The record-union., 1896-02-07
Current.

BRISTOL Comm, Feb. Ga most
appalling disaster occurred here shortly
after o'clock tonight, in which twenty
workmen were precipitated into the
Pequabeck River from the East Bris-
tol bridge, and from ten to twelve of
them are probably lost.
The structure was found to be shaky,
and the 4 :42 O'Clock train on the New
England road had narrow escape from
a wreck as it crossed on the way to
Hartford. For some time the bridge
had been looked upon with suspicion,
and new bridge was in process of erec-
ton and almost completed. 1t was
close alongside the bridge which was
then carried away.
After the eastbOund passenger train
had passed tonight, one side of the
old bridge gave way to the current,
and with a crash went down into the
boiling stream.
The managers of the road immedi-
ately dispatched wrecking train from
Hartford, which arrived on the Forest
vile side of the Pequabeck at 5:45
o'clock. There were forty men on the
train, all of whom had come from Hart
ford They were Immediately set to
work to make the new bridge passable,
and the work was progressing salts
factorily by the aid of lanterns up to
8 o'clock. To facilitate the work, half
of the men were located on the remain
ing portion of the old structure, passing
IRON girders to another gang of men on
the new bridge.
The waters of the Pequabeck had
been continually rising since morning,
q - h ieg1l than
known. The water had risen two or
three feet since the first crash at )
o'clock, and the remainder of the bridge
was really tottering while the men We're
courageously standing upon it.
The outer end suddenly sank with a
crash with it's human freight, and was
carried off in the boiling current. wThe
cries of the men, the creaking of tim
Der and the falling of ironwork made
combined noise which was heard half
a mile away. The half of the gang
which had been resting on a more solid
foundation was horror-stricken to see
their working companions so suddenly
precipitated to death. In an instant,
however, they were resolved into a res
Cuing party, and every effort was made
to save the drowning men.
Two men were fortunate enough to
reach shore by their own exertions al
most Immediately after the fearful fall.
A third was saved by a workman, who
plunged in after him and brought him
to the shore Finally a fourth, fifth
and then a sixth were saved by the he
roic efforts of comrades. Others could
be seen struggling away in the mass OF
debris, clinging to it and crying fran
tically for help while a number in the
river never came in sight after the
bridge went down.
All of Bristol was at once aroused,
and preparations and volunteers imme-
diately rushed to the scene of the dis
aster. The night was darkness it
self, and with the boiling stream, run
ming it's banks on both sides, efforts
to rescue in the darkness were fraught
with the greatest danger.
Thomas Marine was the first man
taken out of the river. Soon after
William p. Barry. foreman of the con-
struction gang in the East Hartford
yard, was rescued. He was badly in
jured, having been crushed by falling
timber Barry stated that of seven in
his gang six, including himself, were
among the saved. Their names are:
Michael Sullivan, Thomas Marine John
Jones, = Till, A. Pongelo and Barry
himself. Nicholas Rich of Barry's
gang is among the missing.
The only body recovered up to mid
night was that of Daniel O'Brien of
Hartford. O'Brien was foreman of
section gang. His body was found
crushed between timbers forty yards
below where the bridge fell into the
river Scores Of volunteers were at
searching both sides of the
stream,
The six rescued men were taken to
farm houses in the immediate vicinity,
where they were attended by Doctors
Brennan, Wilson and Hull. who are
authority for the statement that none
of them are seriously injured, except
Barry, whose condition is critical
At midnight eleven persons were still
among the missing. All the members
of the construction gangs came from
Hartford and East Hartford, and were
residents Of those places.
The men were connecting up iron
rails on the old bridge and pushing
them across to the new structure when
the accident happened. A gang was
working on each end, and by some mis-
understanding. it is supposed, all Of
them were called to the center of the
Their weight, with the ex-
traordinary rush of the current, is sup
posed to have directly caused the fan
of the bridge.