Evening star., 1903-10-19

abandoned and permitted to sink. An ex-
ira large force OF men appeared for duty
this afternoon. and timbers for the tempo
rary structure are being made ready to be
put in place. So much headway was made
today that men on the work said they e1-
pected the track will be restored by Thurs
day afternoon.
1t was stated that the remaining half
of the draw cannot be operated under any
circumstances This means an end to paw
cation above the bridge for several weeks
probably.
Nothing to Denote Danger.
On account of the work that was being
done in the boiler room the draw had not
been operated by steam for several days,
but by hand. 1t was opened for a boat yes
terday afternoon about 3:45 o'clock. and a
number of steam and trolley trains had
passed over it between that time and the
time the accident occurred. There had been
nothing unusual about the bridge to warn
the tratnmen of the danger. Many Of the
trainmen have long anticipated trouble on
the bridge. however. as they were of the
opinion that the structure had been con-
denned.
Conductor Pettus went ahead as soon
as he could. and when he was certain that
the passengers were in no danger. he re-
turned and allayed their fears The pas
sengers had received a shaking up. but
none of them had been injured An en-
back to the station and cleared the tracks
for the wreckers. Engine 12j was draw
ing the long train west. and 1t was only
because OF the quick work of the eng!-
neer that the big piece of machinery was
kept from going down with the draw.
When he realized what had happened he
opened the throttle and sent the engine
ahead at a faster rate of speed 1t was
regarded a fortunate thing for the pas
sengers that the tender parted from the
engine almost the moment that the speed
of the engine was increased. for the ten
der and empty car went down and formed
a brace. which probably prevented the
passenger coaches from going into the
water.
Fireman Wood was in the gangway be-
tween the engine and tender at the time
the tender parted from the engine, and 1t
was with considerable difficulty that he
held to the engine and kept himself from
falling. He received 4 few scratches and
bruises, but was not seriously injured. The
tender dropped into the water at the
south side of the place where the break
occurred and where the water Is about
forty feet deep Against this came the
empty baggage car. The next car of the train
Cecil Taylor. express messenger, was
riding. He was jostled a little. but was
not hurt.
Long a Source Of Anxiety.
The Long bridge has been source OF
anxiety to the army engineers well as
to the people of the District generally for
many years and the surprise is, not that
il has been wrecked at last, but that 1t
did not collapse long ago. 1t has been
pronounced unsafe and a menace to navi-
cation by every engineer officer who has
examined 1t in recent years.
The question of the reconstruction OF the
Long bridge has been before Congress
since December Il, 1872, when the board
of survey upon the Improvement or WASH
ington and Georgetown harborS, created
by act of March ), 1872 made report
Recommending as a part of the plan of
Improvement the rebuilding OF the Long
bridge with greater spans and larger
draw, the bridge to be located at right
angles TO the channel The high freshct
of November. 1877, emphasized the neces-
sity for entering upon general pan OF
Improvement of these harbors, ana IN tne
annual report of June 80, 1873, Mr.. S. I.
Albert, United States civil engineer then IN
charge of the work, recommended as a
part of such n plan the construction OF a
bridge in the place of the present Long
bridge, with piers sunk to the depth tnat
the new channels will require ana WIN
spans and draw which will meet the re-
ouirements of navigation, while upon thc
mans accompanying this and subsequent
reports the proposed location OF the he"
bridge is shown. ., sosr OF
occurred accompanied by the formation
of an ice gorge at the Long br-dSe' 50
that a large area of the business port VI
W,sbincton was flooded and several spans
of the Long bridge over the washington
channel We're swept away. So ) lStrouS
was this flood that in the river ana iiirpor
act of March 3, 1881. Congress provided ior
a survey of the Potomac river in the v.cin-
itv of Washington with reference TO the
improvement of navigation, the estaDilSA-
rnent of tarbOr lines and the raising OF tne
flats Owing to the great interest lelt IN
the subject a board of engineer officers was
J.; ,;nt,
port of the survey made by Mr.. b l..
Albert United States civil engineer. ana
the plan of Major William j. Twinlng,
Corps of Engineers, then Eng neer Con
missioner of the District of Columbia. The
board of engineers did not adopt either Mr..
Abert's plon or Major Twin!nSs 5 pl IN IN
their entirety but recommended a new pl an
which combined certain features of each.
The First Appropriation.
On August 9. 1889. Congress made the
first appropriation for improving Potomac
river at Washington. and directed that the
work be done in accordance with the re-
port of the board of engineers.
1t would appear. therefore, that n the
adoption of the plan of the board of engt-
neers Congress also adopted its recon-
merdaton in relation to rebuilding Of the
Long bridge.
Since the inception of the improvement
attention has been called in the various
anual reports thereon to the necessity for
legislation providing for the reconstruction
of the bridge. In the report of 1884 Lieut.
Col. Hams states that no plan of improve
ment can be made satisfactory while this
bridge remains II is. most serious OBJ
stace to the flow of water beneath 1t; that
in its present condition it serves the pur
pose of a dam and retards the flow Of
water. and that the only radical cure for
the evil effects of the Long bridge in time
of freshets is new bridge with wider
spans.
is again urged, and it is stated that it has
been necessary to stop the dredging of the
Virginia channel. both above and below the
bridge. at some distance from the same.
for fear of injuring the foundations OF the