The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1899-08-09

Could lie RescuedIt Was Ono of tho
Worst Disasters That Ever Occurred In
the State Of Maine-Ths Victims Excur-
sionisis Going to Bar Harbor.
BAR HARBoR, Me, Aug with
the lightest of hearts, amid laughter
and exchange of merry comment for
so many Of them were known to each
other nearly a score of excursionists
ran TO their death at Mount Desert
ferry. The catastrophe was frightful
in the extreme for it came while scores
of persons, young and Did, were penned
into trap, to escape from which they
fought with desperation against great
odds.
1t was the worst accident remem-
bered in the history of the state and
especially in the career of the Maine
Central road under whose auspices so
many excursionists had been brought
there. 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 warning
plunged into the water through a
fatal trap.
Penned in on three sides by the pill
ing of the wharf and On the fourth by
the boat, they fought fer few minutes
while hundred or more excursionists
stupified, and failing at first to realize
the enomity of the tragedy, they were
witnessing looked down from the
wharf above.
The Maine Central railroad ran ex-
cursions to Bar Harbor from all Sec
tions of its line in Maine. the attrac-
tlon being the warships which were ex-
pected. All the forenoon long trains,
packed with eXcursionists, were rush
Ing % Bar Harbor. The train which
left Bangor at S:25 consisted of u cars
tammed with people. At Mount Desert
ferry the terminus of the line, the train
is left for the boat, for an eight mile
sail to Ear Harbor. The trains run
out onto the wharf and it Is but a step
from the train to the boat. The wharf
is owned by the Maine Central rail-
road and the boat is part of its sys-
tenn. From the wharf a slip or gang
plank 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 ii was
raised or lowered to suit the tide. The
wharf extends on both sides flush with
the end of the gangplank. The plank
was of wood Five timbers, four by
twelve inches, set vertically, ran the
length of the plank and these were
crossed by pinch planking. 1t is said
that there was no support for the plank
between the hinges at 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 said 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 dropped and
a struggling, screaming mass Of hu-
manity was plunged into the water,
Is feet below the wharf A few clung
to the inclined sides of the plank, but
at least $50 were struggling in the
water. The piling of the wharf par
TALLY penned them in on three sides
and the boat lying at the wharf closed
the ouler end of the opening.
After the first moment of stupifica-
ton 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 were 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 re-
covered.
BY noon IL 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 as strong tide
sweeps under the pier, and some bodies
may have been carried away by It, A
diver who was set at work without de-
lay was engaged in the search, but only
II bodies were found.