The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-09-17
l Bridge Collapsed With Mrs. William
Triss and Party
AND FELL TWENTY FEET IN An ABYSS.
Thrilling Accident In which Mrs. Matte
Mvcr. and Master While Trigg Were
Painfully uurt-Rcinnrknbic
Presence of Mind of
the Women.

Matte Myers, ana Misses lena anu .N'"'
Myers were the central hgur,s. last
Thursday afternoon. Mrs. TriSs, accom-
panied by the other ladies' mentioned, and
Ter three chiliren. Bertic. Barbara, and
Willie, have been spending some time THIS
snmmer a, Williamstown. Mass. In the
Bcrkshis Hills. on last Thursday
double team was ordered, and careful
driver was asked fer. ON the front seat
were Master Willie Trigg and the driver
and en- the middle seat were MISSES Lena
and Meme Myers. with little Barbara
Trrg. while Mrs. Myers, Mrs. TriS; I'll"
little Miss Eert.e Trigg occupied seats III
thc rear OF the vehicle.
The party drove quite distance from
the hotel. and on their return. whsn ABOUT
two ana a half miles from heir deSt
ton. they had to cross a bridge. VINO"
epans a creek about TWENTY-FIVE feet ne
How. on either side Of tho cr'ak there
are number Of rocks, which form
eteep precipice from the surface on top
The place is exceedingly dangerous, III
case cf any sort OF accident, being at the
foot of steep hill on either side.
THE BRIDGE GAVE WAY.
When the party approached the pi'usc
on their descent. the driver checkcu Wy
horses
sorne time applying the breaks. flnaly
tho vehicle reached the bridge, which
hogan TO .reak noticeably as soon as the
borses steppcd upon It. This somewhat
alarmed the party but as soon as the
vel Gle rolled upon the structure there
was a pcrceptible shaking, followed ny
crash. In "a moment the bridge had gwen
away on the right. throwing Mrs Myers
out. violently to the bottom OF the ra'lne'
twenty feet below. , III.
A, that moment the driver forced MS
hocses off the bridge, but saw at glance
ths, they could not pull the venice ou'
fro,n the position I'm which IL was wedgeu
I,,,le Willie Trirg had fallen out IN inc
creek. and little Barbara 1llSs VINO -
only five years of age. was clnsinS 10 'i'e
side of the vehicle. and hanging over 'ne
preciplce. crying TO her mo'her 10 neiP
nor Brave little creature that she "aH,
she held on while swinging over the any -
and maintained her grip during the eA-
,,a,,a,, whsIe the horses were plungins
rnd irving 20 come back upon the prluse
,t,,,o pertie Tricg had fallen out OF the
xah,c,e and was in most precarious po-
stion.
THRILLING MOMENT.
The driver. seeing the extreme u"'s
"a reaiszinc the horrible results tn"'
,.o,ld necessarily follow II the pIluSo
collapsed enti; ely. with Mrs. Myers Nins
unconscious Cn the ro KS u"i'' ',V"'"
ona little Willie Trigg, In the creek pc
,I sr,osmed TO Mrs. Trigg and the
other ladies in the vehicle, 10 scrai''D'0
ont as hest they could. end get those
underneath he bridge cut OF the way.
He himself. was helpless to come 10 nv"
aid. II he ioosened his reins for mo
ment the horses would step Rack on ,ne
structure. and with tn additional weight
the bridge would be Obliged TO fail. Ihere
was not a moment to lose, ana YET ne
could not leave his post.
Amid all the excitement ana DANCE,
Mrs. Trigg and the other ladies dragged
little barbara Trgg from her perilous
pcsifion and In some way. they scarcely
knew how until after the worst was over
managed TO pull themselves out OF the
vehicle. just ready TO topple over ana
climb down the steep embankment at
the bottom of which lay Mrs Myers,
I'm a dozed unconscious condition. At
first the other ladies thought Mrs. Myers
had been killed. With the bridge hang
ing over them as though It would fall
every moment they hurriedly lifted Mrs
Myers from the rocks where she lay,
ana helped little Willie Trigg out of the
creek.
A TERRIBLE CRASH.
They were none too soon I'm the ac-
complishment Of this difficult under
taking. for twenty seconds delay would
have meant death to the whole party.
Scarcely had the ladies' succeeded in get
ting Mrs. Myers out of the way before
there was a deafening crash. followed
by n heavy settling sound. and then two
horses badly MANNED were struggling to
get out of the debris. The driver had
kept the horses OFF the bridge as long as
possible. He stuck TO his post Ike a
hero. and amid all the danger. he would
not leap for life until the crisis was
over.
Then II was that all efforts to force the
horses TO pull the vehicle out Of It's PIN
toned position failed. and there was no
way TO keep them from stepping back
upon the bridge The deafening crash
the struggle of the injured horses TO
extricate themselves from their pitiable
situation, the realization Of the terri
BILE position from which the party had
barely escaped with their lives, the sight
OF blood upon Mrs. Myers face and
hands resulting from her fall. all com
bined TO make the situation peculiarly
trying upon tho ladies' nerves The
shock was terrible. They stood IT as
best they could. however. and at once
turned TO the relief of Mrs. Myers. doing
what little they could under the circum-
stances TO revive her.
THE INJURED ONES.
Mrs. Myers was with some difficulty
brought back to consciousness. She was
very painfully cut and bruised about
the face and arms. but 1t was after
wards learned that no bones were broken
and there were no interna, injuries. Lit
tie Willie Trigg was badly bruised and
skinned about the head and hands, but
otherwise escaped injury. The other
members OF the party received slight
scratches ana very severe nervous shocks
The injured were carried TO the hotel.
and medical aid summoned at once They
secured In addition TO the ervices OF a
physician and a trained nurse surgical
aid from Fittsncld. Mass. Upun exami-
nation II was found that Mrs. Myers in
juries were painful but not necessarily
eerious. She and Master Willie Trigg
are doing very well now. and the other
ladies have recovered from the severe
shock. so that there is no occasion for
alarm on the part OF their many friends
here.
HAD BEEN coxDgMNFp.
The bridge which collapsed had been
condemned Several complaints had
been made TO the authorities about the
dangerous condition OF the structure
1. was very rickety and the timber out
OF which II was made had rotted nearly
through. Some workmen had recently
nnt some additional boards on ION which