New-York tribune., 1907-08-30
BRIDGE COLLAPSES,
EIGHTY-FOUR DEAD.
AMERICANS AMONG THOSE
KILLED NEAR QUEBEC
Half of Unfinished Structure, Mds
and Half Long. Falls
Into Riu6r.

mass of steelwork lies tangled wreck across
the St. Lawrence Channel careful estimate
places the loss of life at efghty-four-
The bridge fell at 5:37 O'Clock this afternoon.
just as many of the workmen were preparing to
leave. The accident was so terrible in its effect
iveness in wiping out the lives of the men EN-
ployed that very little is known to the cause
of the disaster.
The bridge was about a mile and half in
length. and half of it, from tie south shore 70
midstream, crumpled up and dropped into the
water Ninety men were at work this section
of the structure
The whistle had just blown, at $50 o'clock
for the men to quit work for the day. when
there came a grinding sound from the bridge at
rlidstrearn. The men turned to see what had
happened and an instant later the cry went up.
The bridge is falling The men made a rush
shoreward but the distance was too great for
them to escape
The fallen section of the bridge dragged others
after it. the swapping girders and cables BOOM
ing like crash Of artillery. Terror lent feet
ness to the feet OF the frightened workrnen as
they sped shoreward. but only few OF them
reached safety before the last piece Of ironwcrx
on the south shore was dragged into the river
Near the shore the wreckage of the bridge
did go below the surface of the water. and
eight workmen who remained above water were
rescued and taken to the hospital at Lewis
STEAMER NARROWLY ESCAPES
The steamer G1enmont 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 back
ward and forward over the sunken wreckags
for half an hour but there sign OF nfe-
The twisted iron and steel had its victims IN a
terrible death grip.
A few floating tirnbers and the broken strands
Of the bridge toward the north shore were the
only signs that anything unusual had happened
There was not ripple the smooth surfacs
Of the St Lawrence as it swept toward the gulf
All the drowned were employees of the
Phoenix Bridge Company. of Phrnixvi1le. Penn.
and sub-contractors Of Quebec and Montreal
SIXTEEN BODIES RECOVERED
At 10 O'Clock tonight sixteen bodies had been
Hospital two are not expected TO live throughout
| the night.
The Quebec Bridge begun about seven
| years ago. 1t was be finished in 1909 Sub
sides had been granted by the federal and pro-
| vncial governments and the city of Quebec
| The estimated cost of the work s10.00o.00o-
| The Phoenix Bridge Company. OF Pennsyl-
/ sor fba
| of the bridge Men were working from both
| sides of the river
| The southern extension OF the bridge which
collapsed was rapidly nearing the zenith Of the
| immense steel arch which to span the
! river For 500 feet from the shore the massive
| steel structure reared arch with no supports
| save the piers from the shore and one pier in
the river about $50 feet from the shore. while
the outward extremity was $50 feet above the
| water.
The end of the half arch bent down trifs
/ and q moment later the whole enormous fabric
began to give way. slowly at first. then with
/ terrific crash which plainly heard in Que
bee The whole countryside was shaken and tho
/ people rushed out of their houses thinking that
/ an earthquake had occurred
| OF the ninety-two men working on the bridge
eight have far been recovered or the other
! efghty-four sixteen have been taken from the
others or most OF them, have been either
drowned or crushed by the falling sirders.
CANNOT RELIEVE SUFFERERS
,r,s horror of the situation IS increased BY tho
fact there are a number Of wounded men pinned
! In the Oreckage near the shore Their groans
and shriel<s can be heard plainly by the anxious
crowds waiting at the waters edge, but nothing
can he done to rescue them relieve their
! suserings There are no searchlights available.
and bv the feeble light of lanterns IL Is lfnpos-
sibe to even locate some OF the sufferers
1-bere is scarcely a family in the village of st.
RomuaId and New Liverpool that has not oeeh
bereaved while in some cases nve ana SIN men
of a single family have been killed From al
most every house are heard the SOUNDS OF ianen-
tat,ons Of women. The men are gathered around
the approaches to the wrecked bridge aidins III
| the efforts TO rescue those who are still alive or
caring for the oooles OF tue uedN aS 'iOF &C
found
| The disaster caused much excitement here and
| Go regarded as a national calamity. few mo-
| rents after the crash was heard here teie-
| nhoue message came from Sillery that the whole
| southern half of the bridge had fallen into the
! r;var The people at first refused to believe
that such a thing possible. and crowds
| gathered around the newspaper offices. waiting
for further news. which did not come Tor over an
hour. Then the original report was confirmed.
with the additional news that practically every
man working on the bridge at the time was
killed
| II w.s known that there were about one hun
dred men at work on this part of the bridge.
and the tidinss caused the most intense anxiety.
which gradually grew into despairing certainty
that one of the most terrible disasters Canasia
had ever known had taken place
The number Of dead is variously estimated NJ