The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1893-12-23

SapL- DeVdn THINKS tnat some OF tn6
bodies have been carried over the
falls.
1t will take several days to recover
the bodies, as most of them are pinned
down by the heavy iron trusses which
fell on top of the false work. The
bridge company has 100 men at work
and will extricate the bodies from the
wreckage as soon as possible.
When the second part of the false
work fell an engine and boiler went
with it, and when the boiler hit the
debris it exploded, but no one is known
to have been struck by the flying frag-
ments.
The lives of the bridge workmen
were insured for 1900 each.
A PerIlous Occupation.
To whose doors must be laid the re-
sponsibility for the terrible disaster
will probably never be known. 1t is
doubtless one of those unforeseen aeci-
dents that occur in spite of all precau-
tionary measures. Bridge building,
probably more than any other thing.
is fraught with manifold dangers, and
the workman whose labors are util-
lied in the work, practically take their
lives in their own hands
The Cause OF the Disaster.
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 on the ponderous
framework, which necessarily became
loosened from the constant strain and
swaying of the heavy timbers. A great
number of people, before the first span
fell, could see the great Traveller"
rising eighty feet above the piers,
swaying and quivering in the wind in
what appeared to be the most alarm
ing manner to those on shore. The
motion. however, was hardly notice
able to the workmen, who 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 upon their ears.
That the structure was otherwise
than safe, never occurred to the engi-
neers who were in charge, or the
workmen. Every precaution had been
employed to insure the stability of the
framework.
An Account of the Accident by a Civil
Engineer.
Mr.. Erie Manchester, a civil engi-
neer, who is employed on the bridge,
had very narrow escape from death.
To reporter for the United Press, in
giving an account of the accident, he
said:
81 was standing on the span that fell
near the Kentucky side, and seeing
that it was about to fall 1 called to
| the men to get off as soon as possible.
| had Just counted the men who were
on the span few minutes before and
there were fifty-One in all not count
ing myself. When | called, the men
dropped their tools and ran toward
me, but only ten of them could get off.
The others went down in Il heap.
was so badly frightened that | could
not tell how many of them got out,
but only saw one man swim to the
shore.
1.-The accident was caused by the
wind. The piling was strong enough
to bear double the weight. The
bridge fell like pack of cards. 1t
became loosened on the Indiana side
first and swayed gradually across to
the other side.
The span would have been COM
pleted by this afternoon, and after the
traveller" had been fastened to the pier
there would have been no danger of
the wind or current breaking il down"
There Were Many Narrow Escapes.
But the most thrilling was that of
workman called spider" who broke
the record for high jumping. lie was
at the top of the huge traveller" 1iG
feet from the water. He felt some
thing give way, and then saw the
whole span was falling. Placing his
hands above his head, he leaped head
long to the water. Strange to say. he
was not seriously hurt. and was car
ricd toward the wreckage, where he
was rescued by two fellow workmen
who had just come from the shore.
The south channel span, about 40
feet in length, was blown down shortly
after o'clock tonight So far as
known nc one was injured. This will
entail an additional loss of SIS, 900.
A Unusual sight.
One sight that was unusual and that
will be remembered as miraculous in
the history of the lamentablc disaster,
was the presence of eighteen men, who
were saved by being on the great stone
pier, when the iron span and it's con-
Meeting timbers went down, with its
dreadful loss of human life. Here
stood this great pier, rising alone
from the water over seventy feet in
the air, with the eighteen human pris-
oners huddled together, dazed with an
uncomfortable fear, but saved. The
sight was unique, but terrible. A rope
ladder was thrown up and the men
were rescued.
Miraculous Escapes.
John Hipsenheiger, Of Port Huron,
Mich, accompanied the traveller" in
its plunge. Just be 'ore it struck the
water he rolled off and escaped I'M
DIR. d. C. Preston, of Jeffersonville,
the physician of the Phoenix Bridge
CO., as soon as the first span fell,
seized skiff and went to the assist
ance of the unfortunate men. While
the skiff was being rowed to the mass
of chris the second span, directly over
the skiff of the physician. gave way.
DIR. Preston, realizing his danger,
jumped from his skiff into the river
and was rescued unharmed
The building of the. Louisville &
Jeffersonvilie bridge has been marked
by series of disasters. No less than
fifty men have been killed and injured
in its construction, before the present
accident Three gears ago the Masonic
savings bank, one of the largest finan-
cial concerns in the city. was wrecked
by holding too much of the BRIDGES
paper, and the president of both bridge
and bank, Jacob +. Kreiger, was
ruined. lie soon died and the bridge,
with one span completed, and the gray
piers standing like tombstones in the
river-for such they were-remained
with no one to furnish the money to
push the work to completion. Several
months ago, however, arrangements
were made with the Big Four and
other railroads to furnish the money to