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The News Tribune from Tacoma, Washington • 1

Publication:
The News Tribunei
Location:
Tacoma, Washington
Issue Date:
Page:
1
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

Two Solid Pages About Narrows Catastrophe (Sea Pam i) The Weather Intermittent rains tonight and tomorrow little temperature change Detailed report tldea aa Page I 58TII YEAR NO 49 TACOMA WASH SATURDAY NOVEMBER 9 1940 -PRICE THREE CENTS May Rebuild Broken Span Within Year Repulse of Italians Claimed Greeks Tell of Success All Along Line Nazis Report 86000 Ton Convoy Sunk Reconstruction Assured and Work Will Be Rushed According to State Toll Bridge Authority Engineers Plate Girders on Sides Acting as Sails Blamed for Crash By BRINTNALL The Tacoma Narrows bridge will be rebuilt! This was the statement of A Andrew chief engineer of the Washington Toll Bridge Authority after he and Clark Eldridge construction engineer on the span had spent all of Thursday afternoon making a survey of the bndge which that morning had made history by being the first big suspension bridge to break up Friday morning Woodworth Cornell had workmen busy cutting out the concrete bridge deck at each end of the wrecked structure This concrete will all be removed rare being taken to keep the two ends of the span In as nearly perfect balance as possible so as not to place any greater strain on the steel towers which are now bent 12 feet out of perpendicular Even as the big steel structure went to pieces engineers began to gather looking toward Its reconstruction Andrew came over from Seattle where he is In active charge of the Lake Washington barge bridge James Davis acting head of the state highway department came from Olympia and Gov Martin also came to see the wreck as nominal head of the Toll Bridge Authority Ralph Keenan manager of the Pacific Bridge Co which had the contract for building the span telephoned from San Francisco and then caught a plane to be on the Job Leon Molsselff New York consulting engineer who received $68000 for designing the bridge wired that he was sending a representative Condron consulting engineer for the RFC wired for details and asked that his subscription to The News Tribune by which he has kept in touch with work on the bridge be continued Many Factors Are Involved Quick reconstruction of the big bridge hinges on many factors but with any kind of reasonable luck and delivery of steel it is entirely possible that Tacoma can celebrate the reopening of the span again next Fourth of July Mr Andrew believes What made the bridge break up? This was the question which was probably asked mentally or orally thousands of times Thursday Mr Andrew answered that question The fault In the construction was the substitution of a plate girder eight feet deep for a truss design which had been prepared by the state highway department This deep plate girder acted like a sail Every time the wind hit It the bridge swung Mr Molsselff knew the bridge swung before It was opened but assured engineers in charge it would be simple for them to correct It and left them to do so The truss construction built up of steel bars would have let the wind through like a lattice In the University of Washington wind tunnel Andrew Eldridge and university engineering professors experimented on a big model of the bridge-and found that if they cut holes in the plate girder of the model to 1ft the wind through the vibration entirely disappeared Plans had been completed to cut holes in the girder on the bridge itself and this work would have gone forward in a few days probably saving the structure If this storm had not come up Concrete Deck Down First Reconstruction of the span will follow certain well designed steps The concrete deck will be completely removed and the steel roadway sections taken down Mr Eldridge talked with the Los Angeles office of the Bethlehem Steel Co Thursday afternoon and they will have a man in Tacoma this week to organize a crew to do this steel work suspeder cables A ball of loose wire could be seen at the center of the north cable Thursday afternoon The section of the span hanging into the water beyond the towers will not be cut off and dropped until Bridge Wreck From Air The wreck of the Narrows bridge as seen from the air la shown In the photograph above taken by an Associated Press photographer Leaning of the towers which are 18 feet ont of line at the top Is distinctly shown In the picture aa Is what Is left of the steel center span shown dragging from the stub near the tower Into tha water of the Narrows Engineers Thursday afternoon dragged the bottom of the Narrows under the span to be sure none of the steel wae sticking up in the water to menace boats LONDON Nov JP-One British fighter aquadron alone allot down IS German diva bomb-era that were attacking Brit Mi hipping today the air ministry announced tonight A eommiH nlque aald a total of SO German planea had been ahot down dur-lag the day agalnat four British A Annotated Pern Greek victories all along the 100 mile Balkan war front were reported at Athens today with in the northwest repulsed and other Italian columns thrown back in the center and northeast Reporta from the ancient Hellenic capital aald Important galna were scored in the center sector around Koritzn where 30000 Xtal Ian troops were reported under the shell fire of Greek mountain guns Remnants of the Italian invasion columns in that area are now being encircled the Athens reports said Help for Britlah In Washington President Roosevelt disclosed that Great Britain and Canada will be supplied' 50 per cent of American defense items now coming off factory lines in' eluding big bombers and other equipment needed for American defense and war effort Simultaneously the priorities board in Washington announced that the British purchasing commission would be permitted to negotiate orders with the American aviation Industry for an additional 12000 war planes Athens reports said position in the Balkan conflict is just as good if not better than it was when the Italians launched their invasion a week ago Monday Iqtense Fighting Reported Dispatches from the nearby Yugoslav border said fighting in the northeast was intense with heavy artillery action on both sides Big formations of Fascist bombing planes were reported attacking Greek troops east of the Koritza-Phlorina highway and pounding Greek mountain fortifications in the Pisodert pass Three Italian divisions armed with far superior equipment were reported pitted against seven Greek divisions Greeks Fight Indian Style Advices from the battle zone said the Greeks' style" guerilla tactics were making sharp inroads against the massed Italian mechanized onslaught Premier high command gave a seven-word description of the Fascist offensive on the west in the 12-day-old conflict: are proceeding on the Epirus the official communique said tersely omitting all mention of actual troops gains or losses The Greek high command said flatly that Italy's mechanized forces attempting to knife through the Metaxas defense line in a drive toward Ioannina had been repulsed by Greek artillery and anti-tank guns situation is thoroughly sat-( Continued on Page 8 Column 1) Merry-Go-Round At Capital Inauguration Stands Being Built Now to Avoid Defense Lumber Shortage British in Dilemma to Help Greece as Rumors Fly of Rift Within Axis -s' after the concrete Is removed as engineers do not want the span to take any more shocks If possible Then the cables will be carefully inspected to be certain that there were no breaks as result of the jar or from the cutting effect of the steel castings which held the but this was believed to be part of the wrapping wire As soon as the extra weights have been removed from the bridge deck it is expected that the towers will straighten themselves There Is a slight buckle in each tower just (Continued on Page 8 Column 1) Shuttle Ferry Service Replaces Fallen Bridge Toll Bridge Authority Arranges for Pt Defiance-Gig Harbor Run With Bridge Ticket Prices to Prevail PlCtlire Of DeSOlatlOn Vhat was once a beautiful bridge became a derelict within a few hours Thursday morning Here is the once proud Tacoma Narrows bridge as seen by thousands of Taromnns who sorrowfully viewed the disaster from the Tacoma side of the Narrows As Wreckage Hit Water above dramatic photograph showing the renter section of the Tacoma Narrows bridge as It crashed into the waters of Puget Bound Thursday morning was snapped by Dr Jess Read of Tacoma probably the last man to drive completely across the bridge The photo- graph was taken from the Gig Harbor side of the bridge Rain Forecast For Weekend Span Mystery Man Had Big Thrill for Dime College of Puget Sound Student Tells of Close Call as Narrows Bridge Cracked Up Thursday Morning Ferry service between Point Defiance Tacoma and Gig i Harbor was resumed Friday morning on a shuttle schedule The ferry service was arranged of crossing the Narrows The Bremertnn-Tacoma Stages Inc that run its busses over the Narrows bridge maintained service after the bridge crash by way ol Point Defiance The busses at Point Defiance and at Gig Harbor met the cruiser Maryland chartered to carry bus passengers over the water lap of the Journey Happy End To Narrows Span Drama Events ronlinucd to happen Friday just as rapidly but much more pleasantly than on Thursday for Leonard Coatswurth of The News Tribune editorial staff Thursday Coutsworth was one of the last men off the Narrows bridge escaping on hands and knees from his automobile abandoned on the center span of the structure just minutes before the collapse This Friday evening Coats worth will be on his way to New York all expenses paid in response to an Invitation from the the radio program lo relate his story on a national broadcast as one of the lust persons on the big span Coats worth will be heard next Tuesday evening nt 9 o'clock Tacoma time over KVI WASHINGTON Nov President Roosevelt said today he hd established a rule of thumb policy whereby Great Britain and Canada would be supplied 50 per cent of American 21 Killed In Air Crash Big Brazil Transport Little Advertising Plane Collide Coffee For Span Probe Promises New Bridge and Asks Blame Be Fixed By DREW PEARSON and ROBERT ALLEN WASHINGTON Nov 8 The presidential inauguration Is nearly three months off but already white-overalled carpenters arc busy erecting stands and seats on Capitol Plaza Reason for this unusual haste the defense program "If we waited much explains David Lynn veteran Cap-Hoi arrhitert wouldn't be able to get any lumber The ereetion of the great cnmM for the selective service trainees has (used a shortage in the lumber market The Government la buying up all the good lumber It can get for the The lumber shortage also will affect the seating capacity There will be room for only 12500 2000 less than in 1937 Congress appropriated the same amount of money as four years ago but with -increased material and lumber costs the 835000 Isn't going far BRITISH DILEMMA Diplomats are still puzzled why the Italians invaded Greece at the lime they did In fact rumors are recurrent that there has been rcrtaln cooling off between Rome and Berlin and thnt Mussolini (Continued on Page 8 Column S) Rain Is being forecast for the weekend by the roast weather bureau in its twice a week prediction of future weather Normal temperatures and general rains says the forecast which is supposed to cover the period until Tuesday Unsettled tonight and Saturday with showers is the local prediction The wind had dropped to 11 miles an hour Friday morning and the barometer was also falling from 2987 Inches at 8 o'clock Temperatures Thursday and Thursday night were 52 and 42 degrees and the rainfall over tho 24 hour period 27 of an inch By BEARDWOOD (Associated l'ress Staff Writer) The Narrows bridge man" a phantom figure seen on the huge suspension span Thursday as it was cracking up turned out Friday to be a college freshman who paid a dime the thrill of walking across the bridge in a RIO DE JANEIRO Nov Twenty-one persons were killed today In the collision of a twin engined transport plane of the Brazilian A 8 P-llne and a small advertising plane The crash occurred as the hlg transport was taking off from Santos Dumont airdrome The transport plunged Into the water In full view of thousands along Rio De waterfront and the small plane plummeted Into a house and was so battered (Continued on rage Column I) fearless Investigation regardless of whose toes are trend to fix responsibillny for collapse of the Narrows bridge was promised by Congressman John Coffee Friday after he had viewed the bridge wreckage Mr Coffee said he experts John Carmody head of the PWA to come here soon to begin an Investigation and suggested that the bridge designers those who approved the design and those who furnished material should be in (Continued on rage 9 Column 1) high How the bridge suddenly began to sway like a swing how he rrawled ashore on his hands and knees with the bridge pnvement cracking beneath him and chips of cement whistling past his head was told by Winfield Brown 25 College of Puget Sound student was certain I wasn't going to make Brown said was so easirk I couldn't stand up I thought I'd pass out for sure Some times the bridge tipped right on its side and I could look straight down at the wntcr 190 feet below me I thought I was a goner for Brown gingerly removing bandages to show multiple abrasions on his knees said he paid the 10 cent pedestrian fee to get on the bridge got plenty of thrill for a he exclaimed went down to the bridge Just (Continued on JTnge 9 Column 1) defense Items now coming off factory lines Including larger bombers and other things needed both here and abroad For a while he Mid the United States might need more than 50 per rent of some Items and less in others I Ship Sinking NEW YORK Nov The British freighter Empire Dorado radioed today that she was about 300 miles west of Ireland and that there were "casualties THE WOULD WAK 25 YEAItS AGO Nnv 8 French take German poets near Andechy fierce artillery fire rages along wide front.

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Pages Available:
2,629,713
Years Available:
1889-2024