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Show SELECTED. A Terrible Scene Sixteen Men Killed. An appalinz asciJ-nt occurred at St. CLarle;, Mo. , ye.torJay ar'ternoon. at the new bridge now iu course 01 cmistruetion acro:5 the Miuouri river. The pier of the bridge are built and the superstructure is being placed in position, and it was in connection with thia work that the accident occurred. The first chord of the span, springing from pier No. 1, Ls in eoursu of erection, erec-tion, and presen'ed a bu-y spe:-Ue'e a moment before the accident "c urred. surrounded by its network of s'-arfold-in?. aujoiig wliich a number "f woik-men woik-men were actively ent-'aired. The accident, acci-dent, in addition to reulting in serious loss of life, occasioned much damaire to the works. The part of the bridge where it occurred is between the first and second piers. There was on that portion sixteen men at the time. There was uear the first pier, two or three hundred feet from the St. Charles bank of the river, an engine and steam derrick, der-rick, being used to hoi-t the first chord of the span, an iron casting of five tons weight. This had been elevated eleva-ted to such a hight that it was almost ready to be placed in the desired spot, when the wire rope of the derrick sustaining sus-taining it snapped with the great weight, and the ponderous iron nia-s fell on the false work beneath, and about 100 feet of the structure gave way. In a moment the scene was enacted en-acted of an appalling character. Amid the shrieks of the unhappy victims, the engine and fifteen men went down with the broken mass of timbers, and lifeless and mangled bodies were seen floating in the river bvnuath. One man jumped from the engine on to the pier when he saw what was about to happen, and in a few seconds found himself isolated, contemplating from his high and solitary position the shocking sight below. The drowned and killed were Captain Cap-tain Ode!!, Thompson, ibrcman. and James Fannin, of ij't. Louis, Daniel L. Carr, of Cleveland, Ohio, and others. The distance from the lop of the works to the water was about eighty or ninety feet. One of the men who was supposed sup-posed killed was got out alive, but had a leg broken, and bad received other injuries. He lived but a .-horc time. Two men among the saved were ra'her badly injured. One of the others succeeded suc-ceeded in pulling oli his coat while in the water, and swam ashore, drawing another man out who was unable to swim. None of the bodies were brought to St. Louis. A person who was present at the time of the accident, and who arrived in the city laat night, stated that twenty five persons went down with the timbers, and that twenty persons are killed or are missing, fifteen fif-teen bodies not having been recovered. ybV. Louis licpuhliarn, Nov. 12. |
