Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1907-08-30
so DIE WHEN
BRIDGE SNAPS
TEN THOUSAND DOLLAR sTRUc-
TURE FALLS NEAR QUEBEC
WoRKMEN HURLED IN TANGLED
MASS OF STEEL
Mile and Half Long, one-HaIf Coll
Iapses-Boat, just Passed,
Rescues Few-Girders
Below Waves
By Associated Press.

BY Associated Press.
QUEBEC, Aug. 29-A section Of the new
bridge across the st. Lawrence river, five
miles below this city, collapsed late today,
carrying scores of bridge worlzmen and
mechanics into the water. 1t is known
that the loss of life is at least sixty and
may exceed that number by twenty
The bridge was about mile and a half
in length, and half of it from the south
shore to middle stream crumpled up and
dropped into the water. Ninety men were
at work on this section of the structure.
When the whistle had blown at $50 for
the men to quit work for the day there
came a grinding sound from the bridge
midstream. The men turned to see what
had happened, and an instant later the
cry went up: "The bridge Is fallingl"
The men made a rush shoreward, but
the distance was too great for them 10
escape. The fallen section of the bridge
dragged others after it, the swapping glr-
ders and cables booming like crash of
artillery.
Escape Cut off
Terror lent fieetness to the feet Of the
frightened workmen as they sped Shore
ward, but only a few of them reached
safety, for the last piece of iron work on
the south shore was dragged into the
river. Near the shore the wreckage Of
the bridge did not go below the surface
OF the water, and eight workmen who re-
mained above water were rescued and
taken to the hospital at Lewis.
A steamer had just cleared the bridge
when the first section fell. The water
thrown up by the debris came clear over
the bridge of the steamer.
The captain at once lowered boats. The
small boats piled backward and forward
over the sunken wreckage for half an
hour, but there was no sign of life
The twisted iron and steel had its VIC
| Tins in terrible grip A few floating
timbers and the broken strands of the
bridge toward the north shore were the
only signs that anything unusual had
happened. There was not ripple on the
smooth surface of the st. Lawrence as it
swept along toward the gulf.
All the men drowned were employees of
the Phoenixville Bridge company and sub
contractors of Quebec and Montreal.
Sixteen Bodies Found
At 10 o'clock tonight sixteen bodies had
been recovered, and of the eight men at
Lewis hospital two are not expected to
live through the night.
The Quebec bridge was begun about
seven years ago and it was to be finished
| in 1909 Subsidies had been granted by
the federal and provincial governments
and the city of Quebec. and the estimated
cost of the work was $1O,00O,000. The
Phoenixville Bridge company of Pennsyl
vania had the contract for the construc-
ton of the bridge, and crews were work
ing from both sides of the river.
When completed the bridge was to
have accommodation for a double track
railway two lines of electric tram
ways and two roadways for foot and
vehicle travel. At the time of the col
lapse the cantilever span on the south
side of the river had been completed as
we'll as the approaching span and some
200 feet of the connecting span between
the cantilevers.