The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1903-10-14

ed and burned brightly as far as the
eye could see as the structure passed
down and out of the limits of the twin
Delaware towns it had served so faith
fully since 1871. The old bridges
humiliation came at time when none
could witness it. When daylight
came the only span that was left
was the one connected with the Jersey
shore. As the water at this time COM
menced sbating this portion is the
only part that remains. The piers are
still standing, but owing to the heavy
strain that was put upon them, it may
be that they have been so badly weak
ened as to necessitate their rebuild
ing. 1t is said that the bridge com
pany will commence operations as
soon as possible, and hurry the work
of rebuilding with all possible speed.
All of that section of the city south
of Ferry street and west of Main street
was flooded, the water reaching half
way to the second stories on the houses
in the vicinity of Swan Creek, near
Union street. The inmates themselves
were taken away in boats and taken
care of by relatives and friends over
night.
The dawn of Sunday revealed scenes
of destruction unparalleled. At clock
the river still held sway of the town at
the new high water mark, but inch by
inch it began to recede. and by six
o'clock Sunday evening II had fallen
eight feet.
In front of the wrecked entrance
Bridge street was piled two feet deep
with drift of every description. One
twisted span of the bridge remains at
the Jersey end, against which is piled
great mass of wreck, including a
barn and other buildings.
The loss of tho bridge will be severe
ly felt by workmen in New Hope EN-
ployed in the mills and factories of
Lambertvlle. The structure WAS | ,040
feet long from abutment to abutment
and has five piers. 1t is owned by the
New Hope Delaware Bridge Company
and was valued at $40, 900, which is the
amount of the company 3 capital stock.
The stock has been paying semi-annual
dividends of per cent, the last divi-
dend having just been declared. The
Company's officers are: President,
Richard Randolph Parry Secretary
and Treasurer, John s. Williams ;Direc-
tors, Charles Crook, Alfred Il. Hol-
combe, Carroll Il. Williams, James s.
Studdiford and Morris Margerum. The
bridge is total loss to the Company,
On Sunday morning the Directors held
an informal meeting i'll New Hope to
talk over future plans. The bridge
will be rebuilt at as early day as pos
sible. Meanwhile the Bridge Company
will provide means to ferry passengers
across the river between Lambertville
and New Hope. The bridge had stood
since 1874. 1t took the place of the
one destroyed by the flood in June of
that year.
The northern end of Union street,
above the wire mill WAS completely
under water, caused by backing up of
the water in Alexsauken Creek. The
inhabitants were compelled to place
household goods in the second stor-
les for safe keeping, and boats were
used to transport people to and fro.
The inmates themselves were taken
away in boats, and taken care of by re-
latives and friends over night.
Along the river front the occupants
of the houses, having undergone pre-
vious experiences, began to move in
good time to places of safety early Sat
urday morning, but larger articles
such as pianos and organs were left to
their fate, and as consequence, were
considerably damaged, the water reach
ing in some instances almost to the
second story windows. The heaviest
individual loser is +. +. Lear, the
owner of the flour and grst mill Be
sides losing considerable valuable lum
Der, his barn with its entries contents
was swept away and is now lodged be-
hind the remaining span of the Della
ware bridge. His loss will be several
thousand dollars. The first floor OF
the mill is 80 badly damaged that
great deal of repairing will have to be
done before business can be again re-
sumed.
The New Jersey Rubber Works at
the end Of Lambert street was flooded
and large amount of valuable stock
was badly damaged.
The heaviest loss in this city was
sustained by the Pennsylvania Rail
road Company. The only portion of
the tracks not washed by the water
was between Coryell street and the
outlet locks. In some places the road
bed was completely washed away and
the tracks carried down the banks of
the canal.
All OF the canal bridges were badly
strained by the rushing water and will
require general oyerhauling. The
bridges at Eyes below town and at
BARRIERS in the northern part of the
city were carried away and will have
to rebuild.
The outlet lock gates were bursted
loose and damaged beyond repair.
While the streams were raging, i'm
mense crowds Of spectators watched
the angry waters carry on the work of
destruction. All Saturday despite
the pouring rain, the crowd kept its
vigil in the vicinity Of Coryell street
and the depot.
On Sunday large number Of people
came in from the surrounding coun-