Albuquerque citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1907-1909, 1907-08-30
MANY BODIES ARE
BADLY CRUSHED
Search of Stream Being Made by
Tugs and ROWbodtS Today
Dominion Authorities In
veStigdtlng With View
TO Fixing Blame.

quebec, Canada, August 30.-By
the collapsing OF a section of the new
bridge across the St Lawrence river
five miles below this city late yester-
day afternoon carrying scores Of me-
chaniCs and workmen into the water,
ii is believed that SIS lives We're lost
The bridge was a mile and hall
long. About half of it dropped into
the water
May Reach So.
with the first break Of dawn a half
dozen government and quebec bridge
company tugs began a search of the
st. Lawrence for the victims of the
catastrophe. The toll Of death caus-
ed by the collapse of the bridge num-
bers at least 10 and may reach 50.
At an early hour today twenty bodies
had been recovered.
Bodies Were Crushed
The terrific drop of the great steel
structure from $50 feet above the
surface of the river crushed the
bodies of many of the workmen i'm
a frightful manner, and it is feared
that many will never be found.
Many of the dead We're Americans,
brought here from Phoenixville IA,
by the Phoenix Bridge company.
, Among the known dead are:
g. A. GANSEL. general foreman
CHIEF ENGlNEER BiRKS.
Investigating the Accident.
Early this morning rowboats were
sent out to examine the superstruc-
ture showing above the water near
the shore to ascertain If any work
men We're imprisoned In the mass of
twisted tron work. None was found
alive.
Both the local and dominion au-
thorities have taken steps to investi-
gate the cause of the disaster and to
fix the responsibility. Some Of the
81 he h,
pier gave way under the tremendous
strain of the overhanging steel work.
w T.. Davis, the contractor who
built the piers, after hasty exami-
nation reported them to be iu good
condition.
Only Few Escaped.
Ninety men We're at work on this
portion of the structure when the
crash came. 1t was $3.50 y. m, and
the whistle had just blown for the
men to cease work for the day when
there came a grinding sound from
the bridge i'm midstream, The men
who had started shoreWard turned tu
see what was happening and in
stantly the cry Went up: The bridge
is falling" The men made a fran
tic rush for the land but the dis
tance was too great for many of
them To escape.
The center section Of the bridge
fell first; this dragged the next sec
buh win II, 10 DE IolloWed by the
next and next, until the structure was
complete wreck from cen, r tC
shore. The falling girders and snap
ping cables doomed like the crash
of artillery as they fell Terror lent
leetness of foot to the hu ryiug
Workmen and many saved themselves
by quickness of action and presence
Of mind.
Engine Into River
\ locomotive and several freight
cars loaded with steel girders were
moving out upon the bridge just be-
fore it collapsed. Engineer Jess
who went into the river with the lu-
cumotivr, but was rescued. said that
the steel work Overhauging the river
was the first to show signs of weak
ness. He shut of steam but the train
continued To move toward the end OF
the bridge which had begun to tot
ter, and moment later the engine
went into the water, following the
bridge down.
Eight Rescued.
Near the shore end the wreckag,
Of the bridge did not 90 beneath the
surface of the water, and eight work
men who clung To the fallen debris
were taken to the hospital at Poin
Lewis All We're frghtfuly injured
and six may die
The steamer GIenmont had jus
cleared the bridge when the first sec
the falling girders swept clear owe
the decks of the steamer The cap
tain az once lowered boats Whicl
piled backward and forward over IN,
-uuken Evreckage for half an hour
but there was no sign of life. th'
twisted iron and steel holding its vic
Tins ion a. death grip.
few minutes after the collapse 10
the structure there was nothing bu
few floating timber- and broke
strands of the bridge toward the uorti
shore 90 indicate that anything uu
usual had occurred. There was no
ripple ON the smooth surface Of tn
ST. Lawrence as IL swept its wa.
majestically toward the gulf.
The bridge was remarkable i'm tha
it was To by the longest single spal
cautlrycr in the world, the length Cd
the span being 1000 feet. WorI
was begun Boa 1900 The contract fp
the stone work VAS 'rt 90 NJ =. payi
ana CO.. and the iron work 90 th
Phoenix Iron company of Phoenix
willie The origina. estimate OF cos
was S3.5UU.0UU. but the bridge com
p3uy finding itself iu difficulty. th
government agreed t1 guarantee On
bonds of the company up Goo $1,000.