Year: 1878

People who were near the New


York anchorage of the East River


Bridge about noon on the 18th inst,
were suddenly startled by a loud re-
port, as of a cannon, and a crashing
whizzing noise. One of the strands of
cable No. l of the bridge had suddenly
given way, killing two of the men who
had been working upon it. This is the
first accident of the kind that has hap
pened on the bridge. The New York
anchorage is seventy feet in height, and
at the top it is l20 feet square. Running
east and west are the four main cables,
none of which is completed, that will
support the bridge. The cables are made
in the following manner: \ steel wire
is run along By reel over the pier to
the anchorage, and there is passed round
the ''shoe." This is a large piece of
iron something in the shape of horse
shoe, and weighing about a ton
The shoe is held in position by two
thick iron bars. nearly fourteen feet in
length, with pulleys at the other end.
The shoe and bars are laid between long,
thick, and broad iron bars, called eye.
bars, connected together by iron pins


that run through all the bars. When
the steel wire is passed around the
shoe, it is sent back on the reel TO go
through the same process on the other
side of the bridge. When he wire has
been laid 270 times each way it forms
strand. The wires are firmly wound
round with other wire and rope. When
nineteen such strands are completed
they are in their turn bound together
and form a main cable. When strand
is being made the wires are stretched at
the highest possible attitude TO test the
utmost tension and when completed are
lowered to the level of the'main cable.
The strain upon the strand, when COM
pleted is seventy-five tons. and when


lowered to the level OF the cable at
about forty tons. The strand is lowered
by wire rope, an inch and a quarter
thick, fastened to the shoe and passing
through sheaves or blocks of six wheels
so that the maximum strain Hpon the
rope between the sheaves in not more
than twelve and a half tons. The rope
is worked by steam engine ST the foot
of the anchorage. At the time the ac-
cident occurred a gang of men was em-
ployed in lowering this strand, which
was at the northern end of the anchor
age, under the direction of Mr.. Earring
ton, the master machinist. Thomas W.
Blake was standing on the block at the
northwestern end of the anchorage;
Henry supple standing on the northern
eye-bars, was bending over, with
crow-bar in his hands, prying off the
strand to keep it between the bars and
Mr.. Harrington was standing upon the
other strands that had already been
placed in position nearly opposite to
Supple. The other men were holding
the wire rope with pieces of loose rope,
coiled round it. The huge iron block
of six iron pulleys was slowly moving
forward; the wire rope was slowly run
ming through the sheaves, and the
strand was already lowered so much
that the strain upon it had been reduced
from seventy-five to less than fifty tons
Ii was within few seconds of II o'clock.


Mr.. Harrington had just told the men
to remove the ropes by which they were
holding on to the wire rope, when sud-
denly a loud report was heard, The
wire rope while running between the
sheaves had snapped. The ends of the
rope went flying round through the
sheaves, knocking the men in all direc-