The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1894-01-19

Sn's PERSONS Thrown from "a Coli.n..
Draw Into the Waters OF Newton s,'''
on Long isiand-4A Terrible sirurr,. a..
Life Among the broken TimL,r.
Men Mi-sing and supposed To h. ~
tn the Rescue.
LoSc ISLAND CRY. l.. l.. Jan. Il
About sixty men were thrown M N.
ton creek last night by the cnllan..
"a section of temporary dr.,yl'rsi.
over the creek connecting Eardl. .r'
nue., ut Laurel Hill. with Mceker r..
nue., brooklyn. Just how manv M.
were drowned cannot as yet be ,lo,.,'
mined.
The following were on the bride. !,
the time and have not been seen .:ne..
Patrick I'riody.
II. Marcaey.
George Mills.
Michael McCurky.
James Smith.
They were all employees of the a.
rel Hill chemical works. Mills heinr
foreman there. Timothy Cannon. =
los Eckford street, BROOKLYN. wa
brought to st. Johns hospital. M.
city. One OF his feet was baalr
crushed. and he was cut abou, m.
head. The section of the BRIDE. ,b.,
fel! was u draw. thirty feet long /,
was built Of wood. and rested on tn
center abutment, from which point an.
other section continued on the Brook.
Ign side. The draw on the Broolslrn
side was open. 1t was low tide. ana ,
tug was trying to force schooner
through the draw. IL was few min.
utes before o o'clock. when the hridpe
was crowded with men from near.hv
factories anxious 10 get To their homes
in brooklyn. Suddenly there was
cracking of timbcrs. and the draw
broke in two. The men made an IT,
fort 10 get off. but the jam on the
shore end of the bridge prevented
their making their escape.
They fell into the water in a hcap
and then commenced wild struggle
for life. Some climbed on to The
wrecked draw. while others sourh.
safety in swimming for the shore. 4
passing tug picked up a number and
landed them on the BROOKLYN Side.
where they were attended by surgeons
from Brooklyn hospitals
The work Of rescue was di:ficul,
one. rs there were no small boats a,
hand. Ropes were thrown ont to some
of the men, and they were hauled
ashore in that manner. During the
work of rescue there were some lively
scenes in the water. Men struggled
with each other in their frenzy toes.
cape. Some were hauled under water
and nearly drowned by those whom
they were trying To assist
Thomas Dobbins. of Meeker avenue.
Brooklyn. reached the scene in row.
boat In time to save four men who
were on the point of sinking. Tie
captain of the schooner rescued over
dozen men. He got away before hs
name or that Of his vessel could he
learned.
After striking the water the draw
broke into two parts, and in an instant
both were covered with men. Some
TO climb up clear of the wa
ter. while Others hung on to keep their
heads above water. 1t took considera-
bio time To get all the men ashore. As
fast as they were landed they were
taken to Toner'S Penny bridge hotel
and filled up with stimulants.
Many of the rescued had close calls.
md for n long time after they were
brought ashore they were unable ic
tell how they got there. The wrecked
draw had not been used in three
weeks, owing to pile drivers working
on il.
Bridgekeeper Daniel Hickey was on
the Laurel Hill side when the acciden,
occurred. lie said it was due 10 the
of the bridge. lie said
hat he had frequently warned the
men not TO crowd on the bridge. as it
was dangerous TO do so,- but they
,aid no attention to his repeated
He could not account for
he draw breaking in the center
is IL was made of heavy timber. calcn-
atcd TO hold almost any weight. Mr..
Hickey does not believe that anyone
vas drowned. He said that the water
vas only nine feet deep at the tirac-
md as the men fell into the water
within about ten feet of the shore All
must have escaped. Several Of the
men said that they saw ut least five
nen sink, and did not see them come
o the surface again. William Fagin
nd Pat Mcnamara, of Meeker avenue.
Brooklyn, both had narrow escapes
hey do not know how they got ashore.
nd say they came near drowning
he search for bodies was kept MP till
late hour but none were recovered.