Mount Hope, MA Wharf Accident, Aug 1880

Wharf Accident.

FALL RIVER, Aug. 16.---The report of an accident on the wharf at Mount Hope appears to have been exaggerated, but owing to the darkness, there being no lights on the wharf, it cannot be ascertained to-night whether any person was drowned. The wharf parted in the middle precipitating from fifty to seventy-five persons into the trough. Many of them clung to the wharf and others plunged into the water. Many were taken out unconscious and almost lifeless, but were resuscitated. The news of the accident to a portion of the spinners excursion party at Mount Hope created great anxiety in the city and hundreds of anxious ones at once rushed to the landing to learn news of their friends. At midnight the last boat load party, and reports the excitement at the scene of the accident as being intense, and the screams of those who had fallen added to the confusion. Owing to the tide, the water was not more than five to seven feet deep and it is believed not more than two were drowned, although it is impossible on account of the darkness to obtain accurate information as to the causalities. A number of people are known to have been injured.

The Salt Lake Weekly Tribune, Salt Lake City, UT 21 Aug 1880
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Transcribed by Linda Horton. Thank you, Linda!