Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1917-03-16
CHAPTER VI.
The Failure.

The Failure.
In spite of himself and his confidence
IN the bridge, Abbott felt a little un-
easy the next morning. At bottom he
had more respect for Meade's tech
nical knowledge than he had displayed
or even admitted to himself. The
younger engineers terrified alarm, his
utter forgetfulness of the amenities be-
tween them. his frantic but futile ef-
forts to telephone, Of which the op-
orator told Abbott in the morning, his
hurried departure to New York, were'
to say the least. somewhat disquietng'
much more so than he was fain to ad-
init to himself.
Although II involved hard and
somewhat dangerous climb downward
and took upwards of a half hour Of his
valuable time, the first thing the erect
ing engineer did in the morning was to
go down to the pier head and make q
thorough and careful examination of
the buckled member. C-10-R was, of
course, a part Of the great lower chord
of the huge diamond-shaped truss,
which, with it's parallel sixty feet away
on the other side of the bridge and its
kwo opposites across the river, support
I'D the whole structure. II anything
were wrong, seriously, irreparably
wrong, with the member and 1t gave
way. the whole truss would go. The
other truss would inevitably follow
suit and the cantilever would immedi-
ntely collapse. Abbott realized that,
of course, as he climbed carefully
down to the pier head and stood on the
shoe.
Abbott, as he stood by the member
and surveyed It throughout its length
could easily see that 1t had buckled, al
though the deviation was slight, about
two inches at It's maximum in sixty
feet. He brought with him a line and,
with infinite care and pains, he drew
II tnut across the slight concavity like
b bow-string. He had estimated the
Gambler, or the distance between the
center Of the bow and the string, at
one and half inches. As he made
more careful measurements, he discOv-
cred that It was slightly over sne aud
three-quarter inches. In seven hun
dred and twenty that was scarcely no.
ticenble, and It did not seem very
much to Abbott. AS he stood there
feeling himself an insignificant figure
amid this great interviewer mass of
steel, again the sense of its strength
and stability came to him overpowering-
ly, so much so that he laughed aloud
q, a ~,tI,o~ r,rgv,, eosh;Ou ot fho nm
wonted nervousness which had been
induced In his mind by Meade's words
and actions
But he was o conscientious man, so
ne pursued his investigations further.
Tie climbed mp on top of the member,
which was easy enough by means Of
the criss-crossed lacing. and carefully
Inspected the lacings at the center Of
the concavity, or sldewlse spring from
the right line.
He noticed, by getting down on his
face and surveying the lacing bars
closely, a number Of fine halr-line
cracks in the paint, surface traceries
apparently, running here and there
from the rivet holes. The rivets them
selves had rather strained look. Some
Of the outer rivets seemed slightly
loose, where before they must have
been tight, for the members, like al
other parts Of the bridge. had beer
carefully inspected at the shop anC
any looseness Of the rivets would GER
talnly have been noticed there. Bu
Abbott's obsession as TO the strength
OF the bridge had grown stronger. Lin
ing u out, crawling over II, feeling III
rigidity, he decided that these evlden
strains we're to be expected. OF cours
the lacings that hgld the webs togethe
would have to take up a terrific stress
They had been designed for that pur
pose. Largely because he did not fin,
anything very giaring, and because h
wanted to believe what he believed tn
chief Of construction left the pier hea
and clambered up to the floor wit
more satisfaction in his heart than hi
somewhat surprising anticipation
which had so unwilllngly grown unde
the stimulus of Meade's persistenc,
had led him to expect.
The whistle was just blowing for tn
commencement Of work when he &C
back to the bridge floor. He could nC
but reflect, as the men came swarmin
along the tracks to begin their day
work, that the responsibility for the
lives lay with him. Well, Abbott wG
a big man In his way, he had assume
responsibilities before and was pc
fectly willing to do so again, both II
men and bridge. The wOrkmen
least had no suspicious or premonitior
Of disaster. .s
Wllchings, the chief erecting for
man, knew about the Gambler. 1t hi
not bothered him. AS he approachC
the two exchanged greetings.
you're out early, Mr.. Abbott sa
Wllchings.
ayes, I've been down to examIl
C-10R."
Wllchings laughed.
"That little spring is nothing" 1
looked over the track and through Il
maze of brncing' at the member. a
we had pier somewhere we cou
hold up the earth with that strut. Y
didn't find out anything, did you7"
"Not a thing except some hair-li
cracks in the paint around the rivet,
you'll often find those where Their
u heavy load to take up. This brid
win stand long after you and I n
every man on 1t has quit work 4
good"
Now WiIchings was a man of expe
ence and ability. and II Abbott h
needed any confirmation Of his opIni
this careless expression would ha
served. He did send him across {
river to examine the half-complet
cantilever on the other bank, uI
which Mnr', hnd hann s1nannnhnh n ,,rr