The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-08-30
HUGE BRIDGE FALLS; 70 DEAD
0UEBEC'S OyOOO,O 900 SPAN DROPS
INTO THE ST. LAWRENCE.

~-".s 'Vs&s
QUEBEc, Aug. 2s.-The immense new
$40. 000. 900 steel oantilever bridge which was
rcnoe River at Lewis. nine miles above the
city Of Quebec. collapsed late this afternoon.
carrying down more than one hundred work.
men. for the most part steel workers and
rivetera
The collapse Of the huge structure. with
the great loss OF life il entailed. has caused
tho greatest excitement here and ut Lewis
md It II difficult to get correct details.
1t 10 thought that the loss Of life will be at
least s~eventy-fve.
Only q few Of the big corps of work.
mon who were engaged in various duties
escaped. The COLLAPSE Is thought to have
been due to the Overlooking Of the super
structure with bridge materials. 1t &C.
CURED ut an hour when the workmen were
all in THAR places, preliminary to finishing
tho work for the day.
When the fall Of the giant structure came
the great sections OF structural work with
which it was being built prevented many OF
h workmen from drowni ng In the st.
Lawrence River. Those who were not
stunned by the terrible tumble from the
superstructurs seized the girders which
while resting on the river bottom projected
above tho surface and wore taken of by
boatmen.
Only a few Of the dead and Of those fatally
hurt were residents Of Quebec. The men
were all employed by the contracting firms
which are building the structure. and most
OF them live in the United States. Many
Of them were from Pennsylvania.
The contrac tors' Offices on zach side
Of the 81. Lawrence at the point where
the bridge fell were the first to send the
news of the accident to Quebec. There
are no hospitals in the immediate vicinity
Of Lewis. and few physicians could be OBJ
tanned.
Tn bridge was being built 10y the Quebec
Bridge Company. a local concern, and its
construction was started three years ago.
The steel work, which was the feature of
the bridge. was being done by the Phoenix
Bridge Company OF Phenixville. Pa. The
contractor for the masonry wal NJ. p.
Davis, n Of Canada's biggest contractors
Only the men employed by him were Cana
dians, and but few Of them were on the
bridge at the time OF the catastrophe.
The steel work OF the middle span. which
was TO be 1900 feet long. n the longest
l in the world. had not been started yet.
Late details OF the disaster show hat the
collapse was caused by the giving way
of the anchor or first cantilever pan OF
| the bridge. The span carried the structure
almost half way across the river to the
point where the long middle span, which
was to be the longest in the world, was
to begin.
II is said at Levis tonight that labor
troubles which ave caused trouble among
the steel workmen on the bridge for a long
time may have had something TO do with
the collapse. although il is difficult to be-
leve tha such a terrible disaster could have
been deliberately planned and accomplished.
The big span which collapsed went with
out the slightest warning to the hundred
or more workmen who were On it at the
time and toppled over into the water a
hundred feet below like the frailest kind Of
. structure.
1t wasn't long after the bridge fell hat il
became dark and then the work Of rescue.
which had barely been begun. had TO be
almost abandoned because there was alb
soluteiy no light for the rescuing party TO
work by. A big bonfire was built along
the river. but it didn't furnish enough
light to help much.
The officials. including the Coroner. who
hurried 10 Lewis when the news was sent
out, were apparently unable 20 reach any
idea OF what was expected OF them. The
Coroner speaks no English. and the con-
tractors who were doing the steel work
were not willing to give out the least bit Of
information.
From the Pickering glare Of the bonires
along the shore many bodies OF the VIC
TINS could be seen floating on the surface
of the river. but the rescuing party had its
hands full and had TO let many Of the corpscs
sweep on down the stream.
Up to 10 o'clock tonight about a dozen
bodies had been recovered. A few injured
men were taken out Of the water half
drowned and rushed TO the Lewis Hospital,
where at a late hour there were a dozen
victims. Many Of them cannot live.
There 10 no doubt that the Canadian loss
of life 10 not serious. for the only workmen
outside of the steel workers from Phonix-
vile, Pa. who were employed on the span
were Canadian Indians. IL 10 hopeless to
attempt to get even a partial list OF the dead,
for the search for more bodies has been
regarded as of more importance than the
identification Of those already found.
The fact that the Lewis side OF the river
can only be reached by a drive of nine miles
by team accounts for the fact that so far
Quebec has lone almost nothing to aid in
the rescue work.
Many workmen pulled out Of the river
alive could have been saved If there had
been physicians az the scene to resuscitate
them. AS IL was they died before they
could be taken to the small hospital at
Lewis.
The collapse OF the bridge is . big blow
to the hopes Of Quebec, as il was expected
that itSwould be finished next year. II
was to- have linked the New England rail-
roads directly with Quebec. and was ex-
pected to bring the city In much closer touch
with the cities of New England and the
Atlantic coast.
The al steamer Glenmont had just cleared
the bridge when the first section fell. The
water thrown mp by the debris few over the
bridge Of the steamer. The captain i'm
mediately lowered boats, which were rowed
backv ard and forward over the sunken
wreckage for half an hour. But there was