The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-04-30
NINE KILLED AT PARIS FAIR
4 BRIDGE COLLAPSES FALLING ON
 4 CROWD BELOW.
About Forty Persons Also Injurad-The 0 the Authorities for Public Use and n
 More Terrible Uisnster Was Therefore Averted-strong Criticism of the Ex-
position Officials.

position Officials.
 Paris April 29-S.15 p. m.-An acci- dent within the exposition grounds to- day caused the death of nine persons and the injury of about forty others. A temporary bridge collapsed, falling on a crowd below. The accident threw pail over the happiness of an immense throng, who had profited by the magni- ficent weather to visit the exposition. To-days was probably the record at. tendance. Not merely the interior of the grounds, but the precincts also were crowded and the concourse was particu- larly great along the Avenue de Suffren. which forms the northern boundary of the grounds.
 Here is situated a big side-show, the Celestial Globe. A foot bridge, on which the finishing touches were being put to- day, crosses the Avenue de Suffren, con- meeting the side-show with the exhibi- tion. It was constructed of wood, with a stucco facade and with plaster made tower at each end. Strangely enough, the bridge had been condemned only this morning as unsafe by the ex- hibition authorities The public was,
 
 structure, and in this way a disaster even more terrible than occurred was avoided.
 The gay crowd was passing along the avenue and some hundred or more per- sons were walking beneath the bridge, when suddenly an ominous crash was heard. Before those underneath could turn around the structure fell with a fearful crash, nearly burying fifty. A shout of horror rose from the specta tors, mingled with the cries of the vic tins. For moment nothing could be distinguished but cloud of dust and plaster. A scene of the greatest excite ment and confusion followed, but this was only for a few seconds. Almost immediately the crowd attacked the de- bris 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 a number of soldiers, joined in the rescue work. The promenaders forgot their Sunday attire and covered themselves with dirt and grime in tear ing away the rubbish with their hands. Wooden beams and poles were hastily 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 in- jured, the dead being found later be- meath the center of the structure. Men were dispatched to bring firemen, and the first body was found after quarter of an hours frantic labor. It was that of little girl about seven years of age, whose head was badly crushed.
 Later six bodies were found and plac- ed upon the sidewalk, and nearly forty other persons, some badly and others less seriously injured, had been carried in ambulances and driven to the hospi- tals. A family composed of father, mother and two girls narrowly escaped destruction. The parents, who happen ed to be a little ahead, had gone under the bridge, the children following, just at the moment of the collapse. The pa rents were killed, but the children sprang back and escaped with a few scratches. A cyclist had his wheel smashed, but himself escaped unhurt. The dead are three men, two women and one child.
 The weighty plaster towers seem to have been responsible for the fall of the structure. Commissioner General Picard and other high officials arrived shortly after the accident and superintended the work of relief. President Loubet sent member of his household for informa- tion. Several soldiers were among the injured.
 The disaster was the leading topic of discussion in the cafes and at the other Paris resorts this evening, and strong criticism was levelled against the exhi- bition authorities for allowing an unfin- ished structure to jeopardize the lives of citizens, fears being expressed that the incomplete state of the works with in the exhibition grounds themselves might lead to a similar accident. It should be said, however that the exhi- bition authorities are not responsible for the defective construction of the foot bridge, which was erected by the Celes- tial Globe company. The accident will have the effect of closing several side show buildings which are unfinished and which are deemed unsafe
 RELIEF OF FIRE VICTIMS.