THE BRIDGE WENT DOWN
Arizona Republican Newspaper
December 15, 1904
submitted by burns@asu.edu

Charleston, WV--Three persons are known to have 
been killed and five others seriously injured 
by the collapse of a suspension bridge across 
the Elk River which conects East and West 
Charleston.  At the time the bridge went down, 
there were six teams, six children on their way 
to school and a number of other pedestrains on 
the structure.  The bridge went down without 
warning. Those who were near the end of the 
structure managed to reach land.  Those who 
went down with the wreckage fell a distance 
of forty feet into the ice covered waters of 
the river.  The depth of the river at this 
point is varoiusly estimated at from ten to 
twenty feet and when the iron and lumber 
wreckage struck the ice it broke into fragments 
and those who were killed and several of the 
injured were thrown into the water or swept 
under the ice further downstream.

The dead are:
Mammie Higginbotham, aged 11 years
Annie Humphreys, aged 17 years
Ollie Gibbs, aged 15 years.

The injured:
Zella Smith, age 17, compound fracture of the elbow
William Holmes, colored, driver, cut and bruised
Henry Fielder, colored, driver, seriously, internal injuries
Elma Tucker, 13, both arms and legs broken

The bridge was a single span, 500 feet in length 
built in 1852.  It has been known to be unsafe 
for some time and heavy traffic was not allowed 
on it.  The accident was caused by two cables 
on the north side slipping from their moorings.  
When that side dropped another cable on the other 
side snapped, the floor tilted and turned completely 
over.  

During the Civil War the cable of this bridge was 
cut by General Wise when he evaculated Charleston, 
the bridge at the same time being partly burned.  
The same cable was afterward spliced and has been 
in use ever since.

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