The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-12-16

pe oeao are:
| Lester Garlook.
Frank Miller.
| Fred Miller.
Frank Burns.
Charles Murphy of Chicago, who died
CIV Cook of Mantau, Ohio, who died
| in the hospital.
| J.E. Burns, Franklin, Pa,
| The missing are:
| Henry Paiss of New Albany.
| Frank Simons, Jeffersonville.
Russell Durfiinger.
WA. Sharp.
| A. Soden.
J.Kregan.
M.Soden.
G.H. Henkie.
L.Pierce.
J.L. Wilson.
J.Scott.
PSheridan.
Geore Lilly.
An,ono tho inj,rad 4 sbeenars of Go
- ~
flttspurg, Will ole.
For weeks past large force has been
at work on the bio 500 foot snan over
the mid die Of the river. The iron work
was ali mn and was RESTING On tbe heavy
framework Of niIinp driven into the he'd
Of the river and secureIv ho1tad and
braced The last hollis were to have
heen mi, in Mace in tbe iron s1,nerstrnc.
ture this afternoon and then the oiean-
tic span would support it's own weight.
The foreman, in BEGINNING work fhis
morning. noticed that during the NIGHT;
the traveller. huge derricI, nsed FOR
placing the iron in position. had been
worked loose hy the wind He ordered r.
drawn hack into place The wind was
high and the swaying of the false work
gradually foced the tayelIer off the niles
On which it was resting. When the end
slinned the whole work trern hIed and tba
men reaiizing the dancer statad f1,r the th
niers There were fifty-one men IN the
BRIDGE and few reached the niers
The centraI bent was the first In give
way The north bent. or the one attached
to fbe Indiana nier did NOT fall for fifteen
minntas aftar The otber 1,,rt ,rant dar',,,
The partial span was the last one to 90
and # did not fall until twenty minufes
after the first had gone down. Being
mostly framework. If did NOT sink hut
fIoate slowly down the river small
traveller on the span floated down
several hundred Yards and then grounded
on the heavy timbers. which were
spIintered like matches. showing the
terrific force Of the fall Some nf the he
men who Went down with the hridoe
were covered hv the mass of timber sS6
iron and IL will he davs befora +bair
bodies can he found
The crash attracted tba attention of
neonle IN shore When tha bnoa oon ,,,oas " "
material struck the water. ali was CON
cealed for an instant bv the snrav
thrown into the air. AS the mist was
| disneIled here and there con1d he soer,
men STRUGGLING desneratelv to climb nm.
on the timbers that were thrust abo1e
water. A few succeeded in c1;m bino
to places of safety and were nuickIS :
rescued The others were carried off hyy
the current to sink almost as rescne was
at hand. The ferry boats City of Teffer.
| sonvilIe and c. w. Hit and the life saving
| station crew were the first to reach the
wrecKaee. which comnletelv blocked ono
channel of the river. The Injured were
| taken to the hospital.
just before the disaster, the Hotspur
with Superintendent George Fisher on
board, was making for the false work
when Superintendent Fisher heard the
| timbers creak and looking nm he saw the
great span sinking. ae cave orders 10
| back the steamer Tt was done none too
soon as the top of the huge "trayellero
| fell within twenty feet of the boat. AS
soon as The niiot realized what had
happened he ran the boat mn to tha
wreckage and the crew saved nine men
who were 80 badly hurt thew con1d not
have kent afloat five minutes Cant
Deven thinks some of the bodies were
carried over the falls. The bridge com.
pany had one hundred men at work and
will extricate the bodies as soon as
possible. When the second part of the
| false work fell, the engine and boiler
went with it. When the boiler hit tha
| debris it exploded. No one is known to
have been Struck by the fiying fra@.
ments The lives of the bridge work men
were insured for $500 each.
1t is generally believed the cause of
the disaster was the stiff wind that had
been sweeping the river ali day. II bore
with great force on the ponderous frame
work which became loosened from the
constant strain and the swaying of the
heavy timbers A great number of
people before the first span fell could see