New-York tribune., 1907-08-31
sETENTY-NINE DEAD.
cy-EBEC BRIDGES FAIL.
.sriscaIcu7aiion of Tensile Strength
4drInced Cs CauSe.

f9,,eI,e- Au-. 3G.-AlthouE3. tWenty-four hours
have elapsed since the Queb Bridge crashed
iuto the St. Lawrence, threescore dead bridge
zortzcrs are stil held in the Ineshwork OF wreck
age al The bottom OF the river. a roll call thls
afternoon confirmed the early estimates of Il
loss Ct life. Seventy-nine men failed to answer
10 their names. and were not among the injured
q. The Lewis Hospital Fifteen bodies lie 1t
the lcorgue awaiting the result Of the coroner's
inquest OF the total Of seventy-nine dead or
missing. sixteen were skilled American
chanlcs brought here by the Phoenix Bridge
Company, Of Ph0nixvile. Penn, TO work on t..e
structural steel parts Of the bridge.
Some Of the bodies can be seen below the slr-
face Of the water tightly wedged in a network
OF steel. where il IS impossible 10 reach them.
Although tugs, rowboats and RATS were used to-
cay 10 patrol the water over the wrecked bridge
The result oc their work was the recovery Of
cue body al low tide this evening. This victim
vas almost cut in two. Another body was To-
called near the anchor pier and an effort was
made TO remove it. hut it was found that the
whole lower paIt of thC body held in a grip
= steel that il was Impossible TO break
-TNenty-nine Indians and nineteen white Can
adams are missing.
DayIreak revealed the fact that the collapse
of the bridge was not caused by any defect IN
the masonry work. supposed last night
The piers and buttresses stand firm in the mass
Of twisted and torn steel
1t was said this morning by one Of the few
survivors OF the wreck that there had been signs
of collapse for some time but that they had
not been regarded serious This man. Jesse
J. Meas, who worked one Of the big electric
cranes. said that week ago the steel al the
base of tie arch outside the foremost pier had
buckled slightly, but one had considered this
as a serious menace, since the outer end Of the
big half arch. $50 feet in the air, seemed per-
fectly rigid.
Although the immediate cause Of the collapse
is supposed TO have been the running Of a heav-
lily loaded train out TO the end, il seems likely
that this merely hastened the disaster, since
every hour the weight at the outer end Of the
structure was being increased as the huge grid
ers were riveted into place.
Several expert engineers visited the scene
to-day. It evident, they said that there
had been characterization Of the tensile strength
in some spot and that the weak spot had given
way under the strain of hundreds Of thousands
OF tons Of steel, upsetting the balanced parts
Of the structure
When q correspondent visited the scene of
last nights disaster to-day bridge employees
were busy looking for bodies among the piles
e iron which fell the shore Old and young
women were sitting on logs weeping AS the
bodies we're found they were carried 10 one Of
the company's buildings
The few at work on the bridge at the time OF
the accident who are known TO have been saved
are Laberge. who has broken leg; Roberse
Cadoret, johnson, Charles Davis, whose back IS
broken; 4 man named HALEY, Of New York;
jess an engine driver, and Thomas Seweu,
Of Fredericton
Al the bodies with the exception of those
whose homes were at st. Ronouald, were sent
here tonight = jury will be sworn in to-Inor-
row morning. The jury will visit the scene OF
The accident il the afternoon and the inquest
VIII begin on Tuesday
s y. Parent, president of the Quebec Bridge
Company, will be here tomorrow morning,
when a meeting Of the company VIII be held
The federal government has appointed q spe-
oial commission consisting Of MI Butler, Deputy
Minister Of Railways, and Coliingwood Schrei-
her chief engineer, to investigate the cause OF
the accident