The New York herald., 1921-09-11


"As / looked out the window ! saw
great crowd. Running down stairs
Joined the men and women rushing
toward the bridge. AS reached within
several feet of the break in the bridge
I could hear the screams of the drown
ing. i counted the heads OF at least
four women and a half dozen chill
dren. The arms were thrust into the
air as they grasped and held one an
other.
'It was awful to see how the strug-
Cling mass fought TO free themselves
from each others dying grasp. ABOVE
II all was the terrifying screams OF the
women and children and the curses OF
ssyaxal of the men who were caught IN
the collapse.
Boats Help In Rcscue.
.'Several small boats. mostly tow
boats and steam launches. had already
rut ont and mad rescued several of
thoss thrown into the watey' ! decided
that something must be done TO lend
a hand. SO / suggested to several other
men who were apparently spellbound
by the sight to go around to the
river by way of Edgemont avenue and
see what we could do. When we ar
rived at that spot we found that the
only help we could give was to assist
the already numerous volunteers IN
placing the drowned into trucks and
automobiles and rush them to the hos
pital.
''One OF the real sad sights which
brought home the force of the calamity
was two little children that accosted
me near the end of the bridge. |
asked them what they were crying for.
and they answered, Because mama fell
into the river 1t simply was sight
1 will long remember and one I do
not wish to see again.
Among the many men OF Chester who
wers quick to volunteer their services
TO the bridge victims was James
Emerbe. He was only short dis
tance from the bridge when the foot
section suddenly gave way with freak
ripping roar like the beat of a larg.
kettledrum.
Il had just crossed the old structure
he said. when l heard noise and then
loud shout like a bunch of excited
i
crowd on the bridge had nearly all dis
appeared and I figured something ter
ribie had happened.
Running UP to the north sic OF the
bridge I was surely nearly struck dumb
when / saw the whole bunch in the water
drowning. Immediately / ran around to
the bank, and, with the assistance of
several other good men. we helped to
pull out twenty-three Most of these
were women and children. About seven
or eight OF them were dead when we got
them ashore. They really seemed to
have been crushed to death instead of
being drowned.
''One man we thought was dead
started to get up after we had laid his
body alongside of the other dead. Every
body l saw around me nearly exhausted
themselves in doing all they could to
rescue the unfortunate people"
Those who surged about the morgue
became frantic with fear. Women be-
came hysterical and tainted. Coroner
White summoned to his aid citizens who
happened to be in the neighborhood. and
with their assistance he threw a Gordon
about the building, while preparations
went on inside to place the bodies in
ordered rows that their relatives and
friends might come and identify them.
river three were women and seven were
men.
Screens to save Bodies.
The accident happened just as the
tide was at ebb. In a few minutes II
would be flowing out into the Delaware
and on toward the sea. That fact was
soon realized. The firemen. with forty
foot ladders, soon had wooden screen
thrown deep into the waters. Then fish
ing nets were sent for and screen OF
fner mesh was constructed so that none
OF the bodies might be washed away.
Only the footpath on the bridge had
collapsed. the Belgian block vehicleway
and two car tracks remained intact.
From that point and from the river
shore scores Of men worked with grap-
pling hooks. Out on the river were
launched thirty rowboats, manned by
men with graphing hooks. Coroner
White says he expects the death list
10 go far above the twenty now in the
morgue The work of attempted rescue
will continue until the last hope of re-
covering another body is gone.
Diver Searches River.
Capt. williams. a professional diver.
was called upon as soon as the results
OF the collapse were realized. He came
with full diving equipment. He Is down
on the river bottom tonight searching
every section of 1t for bodies. Power
full searchlights were brought from ship
yards Several batteries of them were
set up at various points along the shore
until the whole scene was flooded with
light as bright as that of day.
A theatrical company playing in
Chester tonight was about to step on
the bridge while on its way to the thea
tire. Just as the structure collapsed
Every male member OF the company had
thrown away coat and shoes In an in
stant and was I'm the water helping to
save those who were not beyond rescue
and to recover what bodies could be
found.
The identified dead are:
GORDY. RALPH.
HAWKINS, RUTH.
HAWKINS. ROY.
KNOPF. MORRIS.
BEECHER, JOHN.
WRIGHT. JAMES.
BARCIO. MARY.
DIETZ. Mrs. MAMIE.
MURTHA, Mrs. MAUD. II.
MCBRIDE. EUGENE.
HARDY. RALPH.
HELLINGER, ANNA
GARvEY. JOHN.
KLINE. EDWARD.
HAMILTON. GEORGE.
MURRAY. THOMAS.
BARKER, MARY.
SPRINGFELLOW. Mrs.
MARTIN. THOMAS.
xxYTTyrITNTCTON nORnTIV