Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1907-09-04
GRAVES IN THE RIVER
Three Score Men Go Down with a
collapsing Bridge Into the
St. Lawrence.
MAY BE A SCORE MORE DEAD
Disaster Occurs a Moment Before Quit.
ting Time for the Day.
Only One Who Went Down Lives to
Tell OF lt-Half of &c..
100000 Bridge in
Ruins.

OoO,OOO Bridge in
Ruins.
Quebec. Que, Aug. 3O.-A section of
the new bridge across the st. Law
renee river five miles below this city
collapsed, carrying scores of bridge
WORKERS and mechanics into the wat.
~. 1t is estimated that the loss of
IRE Is NJ least sixty and may exceed
mat number by twenty. The bridge
was about mile and Il half in length,
and half of it-from the south shore to
crumpled up and dropped
into the water. Ninety men were at
work on this section of the structure,
and the whistle had just blown at $50
for the me, to quit work for the day,
when there came Il grinding sound
tom the bridge midstream.
1.-THE Bridge Is Falling"
The men turned to see what had
happened and an instant later the cry
went up The bridge is fallingw The
men made Il 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 booming like a
crash of artillery. Terror lent fleet
ness to the feet of the frightened work
men as they sped shoreward, but only
a few OF them reached safety before
fine last piece of iron work on the
south shore was dragged into the riv-
er. Near the shore the wreckage of
the bridge did not go below the sur.
face of the water, and eight workmen
who remained above water We're res
cucd and taken to the hospital ut
Lewis.
All Went Down with the Wreck,
The steamer Glcnmont had just
cleared the bridge when the first sec.
ton fell. The water thrown up by the
debris came. clear over the bridge Of
the steamer. The captain at once
lowered boats, and they piled
over the sunken wreckage for half an
hour. but there was no sign of life.
The twisted iron and steel had its vic,
tins in terrible death grin. A few
floating timbers and the broken
strands Of the bridge toward the north
shore We're the only signs that any,
thing unusual had happened. There
was not ripple on the smooth surface
of the st. I.awrenre as it swept along
toward the gulf. All the men drowned
We're employees of the Phoenix
Bridge company, and sub-contractors
of Quebec and Montreal. AT this Writ,
ing sixteen hod;es have hoon ,,o,.oa
up. and of the eight men in the Lewis
nosi'.li' Two are NOT expected TO live.
Cause OF Disaster Unknown.
Nothing is known of the cause of
the disaster. There was nothing of an
untoward nature reported that could
give the slightest indication during
the past few days that the huge struc-
ture was in dangerous condition. 1t
was built ON such Immense lines that
IT did not seem possible that it could
break down. Whether 1t was caused by
Il defect In the materials or by an
error In the calculations of the engln-
GERS Is mere matter of conjecture.
The one certain fact is that where
there was almost the half of a bridge
that was to have been one Of the en-.
cheering wonders of the world, with a
sr,all army of mechanics and work
men. there is nothing now but a mass
OF fahtasticaiiy twisted iron and steel
MieeN'se' ine ooaies rescued SO far
80 .e''io'! crushed ana broken
~ ''o'''e vi 'i'eii' are uhrecosnlza-
''e'
Marvellous Escape.
The engineer of switch engine had
marvellous escape. A track had been
laid on the bridge and an engine with
freight cars and several heavy moving
cranes We're employed in getting the
steel into position. Tie engine started
out for the end Of the bridge with a
load of steel. and as it approached
the end the engineer felt his engine
lurching. He at once shut off steam,
but the engine continued to move. A
moment later the collapse came. The
engineer fell with his engine. but Is
unable to say how he escaped. He was
picked up by boat, and was uncon-
scious when brought ashore. When he
recovered he could tell little beyond
the fact that he felt the bridge 20 and
knew lie was falling. The other men
of his crew were lost.
Several Officials Lost.
Several of the officials of the Phoenix
Bridge company lost their lives. Among
them are r. A. Yansell. general fore.
man: Chief Engineer Burke. who had
walked out ON the bridge lust before
1t fell, and John Wooley and James
Idaho, foreman. Ulrich Bert, secretary
of the Quebec Bridge company. Ind n
friends from Montreal had driven ont
hod eo,rool,, d,,yo, oef +h, ,,udo, ~