The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1900-05-03
First Serious Accident Within the
Grounds of the Great Exposi-
tiOn in Paris.
NINE PERSONS CRUSHED TO DEATH,
Nearly Forty Others We're Seriously
Injured, While Many Others We're
But Slightly Hurt.
The Bridge Had Just Been Con-
demned, Gnd People Were Not Al
lowed Upon 1t, hut Were Per-
mitted to Pass Under II.

Paris, April 30.--An accident within
the exposition grounds caused the
death of nine persons and injured
about 40. A temporary bridge, un-
able to withstand the Sunday crowd,
broke. The accident threw pail over
the happiness of an immense throng
who had profited by the magnificent
weather to visit the exposition. 1t
was probably the record in attend
ance. Not merely the interior of the
grounds, but the precincts also were
crowded, and the concourse was par
ticnlarly great along the Avenue de
Sufren, which forms the northern
boundary of the grounds. Here is sit
uated a big sideshow. the Celestial
Globe. A footbridge, on which the
finishing touches were being put,
crosses the Avenue de Sufren, con-
Meeting the sideshow with the exhibi-
tion. it was constructed OF wood.
with stucco facade. and with plas-
ter-made tower at each end. Strange
~ enough, the bridge had been con-
demned only Sunday morning by the
public was. therefore, not allowed to
90 upon the structure. and in this way
Il disaster even more terrible than
that which occurred was averted.
The gay crowd was passing along
the avenue. and some hundred or more
Dersons were walking beneath the
Nridge. when suddenly an ominous
rash was heard. before those UNDER
meath could turn aside the structure
fell with a fearful crash. burying
nearly so. \ shout of horror arose
rom the spectators. mingled with the
cries of the victims. For moment
nothing could be distinguished but a
cloud of dust and plaster. A scene of
the greatest excitement and confusion
followed. But this was only for few
seconds. Almost Immediately the
crowd attacked the debris in an effort
to release those lying beneath. The
workmen within the grounds who had
witnessed the accident, the police and
the Republican guards. together with
quite number of soldiers, joined in
the rescue work. The promenaders
forgot their Sunday attire and COW
cred themselves with dirt and CRIME
in tearing away the rubbish with their
hands. Wooden beams and poles were
brought from the half-finished build
ings near by and were used as levers
to raise the fallen mass.
The victims first recovered were
mostly only the injured, the dead he
ing found later beneath the center of
the structure. The first body was
found after quarter of an hours
frantic labor. 1t was that of a little
girl seven years old whose head was
horribly crushed. Victim after VIC
tim was brought to fight, until row
of nine mutilated corpses had been
| placed upon the sidewalk, and nearly
| 40 other persons, some badly and 9TH
ers less seriously injured had been
| carried in ambuances or driven to the
| hospitals.
a family composed of father, moth
| er and two girls narrowly escaped de-
| struction. The parents, who hap
| pened to be little ahead. had gone
| under the bridge, the children follow
| ng, Just at the moment of the col
lapse. The parents were killed, but
the children sprang back and escaped
with few scratches. A cyclist had
his wheel smashed, but himself es-
capped unhurt.
The weighty plaster towers seemed
to be responsible for the fall of the
structure.
The disaster was the leading topic
of conversation in the cafes and at
the other Paris resorts in the even
ing, and strong criticism was leveled
| against the exposition authorities for
allowing an unfinished structure to
ieopardize the lives of citizens, fears
being expressed that the incomplete
state of the works within the exhibit
tion grounds themselves might lead
to similar accident. IT should be
said. however, that the exhibition au-
thorities are not responsible for the
defective construction of the foot
bridge, which was erected by the
management of the Celestial Globe.
| As result of the accident NJ. Lepine,
prefect of police. has ordered the clos
ing of several sideshows the struc-
tural arrangements of which are con-