The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-08-30
ANY LIVES LOST EhtY-Four Perish in the ;oIIapse of S1O,OOO,OOO l Bridge Over the St. l Lawrence. HE AND HALF IN LENGTH zIilding Seven Years and Its Completion Expected
 in 1909.
 IN JUST QUITTING WORK ructure Crumples From Shore to Midstream Civ
 ing No Time for
 Escape.
IN JUST QUITTING WORK

Huebec, Aug 29.-The great Quebec ige collapsed late this afternoon
 now the vast mass of steel work a tangled wreck across the St. vrence channel. A careful estimate Ices the loss of life at eighty-four. &s bridge fell at exactly twenty-three Aiutes to 6 this evening, just as many 1.-the workmen were preparing to sEe. The accident was so terrible in #effectiveness in wiping out the lives ! :he men employed that very little is 6wn as to the cause of the disaster There Is scarcely family in the vil- *e of St. Romuald and New Liver &l which has not been bereaved, &ile In some cases five and six men Ia single family have been killed. Elm almost every house is heard the Ends. of lamentations of women. The &h are gathered around the ap- $aches to the wrecked bridge aiding 1.-the efforts to rescue those who are alive or caring for the bodies of
 dead as they are found.
 $ The disaster caused much excite &nt here, and is regarded as a na- hal calamity. A few moments after
 crash was heard here telephone ssage came from Sillery that the F ole southern half of the bride had 4 en into the river The people at #t refused to believe that such a Eng was possible and crowds gath Id around the newspaper offices lting for further news which did # come for over an hour Then the ginal report was confirmed, with # additional news that practically " man working on the bridge at
 time was killed. It was known t there were about 100 men at #rk on this part of the bridge and
 tidings caused the most intense #liety which gradually grew into a pairing certainty that one of the Est terrible disasters Canada had r known had taken place.
 The number of dead is variously mated at from sixty to ninety men, the few left of the men who were work state that there were about < ety-two on the bridge at the time. this number eight have been taken
 alive so that in all probability the
 of dead will be about eighty-four. Jothing is known of the cause of
 disaster. There was nothing of an oward nature reported that could e the slightest indication during the 1t few days that the huge structure s in dangerous condition. It was It on some immense lines that it did
 seem possible that it could break VII.
 Whether it was caused by a defect in
 materials or by an error in the call ation of the engineers is mere mat 3 of conjecture. One certain fact is # t where this afternoon there was al- SL IdAl Ol q bAANSOg lIldl Wdb LO nave m one of the engineering wonders the world, with small army of me- s|s mics and workmen. there is nothing but a mass of fantastically twist iron and steel wreckage. The bodies cued so far are in a terribly crushed l broken state, Some of them are recognizable.
 The engineer of the switch engine l a marvellous escape. A track had sn laid on the bridge and an engine
 h freight cars and several heavy wing cranes were employed in get g the steel into position The en-
 e started out for the end of the dge with load of steel and as ii preached the end the engineer felt
 engine lurch. He at once shut of am but the engine continued to we. A moment later the collapse he. The engineer fell with his en- se, but is unable to say how he es- ped. He was picked up by a boat 1 was unconscious when brought lore. When he recovered his hse the engineer could tell nothing rond the fact that he felt the bridge and knew he was falling. The other n of his crew were lost.
 Several of the officials of the Phoe-
 Bridge company lost their lives hong them are A. B. Yanzell, gener'
 foreman; Chief Engineer Burke
 o had walked out on the bridge t before it fell and John Woole!
 Jim Idaho, foreman.
 Jlric Barthe, secretary of the Quebec idge company had a narrow escape