St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-12-16

the great number of fatalities occurred.
A few minutes later bent on which |
there was but little of the bridge proper |
gave way on the Indiana side. Ia this |
it is believed that but one unknown |
man was killed. He was caught by a |
rope and dragged beneath the water.
The crash attracted the attention of
those on the shore, and many turned
away their eyes as they saw the men
struggling III mid-air in their mad eff
forts to climb out of danger. When the
huge mass of material struck the water
all was concealed for an instant by the
spray that was thrown high into the air.
AS the wafer subsidized here and there
could be seen men struggling desner-
ately to climb upon the timbers that
thrust their ends above the water. A
few succeeded in climbing to the places
of safety and were quickly rescued by
boats that put out from the shores.
Others struggled desperately and were
carried off by the current to sink al
most as
RESCUE WAS AT HAND.
A few minutes after the accident
word was sent to all parts of the city.
Near the bridge live the wives and
children of many of the wOrkmen.
Those were soon on the river bank.
Many were wild with grief, and rushed
frantlcaliy about wringing their hands
and tearing their hair. The office of the
bridge company on Campbell street was
besieged with the anxious wives and
mothers asking for their loved ones.
lOIf ba
were at least 1000 people on the river
bank, and as the e@s spread they still
poured III in steady stream toward the
place of the accident. To whose doors
| must be laid the responsibility will
| probably never be known. 1t was one
of those unforeseen accidents that occur
| in spite of all precautionary measures.
| Bridge building probably more than
any other thing is raught with mani
fold dangers, anu .ne workmen whose
| laborS are utilized in the work practi-
caly take their lives i'll their own
hands.
General opinion ascribes The cause of
the disaster to the stiff wind that has
been sweeping the river all day. 1t bore
with great force Oil the ponderous
framework. which necessarily became
loosene6 from the constant strain and
swaying of the heavy timbers. A great
number of people before the first span
fell could see the great "traveler," ris-
ing eighty feet above the piers, swayiug
and
QUIVERING IN THE WIND
| in what appeared to be Il most alarming
| manner to those on shore. The motion,
however, was hardly noticeable to the
workmen, and they had no idea of their
deadly peril until the great mass of
wood and iron began to sink, and the
awful cracking and crashing of the
timber smote on their ears. That tue
structure was otherwise than safe never
occurred 10 either the engineers in
charge or the workmen. Every precau-
tion had been employed to insure the
stability of the framework, and the only
thing lacking, as the accident proved,
was the failure to take into considera-
ton the action of the wind, the force of
which was persistent and powerful.
This agency was particularly noticeably
today, but 1t has been a force through
out the whole period of construction,
blowing with gradual, but nevertheless
deadly persistence.
To the great traveller" alluded to is
directly attributable the falling of the
span. The constant action Of wind bore
it from its resting place on the last pier
but one of the Jetfersonville side. The
displacement was discovered, and the
work of putting it back in place was
begun, but it was too late. The center
of the great span began to sink before
the work was accomplished. The wind
had done its work, and the heavy ell,
gines near the pier went crashing down
to the water, carrying with them the
mass of humanity mixed in horrible
confusion with the timberS and iron.
THE PARTIAL SPAN,
the last one, did not fall until twenty
, minutes after the first had gone down
, but it was the direct result of the falline
of the first. The great strain occaSioneC
, by the sundering and rending of the
bridge naturally communicated itself t
, the unfinished span, and it took it.
} plunge like the first into the water, bu
2 being mostly framework did not sinl
5 buthoated slowly down the river. Ther'
3 ! were said to be four men on it when /
: fell, and one was undoubtedly killed
2 The small traveller on this span floateC
down several hundred yards. and thel
grounded. the heavy timbers splintere(
like matches, showing the terrific fore
of the fall. Iron girders weighing
many tons were twisted like one nigh
twist piece of wire, into every con
ceivable shape, and lay with timber
9 and huge pieces of iron and lumber il
8 an inextricable mass. The span woul
r have been completed by this afternoon
and, after the traveller had been fastene
, to the pier, there would have been n
danger of the wind or current breakin
;. it down.
ID A pile driver was sent to the seen
Y this afternoon, and the work of clearln
the wreckage and searching for tn
d dead under the debris at once CON
S menced.
f The revised list of de ad, injured AM
missing is as follows:
g L. G. Garlock, Buffalo; John Court
n ney, f. Burns, G. Murphy, G. w. Cook
MISSING.
n c. F. Holderer, A. Sodden, ]. Cregar
o M. Solan, Frank Simmons, Jefferson
4 vile; q. H. Hinkle, Dauphin. Pa;
Holden, j. l.. Wilson, Pat Kelly, J.
Owens, +. Sheridan. j. Allen, P.
d Moore, George Lilly, r. l.. Dertiine
k Virginia; II. Piss.
N INJURED.
~ - J. Meyers. Lexington, KY, left lie
IA badly fractured; Harry Lee, New A
D. bany. slightly injured; H. d. Pugh;
n Hildebrand, three ribs fractured, inter
k nally injured, probably die: q. v
le Brown, Irvipgton, KY, arm broken
is three places; c. Tharp, Oswego, N. Y
-, 10 ankle badly spraIned; q. E. Sheehal
lo Greenup, KY, flesh wound: A. L. Hal
II East Tennessee, badly bruised;
y, Parks, Scotland. three ribs broken an
N sprained ankle; T.Galloway, 2707 Sayl
st""et, South Pittsburg, Pa, fracture