Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-06-08

ltTOm n Now hOfk iCttNTI
Now that we know all that we are ever
likely to know about the East river bridge
disaster the whole story can be summed up
in five lines: In long, narrow lane con
tanning thousands Of persons, n woman slpp-
ed and fell in going down q few steps n
child whom sho held by the hand screamed
the crowd on either side of her rushed to-
ward her, some out of curiosity, some to
help, some, perhaps, with the mischievous
desire to create a rush. Every one testifes
that the crowd was uncommonly good natured
that afternoon, a holiday crowd, and the
story that thieves began the trouble purpose
ly in order to pick pockets in the confusion,
is doubted. very innocent man, crazed by
freight and struggling to get out of the death
squeeze, might act like a demon, and, in the
excitement of such a moment, it is hard to
tell the exact object of men and women who
struggle wildly and shout as if possessed A
panic arises from the slightest of causes. As
Henry Ward Beecher remarked at his Friday
night meeting, if panic arose among null
titude in the middle of the Desert of Sahara
some one would get hurt. The moment the
two currents on the bridge, each rushing
from opposite directions and meeting at the
spot where the accident occurred, met with a
clash, there were the yells and shrieks of
women and the curses of men. Still no one
gan. The thousands on the main span across
the river heard the shout and saw the rush,
and the natural thought was that tho bridge
was coming down and that safety lay in get
ting to land as soon as possible. thousand
persons, lost to all decency and restraint,
trnmpled on those weaker than themselves,
and at the point where the two waves Of hu-
man beings met, men and women lay three
deep while the mob swept over them, liter
ally trampling them to death. The push of
that crowd, backed up by thousands, was ir-
resistible. One man, a strong, vigorous
fellow, tells me he tried to keep from crush
inc life out of delicate woman in front of
him by grasping the iron tio-rods of the rail
ing with all his might he was torn from one
tie after another by tine pressure, his hands
bloody and bruised. 1t seemed hours to those
in the crush before the pressure was relieved
and the work of taking out the trampled be-
gan in reality it was about twenty minutes.
An increased police force has been placed
upon tho bridge and ratings of gas pipe have
been put up at each end, dividing the walk
in the middle for about 100 feet, and the po-
licemen direct pedestrians to the right, so
that those going in opposite directions are
separated. This relieves the crowding at the
dangerous places somewhat, but of course is
not thoroughly satisfactory. The trustees
say that when the cars begin to run the pres
ent strain upon the foot bridge will not occur,
for many persons will be riding instead of
walking. An interesting legal question in
connection with the disaster is the liability of
the bridge authorities If the relatives of the
dead aud injured persons can show that the
bridge was not in proper condition to open or
that more persons were admitted than was
safe, there will be some bitter lawsuits. The
comment of the Chief Engineer, Mr.. Roeb-
ling, IF no persons had been allowed to cross
the bridge the accident would not have occur
ed, seems to hint at some lack in the bridge
structure.