Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1920-1927, 1922-10-18
teams and
DRIVERS PLUNGE
INT0|. & N. Canal
Seneca, Oct. oA(SpeciaD The Main
street BRIDGE over the llnois-Michigan Canal here
gave way yesterday afternoon, at o'clock, carry

ing with it to the bottom
of the waterway, four
men, eight horses and
three heavily loaded and one empty
wagons. All of the men escaped un.
injured. Seven of the eight animals
swan ashore without being hurt. One
sustained badly injured back, and
had to be shot. AS the bridge fell it
broke one of the large service mains
of the Public Service Co., causing a
large spray of Illuminating gas to be-
shot in the air One spectator, who
gathered to watch the accident, was
overcome by the fumes.
1t will cost in the neighborhood OF
$4,000 to replace the bridge, and the
cement canal wall which was pulled
in by the crash. The horse. which
vas shot belonged to J. S. Murphy.
who resides southeast of Seneca, and
was valued at S125. The damage to
the Public Service Co. will amount
to several hundred dollars.
Blame Too Much Weight.
"Too heavily loaded" is the unof-
fetal verdict given as a result of the
accident. Two southbound teams and
two northbound teams had driven on
the structure at the same time. J. 8.
Murphy, a farmer residing southeast
of Seneca, was riding on big load
of coal Thomas Newman, another
farmer, was hauling a big load of
corn. Samuel Muffler, was driving
a team pulling a load of corn, and
David Manning was riding ON an
empty wagon All four were on the
flooring of the structure with their
full weight. when the bridge gave a
slight lurcht and settled gradually
down to the bottom of the canal, some
fifteen feet below.
The water was up to the necks Of
some of the drivers, while the bridge
settled so that it was only waist deep
on others. The greatest confusion
prevailed for a few minutes, while
the harness was cut from the horses.
Seven of them reached shore in safe
ty. and the Murphy horse, which was
injured, was assisted from the water,
by large crowd of spectators, who
gathered to witness the scene.
Ankle Is Sprained.
Mr.. Murphy received badly sprain.
ed ankle, either in the fall or during
the first few minutes after the acci.
dent when he was attempting to res
cue himself and his two horses from
the water.
The gas main which was taken down
was the four inch pipe, used to sup
ply the east half of Seneca, and the
entire city of Morris, with their house
hold gas. A hurry up call was sent
to the district office of the Public
Service Co. in Ottawa and a gang Of
wCrkmen sped out over the concrete
road and shut off the suffocating
fumes, which were escaping from the
broken pipe.
Large Crowds Gather.
A thrill of excitement ran through
Seneca, when it was learned that the
bridge had gone down, and very
large crowd gathered on the bank to
witness the scene Gus Nelson, one
of the spectators, crowded too near
the broken gas main, and was over
CJme by the fumes. He was taken
back from the crowd and was revived
in few minutes.
When efforts to aid the Murphy
horse became fruitless, a bullet from
the gun of Chief of Police p. Fl.
Judge sent the tortured animal from
its suffering.
Cities Without Gas.
Throughout the night, east Seneca
and the entire city of Morris were
without gas. A large crew of work
men started repairing the main last
night, at o'clock this morning tenn
porary main to take the place of the
broken line, had been stretched.
The Main street bridge was built
about forty-fve years ago. A few
months ago it was entirely repaired,
ana q new floor was placed on it.
The structure is in the business dis
trict of the city.