The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge
Page 69
Report of WAR’s return to Brooklyn: Eagle, May 20, 1877.
HCM and the footbridge craze: New York Illustrated Times, August 18, 1877.
“I started to go once”: Ibid.
Seaman’s epileptic fit: The New York Times, September 20, 1877.
Eagle’s comments on suicide: October 19, 1877.
“It is as brittle as glass”: WAR to Paine, December 3, 1877. RPI.
“This is what Mr. Kinsella is pleased to call the best”: WAR to HCM, December 3, 1877. RPI.
Kinsella says cost no issue: Eagle, December 4, 1877.
“All of which is bosh”: Union and Argus, December 4, 1877.
Accident at the Brooklyn anchorage: Eagle, December 23, 1877; Union and Argus, December 24.
“The brick arch fell because it had a right to fall”: WAR to HCM, December 31, 1877. RPI.
“There are so many points to be considered”: WAR to Hildenbrand, January 9, 1878. RPI.
“I want you to help me get out a specification”: WAR to Farrington, February 9, 1878. RPI.
January 8 meeting of the Executive Committee: New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, pp. 667—668.
“Of course more or less legal information is required”: Union and Argus, January 8, 1878.
20 Wire Fraud
“Yet the existence of evil in human life”: JAR, “Life and Creation,” 1864. RUL.
Storm of January 31, 1878: WAR, Communication from Chief Engineer W. A. Roebling, In Regard to the Method of Steam Transit Over the East River Bridge, p. 8, LER; Eagle, January 31, 1878.
Murphy predicts 1880 completion: Eagle, February 5, 1878.
WAR plans for bridge trains: Eagle, March 4, 1878.
“An ingenious arrangement”: WAR, Communication from Chief Engineer W. A. Roebling, p. 6, fn.
“Neither, must we overlook the effect”: Ibid., p. 5.
Minnesota clips a cable: Eagle, March 4, 1878.
Death of Tweed: Werner, Tammany Hall, pp. 257-258.
“He never thought of angels”: Ibid.
“If he had died in 1870”: Callow, The Tweed Ring, p. 298.
“Alas! Alas! young men”: Ibid., quoted, p. 297.
“A villain of more brains”: Quoted in Werner, Tammany Hall, p. 263.
“Well, the Brooklyn people have no right”: New York Sun, clipping in a scrapbook kept by EWR. RPI.
Virtually every paper on both sides of the river carried a long account of the breaking of the cable. This description has been drawn chiefly from the following: Brooklyn Union and Argus, June 14 and 15, 1878; New York Herald, June 15, 1878; Eagle, June 14 and 15, 1878; New York Times, June 15 and 16, 1878; New York World, June 16.
“It will not sway from side to side”: New York World, June 30, 1878.
HCM cuts back the work: Eagle, August 12, 1878.
The exchange of letters between WAR and HCM concerning the Haigh wire deception is contained in “Exhibit No. 6,” New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, pp. 132-138. They include: WAR to HCM, July 9 and 22, 1878; HCM to WAR, July 25, 1878; WAR to HCM, July 28 and August 6, 1878.
Trustees’ meeting of August 5, 1878: New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, p. 441.
Trustees’ meeting of August 7, 1878: New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, p. 441.
WAR’s private notes on Haigh: RPI.
“We have brought machinery to a pitch”: George, Social Problems, p. 19.
“The thousands who daily cross”: Eagle, August 8, 1878.
“It has pleased the average penny-a-liner”: EWR, unpublished biographical sketch of WAR. RPI.
“Each must hang in its own peculiar length”: Appleton’s Journal, January 1878.
Close call on the buggy: Eagle, January 5, 1879.
Wrapping wire contract changed: Meeting of the Executive Committee, September 12, 1878, New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, p. 682.
“The end, then, is near”: Eagle, October 5, 1878.
21 Emily
“At first I thought I would succumb”: WAR, sometime in the spring of 1903. RUL.
“Mrs. Roebling is a tall and handsome woman”: Trenton Gazette, April 15, 1894.
“I would send you a little tintype”: WAR to Elvira Roebling, March 5, 1864. RUL.
“You know, darling, that your presence”: WAR to EWR, April 1, 1864. RUL.
“This full moon evening”: WAR to EWR, April 15, 1864. RUL.
“After all, dear Emmie”: WAR to EWR, April 4, 1864. RUL.
“Look for a big thief next winter”: WAR to EWR, July 4, 1864. RUL.
“Does the Mary Powell run”: WAR to EWR, August 1, 1864. RUL.
“Your letter describing the visit”: WAR to EWR, June 19, 1864. RUL.
Ferdinand’s reaction to EWR: WAR to EWR, September 1, 1864. RUL.
“When the two hopefuls”: WAR to EWR, September 25, 1864. RUL.
“I still entertain a lively remembrance”: Ibid.
“aspired to no higher distinction”: Blake, History of Putnam County, New York.
Parrott guns bombard Storm King: Pelletreau, History of Putnam County, New York.
Career of G. K. Warren prior to the Civil War: Taylor, Gouverneur Kemble Warren.
The distressing thing about Indian fighting: Catton, A Stillness at Appomattox, pp. 51—52.
Picnic on the Hudson: The painting hangs in the Julia Butterfield Memorial Library, Cold Spring, New York.
“I think we will be a pair of lovers”: WAR to EWR, November 18, 1864. RUL.
Warren and Sheridan at Five Forks: Catton, A Stillness at Appomattox, pp. 348-357.
WAR’s view of Five Forks: WAR to James Rusling, February 18, 1916. RUL.
Effie Afton case: Gies, Bridges and Men, p. 151; Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, pp. 124—125.
“I have heard men like Humphreys”: WAR, private memorandum, written sometime in 1914. RUL.
“It is whispered among the knowing ones”: New York Star, December 17, 1879.
Edge Moor Iron official writes directly to EWR: W. H. Francis to WAR, October 28, 1879. The letter is contained in the scrapbook kept by EWR from May 1878 to October 1882. RPI.
Secretary of State Evarts retained as council: Eagle, January 16, 1879.
Decision of Supreme Court of New York: Ibid.
Decision of Court of Appeals: Eagle, March 25, 1879.
Miller suit: New York Herald and Eagle, February 28, 1879; Eagle, March 7; New York Herald and Eagle, March 31; Eagle, March 23, 1879; Testimony in the Miller Suit to Remove the East River Bridge.
Slocum charges that the engineers are taking bribes: Union and Argus, May 3, 1879; New York World and New York Sun, May 4, 1879.
“And I want to say right here”: Eagle, May 6, 1879.
Davidson and Ferdinand Roebling testify: New York Sun, New York Star, New York World, May 7, 1879; Union and Argus and Eagle, May 8, 1879.
“I hope I have heard for the last time”: WAR to Slocum, May 6, 1879. RPI.
Engineers exonerated: Eagle, New York Sun, New York Herald, May 28, 1879.
Kinsella declines to serve again, new faces on the board: Eagle and Union and Argus, June 9, 1879.
Steinmetz attacks Kingsley: Eagle, June 10, 1879.
Murphy appears to be out: Ibid.
Murphy in again: Eagle, June 25, 1879.
Tay Bridge disaster: Gies, Bridges and Men, pp. 134—146.
“WILL THE TAY DISASTER BE REPEATED”: New York Herald, January 11, 1880.
De Lesseps illustration: EWR’s scrapbook for May 1878 to October 1882, RPI; the illustration is from New York Daily Graphic, February 28, 1880.
Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper’s view of cable work: November 15, 1879.
J. Lloyd Haigh at Sing Sing: Unidentified clipping in EWR’s scrapbook. RPI.
Kingsley-Steinmetz scene: The incident was widely reported and the dialogue differs somewhat from one account to another. This version is a composite from what appeared in the Eagle, the New York Star, the Sun, the Heraldand the Trib
une on October 12, 1880, all of which were carefully entered in EWR’s scrapbook.
RPI alumni dinner: Eagle, February 19, 1881; Engineering News, February 26, 1881.
“The men who have come from the Institute”: Engineering News, February 26, 1881.
Rossiter Raymond at the RPI dinner for 1882 (fn.): Unidentified clippings. RPI.
There is no known description of the view from WAR’s window written at the time. This one has been derived from contemporary photographs of New York taken from the Brooklyn side of the river.
EWR leads the first walk over the bridge: New York Star, Eagle, and the Union and Argus, December 13, 1881.
22 The Man in the Window
“The best way to secure rapid and effective work”: New York Star, August 23, 1882.
Trustees’ meeting of December 12, 1881: New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, 1867-1884, pp. 461-462; also New York Star, Brooklyn Union and Argus, and the Eagle, for December 13, 1881.
Stranahan’s customary method: Eagle, December 13, 1881.
Total expenditures January 1, 1882; also HCM’s estimate: Eagle, January 10, 1882.
Meeting of the trustees, October 13, 1881: New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, pp. 457-458.
“When I consented to make this change”: WAR to HCM, January 9, 1882, p. 11. LER.
Cables could uproot the anchorages: Ibid., p. 12.
Seth Low at his first trustees’ meeting: Eagle, January 10, 1882.
“the first scholar in college”: Dictionary of American Biography.
Low’s campaign for mayor: Syrett, The City of Brooklyn, 1865-1898.
Meeting of the trustees, June 12, 1882: New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, p. 468.
Robert Roosevelt’s letter to Mayor Grace: New York Herald, June 14, 1882.
HCM talks to the press: New York Sun, June 16, 1882.
“His plans and diagrams are all about him”: Ibid.
Sellers of Edge Moor ridiculed: Eagle, New York Sun, New York Herald, June 27, 1882.
Meeting of the trustees, June 26, 1882: New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, pp. 469-470.
Slocum’s remarks: Eagle, New York Sun, June 27, 1882.
“unsubstantial fabric of a dream”: Quoted in Syrett, The City of Brooklyn, p. 153.
The best roundup of rumors concerning the health and mental decline of WAR: New York Sun, July 31, 1882.
WAR’s letter of explanation: New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, pp. 473—474.
WAR claims he is powerless to push Sellers: WAR to HCM, July 19, 1882, RPI; also New York Sun, August 17, 1882.
“Newport has never looked more attractive”: Eagle, July 3, 1882.
WAR’s “cottage” at Newport: The house still stands; it is now a Catholic convalescent home and is located, ironically, beside the Newport end of the gigantic new suspension bridge over Narragansett Bay.
WAR will not “dance attendance on the Trustees”: Draft of a long letter to Comptroller Campbell, undated. RPI. It is not known whether the letter was sent.
WAR will not be “dragged into the board and put on exhibition”: Draft of a letter to the New York Sun, probably written in July 1882; probably never sent. RPI.
“no less than one hundred and twenty politicians”: Ibid.
“This is the same General Slocum”: Ibid.
Kingsley overpaid by $175,000: Ibid.
“I have always had bitter enemies in the Board”: Draft of letter, WAR to Comptroller Campbell, undated. RPI.
“I have over and over again been interviewed”: Ibid.
Low reported to be out of town briefly: New York Herald, August 3, 1882.
“Mr. Roebling, I am going to remove you because it pleases me”: WAR, undated notes, written sometime in late August 1882. RPI.
Death of G. K. Warren and decision of the military court: Taylor, Gouverneur Kemble Warren.
“Please make it convenient to be present”: Eagle, August 17, 1882.
Trustees’ meeting of August 22: Eagle, New York Sun, New York Star, New York Evening Post, New York World, New York Herald, New York Tribune, August 23, 1882.
Low’s comments on WAR at the meeting of the trustees, August 22, 1882: Eagle, same date; New York World, New York Sun, New York Star, New York Herald, August 23.
“WHEREAS, The Chief Engineer of this Bridge”: New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, pp. 477—478.
Editorial comments in New York papers: All for issues of August 23, 1882.
Iron Age comment: Issue of August 31, 1882; Newport Daily News: August 24, 1883; Trenton Daily State Gazette and the Eagle: August 23, 1882.
“I take the liberty of writing to express to you my heartfelt gratitude”: EWR to Ludwig Semler, undated. RPI.
“Nobody should be convicted before he is tried”: Eagle, September 5, 1882.
WAR would as soon “be out of the bridge” if Kingsley is to decide his fate: Letter to William Paine, September 10, 1882. RPI.
Semler reports on visit to WAR: Eagle, September 7, 1882.
Visit of the World reporter to Newport: Described by EWR in her letter to William Marshall, undated. RPI.
Meeting of the trustees, September 11, 1882: The entire session was heavily reported by all of the following, from which this account has been drawn, New York Evening Post, New York Sun, New York Times, New York Star, New York Herald, New York World, New York Tribune, Brooklyn Union and Argus, and the Eagle, all for September 12, 1882; also New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, pp. 478-481.
Low tells reporters he is pleased with outcome: Eagle, September 12, 1882.
“I actually believe that all that ails him”: Ibid.
23 And Yet the Bridge Is Beautiful
“And yet the bridge is beautiful in itself”: Scientific American, September 22, 1883.
The Times on Mrs. Vanderbilt’s party: March 27, 1883.
The World on the “Bridge Frauds”: The first of a long series of articles appeared on September 18, 1882, under a headline, “THE BRIDGE RING, OVERWHELMING PROOFS OF SYSTEMATIC JOBBERY AND OFFICIAL CORRUPTION.”
Kinsella interview: World, September 19, 1882.
The seating of the Tammany delegates: The best account of the Syracuse convention is in Nevins, Grover Cleveland; A Study in Courage.
The Times pinpoints Slocum’s association with the bridge as the chief cause of his failure to get the nomination: September 22, 1882.
Mayors Low and Grace appoint accountants to examine the Bridge Company’s books: “Report of the Committee Appointed by the Board of Trustees,” New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, 1867-1884, pp. 1-6.
Report of the accountants: Ibid., pp. 7—64.
The bridge as a memorial to HCM: Special meeting of the trustees, December 2, 1882, New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, pp. 483-484.
“What a relief it will be”: Barnard, “The Brooklyn Bridge.”
Scientific American editor describes the bridge as seen from the river: Issue of September 22, 1883.
United States Illuminating Company gets contract for arc lamps: Meeting of the Executive Committee, February 12, 1883, New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, pp. 745—747; “Report of the Committee on Lighting the Bridge, April 9, 1883,” Proceedings, pp. 161-164.
“The scene suggested the subterranean laboratory of a magician”: Quoted in Frederick L. Collins, Consolidated Gas Company of New York, 1934, pp. 268-270.
EWR explains how superstructure should be made: Times, May 23, 1883.
EWR’s ride over the bridge: Only passing mention of the event was made in the papers and then weeks after it happened (Times, May 23, 1883).
The fact that the rooster went along turns up only in the Trenton papers many years later, when the bird, stuffed and mounted, was a conversation piece in the Roebling home.
The interview with the Union reporter appeared May 16, 1883.
Full accounts of the preparations for “The People’s Day” appeared in just about every paper, off and on, thr
oughout the preceding week.
The World now favors the bridge: Swanberg, Pulitzer, p. 74.
WAR’s concern about fireworks display: Letter to Stranahan, dated May 5, 1883. RPI.
Hewitt writes for wages of bridge workers, etc.: May 3, 1883, RPI; WAR’s answer to Hewitt, RPI.
“I wish you would make one of my party of ladies”: EWR to Mrs. William G. Wilson, May 17, 1883. New York Historical Society.
Hewitt letter of May 18, 1883: RPI.
24 The People’s Day
Every newspaper on both sides of the East River went to great lengths to describe the opening of the Great Bridge. The sources used most here were the Eagle, the Union, New York Times, Sun, World, and Tribune, all for May 25, 1883.
Estimates on crowds pouring into New York: Times.
“One moment they were clambering clumsily”: Sun.
“It was as if the forest of masts had blossomed”: Tribune.
“The women in the crowd raised their hands”: Sun.
Arthur trods the bridge “with an elastic step”: Sun.
Arthur “an Apollo in form”: Ibid.
Large portions of the Opening Day addresses were carried in the papers of May 25, but the complete text is contained in a commemorative book, Opening Ceremonies of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, published by the Bridge Company.
WAR’s day and the reception at 110 Columbia Heights were also covered in most newspaper accounts of the day’s events. See in particular the Tribune and the Sun.
“As the sun went down the scene from the bridge was beautiful”: Sun.
“Why I thought Brooklyn had one hotel”: Ibid.
The most interesting account of the first crowds to cross the bridge was provided by the Times.
Epilogue
Attendance figures for first three days: New York Tribune, May 26, 28, 1883.
The Memorial Day tragedy: New York Times and Tribune, June 1, 1883.
“That was my first view of a great calamity”: Josephson, Al Smith, Hero of the Cities, p. 24.
Martin’s force: Martin, Report of the Chief Engineer and Superintendent of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, June 1, 1884. LER.
Barnum’s elephants: Times, May 17, 1884.
Brodie: Times, July 23, 24, 1886; Botkin, New York City Folklore, pp. 218-223.