captain ward,
they have too long hours No men can DC a. ON n
successor. Ny men have six hours on duty ana
six on"
WHAT THREE NETWORK TRUSTEES SAY.
TRIBUNE reporter called yesterday upon some
of tho trustees and engineers Of the Brooklyn Bridge
with reference to Wednesdays accident The first
gentleman whom he saw was Charles Macdonald, OF
No. 80 Wsll-st. 1T was . most terrible affair.""
1,ut 11u do
how it could have been foreseen. The chief cause
Of It, or rather the thing that made 1t possible.
wasthe fact that tho Bridge had been opened before
tho cars can rum Remember that it Is only just re-
Gently that the public has begun to regard the struc
ure ms bridge at all 1t has hitherto been looked
upon rather rs gigantic collection OF cables and
stones; few people realized that it was indeed
great high road, and all wcre inclined to make FUN
of It, How could the trustees then, looking at this
apparent lack of appreciation anticipate. the enor
NOUS crowds which have been passing over these
past few daysi They have astounded everybody
alike. Had we been able to foresee what was going
to happen we should never have allowed the Bridge
to DO opened until the full facilities for the trans
portation of the public were ready. But even as 1t
was the crowd was not really too great; 1t was not
40 large as it has been-and might just as well have
happened on Fifth-ave. as on the Bridge"
DO YOU regard the present VI tho
available space az the best that can be made"
Yes; tho arrangement was made before was
in the Board but always did and still do give my
beartv approval to t. The idea of the car lines
WA not in Mr. Roeblngs original Bridge. Of course;
but a. soon as tho scheme took shape and was
graspcd in Its full size, tho present division Of
the space was agreed to without any dissentient
voice. As soon as the cars are running you will soc
that there will bo some difficulty IN suggesting any
improvement in 1t as 1t stands"
]. Adriance Bush, ofNo. 81 Wall-st, said that
the present arrangement Of the Bridge in all its
psrticulars with the five parallel lines of rail- road
and footwavs aid the respective width Of each, was
finally settled something more than four years ago.
It had to be settled before the contract was given
for the iron, etc." he added, land that was given
soon after became trustee, some four years ago.
Since then no serious alteration has been made
has It occurred to any that 1t was open to i'm
p1ovemout There was q good deal of dis
custom on the question Of the scale
OF tho rapid transit part OF it..
At first we were only going to have light cars and
when It was proposed 20 substitute heavy Pullman
palace cars there was lot Of opposition In the
was being given to that one section, but when IT
was satisfactorily shown that this increase would
moi In any way interfere with the foot or wagon
demanded for the cars. nothing more was said
against it. We certainly never thought OF enlarg-
ing the footway.
aWell, no." he continued, in answer to an in
responsibe for the use Of the steps instead of an
inclined plane. As soon az the boarding was laid
down, which was some time ago. we trustees used
to walk backward and onward on 1t aud speculate
"A TO which would be the best. A great deal
was said on one side and the other. but
how or when or by whom the
supsriority Of the stairs was determined
on. cannot say. Of course. wo can only bitterly
regret It now; but until yesterday morning should
stiII have advocated the present method"
1.-THE stairs were preferred over an inclined
plane.O said Jenkins Van Sohaick at No. 81 Broad
srruda xuonld haY had IN hA