The Great Bridge

by David McCullough

Hewitt swings into action: “The New York Bridge Company and the Trustees of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, A Full Synopsis of the Meetings of the Executive Committees Thereof, From September 17th, 1869, to June 1st, 1883” (“Exhibit J”), New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, pp. 575—577.

  WAR’s report: Report of the Chief Engineer on Prices of Materials, and Estimated Cost of the Structure, East River Bridge, June 28, 1872 (“Exhibit No. 2”), New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, pp. 74—83.

  Barnes called an ass and a quack: Eagle, June 22, 1872.

  Kinsella faces down scandal: Syrett, The City of Brooklyn, 1865-1898, p. 95.

  “…He is the thinker who acts”: Eagle, June 22, 1872.

  Predict bridge to cost forty million dollars: Scientific American, July 15, 1872.

  Kingsley’s “agreement” at an end: Directors’ Meeting, November 4, 1872, New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, p. 334.

  Beecher scandal breaks: Johnston, Mrs. Satan, pp. 159-178; Shaplen, “The Beecher-Tilton Case,” Part II.

  Majority report: “Exhibit No. 3,” New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, pp. 84—89.

  Barnes’s minority report: “Exhibit No. 4,” Ibid., pp. 90-101.

  Executive Committee report: “Exhibit No. 5,” Ibid., pp. 102-131

  “This Company was chartered as a private company”: Ibid., p. 109

  Kingsley back at ten-thousand-dollar salary: Ibid., p. 336.

  Kingsley takes leave of absence: Ibid., p. 586.

  13 The Mysterious Disorder

  “Knowing from the reports of other similar works”: Kingsley, Report of the General Superintendent of the New York Bridge Company, p. 33. LER.

  “To such of the general public”: WAR, Third Annual Report of the Chief Engineer, June 1, 1872, p. 7. LER.

  “Considerable risk and some degree of uncertainty”: Ibid., p. 8.

  Depth of bedrock: Ibid., p. 9.

  “The great timber foundation was now complete!”: Ibid., p. 13.

  Paine’s mechanical signaling system: Collingwood, Further Notes on the Caissons of the East River Bridge. LER.

  Caisson sinking six to eleven inches a day: Ibid.

  Sand pipes: WAR, Third Annual Report of the Chief Engineer, pp. 18-20, LER; Farrington, Concise Description of the East River Bridge, pp. 25-26; Collingwood, Further Notes on the Caissons of the East River Bridge. LER.

  “The downward movement of the caisson”: WAR, Third Annual Report of the Chief Engineer, p. 26. LER.

  Change of work shifts: Collingwood, Further Notes on the Caissons of the East River Bridge. LER.

  Dr. Smith’s nine rules: Smith, The Effects of High Atmospheric Pressure, Including the Caisson Disease, p. 13. LER.

  “The habits of many of the men”: Ibid., p. 14.

  “The utmost efforts of the expiratory muscles”: Ibid., p. 15.

  “Hence, the pulse is small”: Ibid., p. 16.

  Experiment with pigeons: Ibid., p. 20.

  Experiment with dog: Ibid., p. 28.

  Sample case histories: Ibid., pp. 35—37.

  “When it is severe, local numbness”: Sodeman, Pathologic Physiology, p. 238.

  Remedies employed: Ibid., pp. 32—33.

  Walter Reed at Brooklyn City Hospital: Ibid., p. 39.

  “Indeed, it is altogether probable”: Ibid., p. 30.

  “Experience teaches”: Ibid., p. 7.

  Smith rules more time in the lock: Ibid., p. 30.

  “The natural impatience of the men”: Ibid., p. 30.

  Theory of “special predisposition”: Ibid., p. 29.

  “The testimony of all observers”: Ibid., p. 27.

  14 The Heroic Mode

  Smith’s explanation, “overpowering physical force,” blood “retreats,” etc.: Smith, The Effects of High Atmospheric Pressure, Including the Caisson Disease, pp. 25—26. LER.

  Prior discovery by Paul Bert: Ibid., p. 27.

  “It frequently happened under my observation”: Ibid., p. 34.

  “by applying the heroic mode”: WAR, Third Annual Report of the Chief Engineer, June 1, 1872, p. 24. LER.

  Difficulty of taking patient into the caisson: Smith, The Effects of High Atmospheric Pressure, p. 34. LER.

  Death of John Myers: Ibid., p. 41.

  Death of Patrick McKay: Ibid., p. 40.

  “Perhaps if they had known”: Josephson, Al Smith, Hero of the Cities, p. 20.

  Caisson workers strike: Kingsley, Report of the General Superintendent of the New York Bridge Company, pp. 34-35, LER; Eagle, May 8, 1872.

  “The surface was evidently very irregular”: WAR, Third Annual Report of the Chief Engineer, p. 21. LER.

  WAR estimates a hundred lives to go to bedrock: EWR, unpublished biographical sketch of WAR. RPI.

  Strata undisturbed since time of deposit: WAR, Third Annual Report of the Chief Engineer, p. 22. LER.

  A time of “intense anxiety”: EWR, unpublished biographical sketch of WAR. RPI.

  First spur of bedrock described: WAR, Third Annual Report of the Chief Engineer, p. 23. LER.

  Death of Reardon: Smith, The Effects of High Atmospheric Pressure, p. 40. LER.

  Differences of level at the extreme corners: Collingwood, Further Notes on the Caissons of the East River Bridge. LER.

  “The labor below is always attended with a certain amount of risk”: WAR, Third Annual Report of the Chief Engineer, p. 29. LER.

  “Relief from the excruciating pain”: WAR, Pneumatic Tower Foundations of the East River Suspension Bridge, p. 88, fn. LER.

  Cholera epidemic at Niagara Falls: JAR to Charles Swan, July 29, 1854, RUL; also quoted in Schuyler, The Roeblings, p. 95.

  “He determined not to have it”: Beecher’s Magazine, January, 1871; also quoted in Schuyler, The Roeblings, p. 96.

  Business carried on by WAR in the fall of 1872: New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, 1867-1884, pp. 579-583.

  WAR’s efforts the winter of 1872-73; EWR, unpublished biographical sketch of WAR, RPI; also WAR notes, letters, specifications, etc., RPI.

  Requests leave of absence: Meeting of the Board of Directors, April 21, 1873, New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, p. 339.

  “My plan would be as follows”: Smith, The Effects of High Atmospheric Pressure, p. 34. LER.

  PART THREE

  15 At the Halfway Mark

  “Everything has been built to endure”: Francis Collingwood in a speech before the First Annual Meeting of the Alumni of RPI, New York, February 18, 1881.

  “The love of praise is, I believe,”: Dorsey, Road to the Sea, p. 163

  Tweed escapes: Werner, Tammany Hall, p. 244.

  Beecher on trial: Shaplen, “The Beecher-Tilton Case,” Part II.

  “…probably no great work was ever conducted”: EWR, unpublished biographical sketch of WAR. RPI.

  Granite and gravity: WAR, Report of the Chief Engineer of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, January 1, 1877, p. 6. LER.

  Limestone in anchorages: Collingwood, Notes on the Masonry of the East River Bridge. LER.

  Arrangement of the anchor plates and anchor bars: WAR, Report of the Chief Engineer, January 1, 1877, pp. 6-8, LER; Specifications for Anchor Plates, New York Anchorage, East River Bridge, 1875, LER; Specifications for Iron Anchor Bars, New York Anchorage, East River Bridge, April, 1875, LER; “Up Among the Spiders; or How the Great Bridge Is Built,” Appleton’s Journal, January 1878; Conant, “The Brooklyn Bridge.”

  Work on the approaches: WAR, Report of the Chief Engineer, January 1, 1877, pp. 23-32. LER.

  Model of the bridge: Brooklyn Union, May 25, 1878.

  Tower work: WAR, Report of the Chief Engineer, January 1, 1877, pp. 4-5, LER; Scientific American, August 10, 1872; Collingwood, Notes on the Masonry of the East River Bridge, LER.

  “There are times when standing alone on this spot”: Farrington, Concise Description of the East River Bridge, pp. 57—59.

  Deaths from tower and freak accidents: Eagle, May 18, 1876; interview with C. C
. Martin, Eagle, May 24, 1883.

  The bridge as an obstruction to navigation: Iron Age, April 27, 1876; Scientific American, May 6, 1876. The hearings were reported in detail in the Eagle, April 24 and May 21, 1876.

  Charter amended: An Act to amend an act…Chapter 601. Passed June 5, 1874. LER.

  New York Bridge Company dissolved: An Act providing that the bridge in the course of construction over the East River…Chapter 300: Passed May 14, 1875. LER.

  “Before winter shall drive the workmen”: Eagle, July 11, 1876.

  “One thing is certain”: Ibid.

  16 Spirits of ‘76

  Specifications: Specifications for Granite Face-stone and Archstone, Required for the New York Tower, East River Bridge, April, 1875, LER; original copy, RPI.

  Correspondence with Brooklyn: WAR and EWR, letter books. RPI.

  “It is one thing to sit in your office”: WAR to JAR II, August 20, 1907. RUL.

  “I would further add, now is the time”: WAR to HCM, February 25, 1875. LER.

  Physical discomforts: WAR to JAR II, May 5, 1894.

  “There is a popular impression”: EWR, unpublished biographical sketch of WAR. RPI.

  Could neither read nor write: WAR to James Rusling, February 18, 1916. RUL.

  “Regarding your health”: WAR to Francis Collingwood, undated. RPI.

  Note with check for minerals: RPI.

  WAR to HCM concerning Keystone Bridge rumor: December 6, 1875. RPI.

  Eads lawsuit: Papers on file at RPI; exchange of letters between Eads and WAR, Engineering (London), May 16, June 27, September 5, 1873.

  “Its perusal has left only the one prominent impression”; “My actual experience in the St. Louis caisson”; “You might as well patent contrivances in a ship’s rigging”; “In conclusion I beg to assure Captain Eads”: Engineering (London), June 27, 1873.

  G. K. Warren and the St. Louis Bridge: Gilbert and Billington, “The Eads Bridge and Nineteenth-Century River Politics.”

  “I am willing to accede to the proposition”: WAR to William Paine, May 10, 1876. RPI.

  “My health has become of late so precarious”: WAR to HCM, December 1875. RPI.

  WAR on his brother Charles: WAR, “Memorial to Charles Roebling,” October 1918, RUL; also quoted in Schuyler, The Roeblings, pp. 324-326.

  “He lost no opportunity”: WAR, notes for what was apparently to be an autobiographical sketch, written July 1898. RUL.

  Feelings of indignation: Ibid.

  Personal expenses: WAR, notebooks. RPI.

  “Their grounds cover fourteen acres”: Eagle, August 8, 1876.

  Roebling Centennial display: Ibid.; photograph, RPI. The section of cable made up for the Centennial Exhibition is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution, in the Museum of History and Technology.

  Wire: Specifications for Steel Cable Wire, for the East River Suspension Bridge—1876, original copy, RPI; also LER.

  Machinery Hall: Brown, The Year of the Century: 1876, pp. 112-137.

  Starting of the Corliss engine: Scientific American, May 20, 1876.

  “It was a scene to be remembered”: Ibid.

  “The engineer sits reading his newspaper”: The Atlantic Monthly, July 1876.

  WAR to return to Brooklyn: WAR to William Paine, undated. RPI.

  “He is a man of great resource”: WAR to HCM, May 6, 1876. RPI.

  Telegrams: Originals in scrapbook kept by EWR. RPI.

  17 A Perfect Pandemonium

  The description of hanging the first rope is drawn from the following: Eagle, August 14 and 15, 1876; New York Herald, August 15, 1876; New York Tribune, August 15, 1876; Scientific American, September 2, 1876; Van Nostrand’s Eclectic Engineering Magazine, October 1876; Farrington to WAR, December 30, 1876, LER; Farrington, Concise Description of the East River Bridge, pp. 28—30.

  “In a few seconds the rope began to move”: Farrington, Concise Description of the East River Bridge, p. 30.

  “When it is considered that one has to climb”: New York Herald, August 15, 1876.

  Farrington’s ride: Eagle, August 25, 1876; New York Herald, New York Tribune, New York Times, Brooklyn Argus, August 26, 1876; Farrington to WAR, December 30, 1876, LER; Conant, “The Brooklyn Bridge.”

  Ten thousand spectators: New York Tribune, August 26, 1876.

  “The ride gave me a magnificent view”: Farrington, Concise Description of the East River Bridge, p. 36.

  Farrington complains of notoriety: Farrington to WAR, December 30, 1876. LER.

  “He does most of the brain work”: Unidentified clipping in a scrapbook kept by EWR. RPI.

  High-wire acrobatics on Saturday, August 26: Eagle, same day; New York Herald, Tribune, Sun, and World for August 28.

  “Mr. Harry Supple was all that could be desired”: William Paine to WAR, December 31, 1876. LER.

  Second day of acrobatics, Monday, August 28: Eagle, same day; New York Herald, Tribune, Sun, and World for August 29.

  “I have carried out your instructions”: Farrington to WAR, December 30, 1876. LER.

  18 Number 8, Birmingham Gauge

  Hewitt and Tilden: Nevins, Abram S. Hewitt, pp. 305-310.

  “Hewitt was as true a patriot”: Ibid., p. 317.

  “who played the game for ambition”: Adams, The Education of Henry Adams, p. 373.

  “the best-equipped, the most active-minded”: Ibid., pp. 295.

  Hewitt resolution: Meeting of the Trustees, New York and Brooklyn Bridge, September 7, 1876, New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, 1867-1884, pp. 383-384; Eagle, September 7 and 8; New York Tribune, September 8, 1876.

  “I am very strongly opposed”: Tribune, September 8, 1876.

  Tweed arrested in Spain: Werner, Tammany Hall, pp. 247-251.

  Letter of resignation: WAR to HCM, September 8, 1876. RPI.

  WAR to the Eagle: Undated. RPI.

  “I was publicly and specifically singled out”: WAR to HCM, September 11, 1876. RPI.

  Haigh’s matrimonial adventures: Eagle, January 6, 1880.

  WAR returns to New York City by barge: Unidentified clipping in a scrapbook kept by EWR. RPI.

  “There is something colossal in the look of the East River piers”: Ibid.

  HCM notified of stock sale: WAR to HCM, November 2, 1876. RPI.

  Aspinwall proposal: New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, pp. 384-386; Eagle, November 14, 1876.

  Presidency stolen: Nevins, Abram S. Hewitt, p. 320 ff.

  Men to be trained: WAR to HCM, November 6, 1876. RPI.

  Oil kettles, sample ferrule, iron and steel rope: WAR to Farrington, November 16, 1876. RPI.

  “Man is after all a very finite being”: WAR to James S. T. Stranahan, November 20, 1876. RPI.

  Technical instructions to Trenton: WAR to Ferdinand Roebling, undated. RPI.

  Requirements for Number 8, Birmingham Gauge: Specifications for Steel Cable Wire, for the East River Suspension Bridge—1876, original copy, RPI; also LER.

  Opening and contents of the bids: Meeting of the Trustees, November 4, 1876, New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, pp. 387—389; also, Meeting of the Executive Committee, December 6, 1876, Proceedings, pp. 643-645.

  Reporter sees Martin and HCM: New York Herald, December 16, 1876.

  “If one man’s samples”: WAR to HCM, December 15, 1876. LER.

  Hill’s computations: New York Herald, December 16, 1876.

  Aspinwall and Kinsella comment: New York Herald, December 20, 1876.

  Hill’s answer: New York Herald, December 21, 1876.

  Executive Committee Meeting of December 23, 1876: New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, pp. 645—646.

  WAR’s report on tests: WAR to HCM, December 18, 1876. LER

  Board of Directors’ Meeting of December 28, 1876: New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, p. 389.

  “Unquestionably Bessemer steel wire is the cheapest”: Eagle, January 10, 1877.

  Model of cable and Hildenbrand drawing: Eagle, Decembe
r 26, 1876.

  Trustees’ Meeting of January 11, 1877: New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, pp. 389-391.

  “The assurance of the correct performance”: WAR, Report of the Chief Engineer of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, January 1, 1877, p. 18. LER.

  Slocum requests Army engineers: New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, pp. 389-391.

  Hewitt letter: Eagle, January 12, 1877.

  Brooklyn Theater fire: New York Times, December 6, 1876.

  Ashtabula disaster: Gies, Bridges and Men, pp. 125—130. Footnote: Ibid., p. 130.

  Trustees’ response to Hewitt’s letter: New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, pp. 389-391; Eagle, January 12, 1877.

  Kinsella’s comments on decision: Eagle, January 16, 1877.

  “They can help us and the public”: Union, January 16, 1877.

  “My attention has been called”: Eagle, January 23, 1877.

  “It has become the deepest of mysteries”: Union, January 18, 1877.

  “In laying this plan”: WAR, private notes, undated. RPI.

  19 The Gigantic Spinning Machine

  “I never saw better days for bridge work”: Eagle, clipping in a scrapbook kept by EWR, no date. RPI.

  “…no man can be a bridge builder”: Unidentified clipping, dated February 12, 1877, in a scrapbook kept by EWR. RPI.

  “The undulating of the bridge”: New York Tribune, February 19, 1877.

  WAR’s sign at the footbridge entrance: From a photograph.

  “Trinity Church steeple was fencing”: New York Tribune, February 12, 1877.

  Farrington discloses imagined report of crossing (fn.): Farrington, Concise Description of the East River Bridge.

  “While Revs. Drs. Storrs and Buddington”: Eagle, February 22, 1877.

  Lengthy descriptions of the wire spinning and of the array of apparatus involved were published in the Eagle, June 1 and July 7, 1877, and in Appleton’s Journal, January 1878; “The Gigantic Spinning Machine”: Eagle, July 6, 1877.

  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.