The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-08-07
TWO SUNDAY HORRORS.
Bearing
Two Hundred Peo-
pie Collapses- Sew
enteen Already Iden-
titled.

Bar Harbor, Me-, Aug 6.-Witl the
lightest of hearts, amid laughter and
exchange of merry comment, nearly a
score of excursionists ran to their death
at Mount Desert ferry today. The ca
tastrophe was frightful in the ex-
IRENE, for it came when scores of per-
sons, young and old, were penned into
a 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
here. Two hundred of them, or about
that number, rushing from the train
to the boat which was to carry them
to Bar KIarbor, were, without an in
stant's warning, plrl ged into the water
through a fatal trap.
Penned IL on three sides by the pill
ing of the wharf, and on the fourth by
the boat, they fought for a few min
utes, willie hundred or more excur-
sionists, stupefied and failing at first
to realize the enormity of the tragedy
they were witnessing, looked down from
the wharf above.
Rhe Maine Central Railroad TODAY
ran excursions to Bar Harbor from all
sections of its line in Maine, the at
traction being the warships, which
We're expected today. All the forenoon,
trains packed with excursionists were
rushing to Bar Harbor. The train
which left Bangor at 1926 consisted Of
II cars damned with people. At Mount
Desert ferry, the terminus of the line
the train is left for the boat for an s.
mile sail to Bar Harbor. The trains
run out on to the wharf, and it is but
step from the train to the boat. The
wharf is owned by the Maine Central
Railroad, and the boat is a part of its
system
From the wharf a slip or gangplank,
40 feet long and 10 feet wide. leads IN
to the boat. The Slip was hinged at the
inner end, the outer end being support
ed by chains by which it 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 A by II inches,
set vertically, ran the length of the
plank, and these were crossed by two
inch 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 Tor the steamer Sappho The firsF'
rev passengers had crossed the gang
plank safely, and it is estimated that
2OO people were massed upon the plank.
Suddenly they felt the plank give way
beneath them. The long timber sup
porting 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 struggling,
screaming mass of humanity was
plunged into the water, fifteen feet be-
low the wharf. A fey chung to the IN
olined 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 out
er 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 the people In the water clutched
one another, and many sank thus in
groups in a death grapple. Many taken
from the water We're unconscious, and
were revived with difficulty.
Doctors were summoned from all d.
rections, but it was half an hour be-
fore the first arrived. The freight house
at the ferry was turned into a morgue,
the bodies being taken there for iden-
LITIGATION as fast as recovered. By noon,
IL had been recovered. Three other per-
sons were taken on board the Sappho
and died on the way to Bar Harbor
The positive identihcations of the dead
are as follows:
MRS. WILLIAM MURRAY of
Brewer.
IRVING BRIDGES of West Hancock
ALBERT COLSON of Levant.
MRS. ALONZO P. CAKES of Bangor
MISS GRACE SUMMER of Bangor.
JOSEPH MURPHY of Old Town.
MRS. HOLLIS w. ESTEY of ELS
worth.
CLIFFORD CUSHMAN of Corinth.
MISS LIZZIE WARD of Bangor.
CHARLES w. DOWNS of Ellsworth
f. E. SWEETSER, travelling sales
man, Portland.
ORA M. LANK of Danforth.
G. III. BENNETT Of Brewer.
I MRS. G. H. BENNETT, Brewer.
MRS. CHARLES S. TOWER. Els
worth.
MELVIN McCARD of Corinth.
MRS. A. H. BILLINGS, Bangor.
MRS. GEORGE DERWENT, Bangor
MISS LEWIS of Hampden, Me.
Unidentified woman, believed to be al
saleswoman for Boston publishing
house
The exact number of dead will not