07 Aug 1899
Page 1
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Newspaper
Portland Daily Press
Location
Portland, Maine, United States of America
Date
Aug 07, 1899
Page
1
A crowd of excursionists at Mt Desert Ferry in Bar Harbor was plunged into the water when a wooden gang plank on the wharf collapsed. About 159 are reported dead or in danger as rescue efforts unfold, with coroner’s inquest planned and crews from Maine Central aiding.
A long list of names from various towns in Maine is given, noting numerous residents and their residences, as part of a report on a large incident in which nearly two hundred people were precipitated into water. The document names many individuals and their home towns, including Bangor, Ellsworth, Corinth, Brewer, Old Town, Hampden, and Portland, among others, with multiple references to Mrs or Miss titles and family names.
The description outlines a transfer network at Bar Harbor and Mt. Desert Island. A long freight and passenger wharf connects rail to steamer service, with a passenger depot on shore and a large hotel The Bluffs nearby. Freight and passenger traffic moves via the wharf to the ferry at Thies Ferry village, with rail cars transferred much like the Maryland or Hercules arrangements.
Passengers could step from trains to a wharf side steamer with heavy bumpers at track ends and a watertight awning covering the ferry slip. A Stockton-like accident near Bar Harbor drew excursion crowds. many rescued or identified, several deaths including Irving Bridges, and heroic work by railroad, police, and local volunteers amid frantic searches as divers recovered bodies.
A chaotic rush from a train to the Cymbria steamer in Bangor ends in a deadly harbor accident. Victims include Mrs Estey. Mr Estey survived. Rescue boats aided by main force. many bodies recovered and laid out at the freight house awaiting identification as physicians and nurses respond from Bangor and a special train arrives. President Wilson of the Maine Central railroad was separated from relatives in the confusion.
Bangordaily paper reports a deadly accident near Mr Desert Ferry casting gloom over Bangor with nearly a dozen locals among the dead. Lincoln G Bragdon a Bangor dry goods merchant perished with wife and child as rescuers attempted to save the boy in the chaotic wreckage.
About 40 Augusta residents rode to Bar Harbor when a Maine Press party train encountered disaster near Desert Ferry. Three locals were tossed into the water with narrow escapes as the crowd scrambled to reach safety. Survivors recount chaotic moments, rapid rescues, and peril on the slip and dock as bystanders aided the victims.
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