The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1899-08-11
DROWNED IN A TRAP
Two Hundred Persons Thrown
Into the Water.
FERRY HORROR At MOUNT DESERT
The Loss of Life Not Fully Known,
but Seventeen Dead Bodies Have
Already Been RecOVered-Many
Were Seriously Injured.

were seriously injured.
BAR HARBOR, Me-, Aug. witt
the lightest of hearts, amid laughter ant
exchange of merry comment, for 50 many
of them were known to each other near
ly a score of eXcursionists ran to theil
death at Mount Desert ferry yesterday
The catastrophe was flightful in the eX
IRENE, for it came when scores of per
sons, young and old, were pcnned into q
trap, to escape from which they fought
with desperation against great odds. 1t
was the worst accident remembered i'll
the history of the state, and especially i'll
the career of the Maine Central road, un
der whose auspices SO many eXCursonlsts
had been brought here. Two hundred of
them, or about that number, rushing
from the train to the boat which was to
carry them to Bar Harbor were without
any warning plunged into the water
through a fatal trap. Penned in on three
sides by the piling of the wharf and on
the fourth by the boat, they fought for a
few minutes, while 100 or more eXcur-
sionists, stupefed and failing at first to
realize the enOrnity of the tragedy they
We're witnessing, looked down from the
wharf above.
The Maine Central railroad yesterday
ran excursions to Bar HarbOr from all
sections of its line in Maine, the attrac-
ton being the warshipS which were eX-
pected there. All the forenoon long
trains packed with eXcursionists We're
rushing to Bar Harbor The train which
left Bangor at S:25 consisted of II cars
jammed with people. At Mount Desert
ferry, the terminus of the line, the train
is left for the boat for an eight mile sail
to Bar Harbor. The trains un out On to
the wharf and it is but IL step from the
train to the boat. The wharf is owned
by the Maine Central railroad, and the
boat is part of its system. From the
wharf a slip or gangpank 40 feet long
and 10 feet wide led up to the boat. The
slip was hinged at the inner end, the
outer end being supported by chains, by
which it was raised OF lowered to suit
the tide. The wharf extends on both
sides flush with the end of the gang
plank.
When the excursion train from Bangor
arrived at the ferry, there was rush for
the steamer Sappho. The first few pas
sengers had crossed the gangplank safe
ly, and it is estimated that 200 people
were massed upon 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 drop
ped, and a struggling, screaming mass of
humanity was plunged into the water -
feet below the wharf A few chung to
the inclined sides of the plank, but at
least $50 were struggling in the water.
The piling of the wharf partially penned
them in on three Sides and the boat lying
at the wharf closed the outer end of the
opening. After the first moment of stu
petaction the work of rescue began. |
Ropes and life preservers were thrown to |
the crowd, but in the panic the people in |
the water clutched one another. and |
many sank thus in groups in a death |
grapple. Many taken from the water
were unconscious and We're revived with |
difficulty. 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 taken there for
identification as fast as recovered. By
noon II had been recovered. Three other |
persons were taken on board the Sappho |
and died on the way to Bar Harbor.