The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-08-07
INTO The WATER.
Scores of Excursionists Are
Plunged Suddenly
By the Breaking Of a Gang
Plank at a Ferry.
KNOWN DEAD ARE Is.
Other Bodies Carried Away by
the Tide.
Two Hundred People Involved
In the Accident.
KNOWN DEAD ARE IS.

Bar Harbor. Me. Aug. IA score or
more of persons were killed yesterday
by the collapse Of the gangplank of the
Mount Desert ferry.
Following is a list of the dead:
Mrs. William Murray, Of Brewer
Irving Bridges. West Hancock.
Albert Colson, Levant.
Mrs. Alonzo p. Cakes, Bangor.
Miss Grace Sumner, Bangor.
Joseph Murphy, Oldtown.
Mrs. Hollis W. Estey, Ellsworth.
Clifford Cushman, Corinth.
Miss Lizzie Ward, Bangor.
Charles w. Downs, Ellsworth.
F. E. Sweetzer, travelling salesman,
Portland.
Ora n. Lank. DanfOrth.
G. H. Bennett, Brewer.
Mrs. G. H. Bennett, Brewer.
Mrs. c. S. Slower Ellsworth
Melvin McCard, Corinth.
Mrs. A Fl. Billings, Bangor.
Mrs. George DerWent, Bangor.
The Maine Central railroad ran eX-
cursions to Bar Harbor from all sec
lions of it's line in Maine, the attraction
being the Warships which were eX-
pected.
All the morning long trains. packed
with excursiOnists, We're rushing to Bar
Harbor. The train which left Bangor
at S:25 consisted of twelve cars damned
A T >
the terminus of the line. the train is left
for the boat, for an eighteen mile sail to
Bar HarbOr. From the wharf, a slip
or gangplank forty feet long and ten
feet wide, leads up to the boat
The slip was hinged at the inner end
and was raised or lowered to suit the
tide. The wharf extends on both sides
flush with the end of the wooden gang
plank, five timbers four by twelve
inches, set vertically ran the length of
the plank and these were crossed by two
inch planks. It is said that there was
no support for the plank between the
hinges and the outer end.
When the excursion train from Ban
gOr arrived at the ferry, there was a
rush for the steamer SapphO. The first
few passengers had crossed the gang
plank safely, and it is estimated that
200 people were massed on the plank
Suddenly they felt the plank give way
beneath them.
The long timber supporting the plank
broke in the middle. The hinges held up
one end and the chain the other, while
the broken ends of the plank dropped,
and a struggling, screaming mass OF hu-
manity was plunged into the water, If
teen feet below the wharf.
A few chung to the inclined sides of
the plank, but at least $50 were strug-
Cling in the water. The piling of the
wharf practically penned them on three
sides, and the boat lying at the wharf
closed the outer end of the opening.
After the first moment Of stupefactiOn
the work of rescue began Ropes and
life preservers were thrown to the
crowd, but in the panic people in the
water clutched one another and many
sank thus in groups in a death grip.
Many were taken from the water IN
conscious and were revived with diff
Guilty. Doctors were summoned from
all directions, but it was half an hour
before the first arrived.
The freight house at the ferry was
turned into a mOrgue, the bodies being
q ThRTa a c
recovered. By noon seventeen had been
recovered. Three other persons were
taken on board the Sappho and died on
the way to Bar Harbor.
The exact number of dead will not be
known for some time yet, as a strong
tide sweeps under the pier and some
bodies may have been carried away by
it. A diver, who was set to work with
out delay, was engaged in his search
until o'clock, but only seventeen bodies
were found.