WORKING OVER RAGING FLOOD IN THE RIVER

OVER FORTY MEN WERE ON THE STRUCTURE

NORTH BRANCH HIGH AND RISING FAST

The Flood at Wilkes-Barre Reaches a Stage of Sixteen Feet and is Still Rising—Industries Closed and Many Houses Inundated

By Associated Press
Bloomsburg, December 10.—By the collapse of a traveler on a new bridge being erected by the state over the Susquehanna river at Mifflinville, eight miles north of here, tonight seven men were killed and 12 were injured two of them probably fatally. Forty men were at work on the traveler and span when the structure collapsed, and they were thrown into the river swollen by the heavy rains and melting snow.

List of the Victims
The dead are: L. A. FAHS, Selinsgrove; CHARLES CRELTZER, Selinsgrove; ADAM NUSS, Selinsgrove; ADAM TRITT, Beaver Valley; IRVIN UPDEGRAFF, Georgetown; MILLARD BOWMAN, Mifflinville, and GEORGE B. FAUX, address unknown.

The injured: William Boyer, New York, back probably broken; Ray Sterwood, Meshoppin, spine injured and skull punctured; Percival Reighterbach, Mckees Half Falls, leg broken; Howard Reighterbach, McKees Half Falls, leg fractured; William Moyer, Selinsgrove, leg broken; Luther E. Eckerd, Liverpool, shoulder dislocated; Cecil Sharar, Newport, shoulder dislocated; Newton Dalton, Bellefonte, general contusions; Harry C. Goodling, Hopper, right elbow broken; John Seesholtz, Selinsgrove, general contusions; John Fisher, Selinsgrove, arm broken; William Weiking, Snyder county, general contusions and cuts; Jacob Johnson, Bloomsburg, fractured leg.

Caused By the Flood
The collapse of the bridge is supposed to have been caused by the rapid rise in the river. The water rose during the day at a rate of almost one foot and hour and debris carried down the stream by the flood struck the false work of the bridge and caused it to collapse. This theory is supported by the testimony of the workmen who says a large tree trunk struck the false work just before the bridge fell.

The accident occurred just at nightfall when the men were preparing to abandon their work. As a result the works of rescuing those who were thrown into the water and caught in the mass of iron and steel were greatly retarded. The second span of the bridge was being erected and it was this section that fell with the big traveler. The bodies of four of those killed were found floating on the surface of the water entangled in the bent and twisted girders and iron work but the others have not been found.

Were Carried a Mile
Many of the men were caught in the rapid water and carried a mile or more down the river before they were rescued. One of the most miraculous escapes was that of William Nesbit, who was caught in the iron work and held prisoner for an hour, with his mouth and chin above water, before being rescued.

The bridge is locally known as a “hoodoo.” It was built by the State to replace one carried away in a freshet in 1903. The county authorities refused to rebuild it and it was only by the passage of the Rose bill in the legislature of 1904 that the State was authorized to put up the structure. Then work was delayed by litigation with the Pennsylvania Railroad company. Work was started on it this year. Superintendent Lawton. In charge of construction, and who was on the bridge when it fell, says that he has not been able to ascertain the cause of the collapse, aside from the washing of the false work by the high water. The river at Mifflinville is about half a mile wide.

Daily Gazette and Bulletin, Williamsport, PA 11 Dec 1907

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--Seven men are missing and twelve more injured as the result of the collapsing on the “traveler” on the second span on the Mifflinville side of the Mifflinville bridge last week Tuesday afternoon. Forty men were on the “traveler” when the crash came, and all were thrown into the river or caught in the debris of twisted steel and broken beams.

The Wellsboro Agitator, Wellsboro, PA 18 Dec 1907

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WORKMEN NOT BLAMED

Mifflinville Bridge Officials Unable to Account for Wreck

Special to The Inquirer.
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. Dec.12—After as complete an investigation of the wreck of the Mifflinville bridge conditions preceeding [sic] it as was possible the, the officials of the bridge company state that they can censure none of their workmen, as they consider the accident unexpected and unforeseen and difficult to explain.

Several of the injured men went to their homes today. Of the ten remaining at Mifflinville all are improving.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA 13 Dec 1907

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BLOOMSBURG, Pa., Dec 17.—The body of A. H. FAHS of Selinsgrove, one of the victims of the Mifflinville bridge disaster on December 10, had been recovered from the Susquehanna river. The body was pinned down by a heavy motor and sections of falsework and from its condition it is thought that FAHS was shocked and drowned. The bodies of six other victims of the accident are still in the river.

Indiana County Gazette, Indiana, PA 18 Dec 1907
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Transcribed by Dawn McLaughlin. Thanks, Dawn!