Los Angeles herald., 1907-08-31
SEARCH RIVER
FOR THE DEAD
BODIES OF BRIDGE VICTIMS NOT
RECOVERED
Accident at Quebec Costs Lives Of
dominion Authorities
Will Make Rigid In
vestigatlon
tcontInued from Page one,


them to be in good condition, although
the steel superstructure had fallen upon
the men.
A locomotive and several freight cars
loaded with steel Orders were moving out
on the bridge just before the structure
collapsed Engineer Jess went into the
river with his engine, but was picked up
800 feet below the bridge. Fireman Davis
persisted. Engineer Jess was removed to
the Lewis hospital, where he rapidly re-
covered from the effects of his plunge
into the river. According to his story,
the steel work overhanging the river was
the first to show signs of weakness. At
the first sign of danger Jess shut off the
steam, but his locomotive continued to
move toward the end of the bridge. which
had begun to teeter, and moment later
the engine went into the river.
The southern extension of the bridge
which collapsed last evening was rapidly
nearing the zenith of the immense steel
arch which was to span the river. For
over 800 feet from the shore the massive
structure reared an arch with no sup
ports save the piers from the shore and
the pier from the river above.
The end of the half arch bent down a
trihe, and a moment later the whole
enormous fabric began to give way, slowly
at first, then with terrific crash which
was plainly heard in Quebec and which
shook the whole countryside so that the
residents rushed out of their houses,
thinking that an earthquake had oc-
CURED.
Engineers Inspect Break
Several engineers visited the scene to-
day. 1t was evident, they said, that
there had been miscalculation of the
tensile strength in some spot, that the
weak spot had given away under the
strain of hundreds OF thousands of tons
OF steel and that this had at once upset
the balanced portions of the structure
and caused the collapse.
Today bridge employees were busy look
ing for bodies among the piles of iron
which fell on the shore, women were
sitting on logs weeping, and as body
was brought ashore there was a wild
rush to see If it were that of lost rel
alive. AS the bodies were found they
were carried to one of the company's
buildings. The dead, as stated ia the
office of the Phoenix Bridge company
today, were eighteen Canadians, twenty
eight Indians and seventeen Americans,
but the officials would not venture 10
give out any names at present They
also state that five Canadians, four In
dams and three Americans are iejured.
Estimate Dead at Seventy-eight
The Quebec Bridge company officials
place the number of dead at seventy
eight. The bodies will be brought here
by steamer this evening, and an inquest
will be held. The two piers appear to
be still solid and it is evident that the
accident did not occur through the giving
away of the masonry but seems to have
been caused by the weight of the iron.
About 700 feet of the bridge went down.
E. A. Hoare, chief engineer of the
bridge company, said today that he had
seen all of the work executed and
watched it carefully, and that it was
most difficult to see where the defect
could be.
Jesse c. Neass, who worked on one
of the big electric cranes, said today
that week ago the steel at the base
of the arch of the piers had buckled
slightly, but no one had considered this
as a serious menace, since the outer
end of the big half arch which reached
ITO feet in the air seemed perfectly rigid.
Although the immediate cause of the
smash is supposed to have been the rum
ming of a heavily loaded train out to
the end it is evident that this merely
FASTENED the disaster, since every hour
the weight at the outer end of the strucl
ture was being increased as the huge
Orders were riveted into place.