1921 — Sep 10, Third Street Foot-Bridge Collapses, Chester River, Chester, PA         —     24

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 5-16-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

— 34  NYT. “34 Persons Drown as Crowded Bridge Falls into River…” 9-11-1921, p. 1.[1]

— 24  Bradford Era, PA. “Collapse of Small Footpath Carries Twenty-Four to Death.” 9-12-1921.

— 24  Chester Times, PA.  “3rd Street Bridge Collapse Claimed 24 Lives in 1921,” Sep 1951.

— 24  Ivory, Karen. Pennsylvania Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival.  2007, p. 84. 

— 24  NYT. “Faulty Plate Cause of Chester Disaster; Old Crack Found…” 9-12-1921, p. 6.

— 24  Titusville Herald, PA. “Chester Disaster Charged to Uncontrollable Defect.” 9-13-1921, p1.

Narrative Information

Sep 10: “Special to The New York Times. Chester, Pa., Sept. 10. — Thirty-four persons are known to have been drowned and more than a score are lying injured in hospitals as the result of the collapse at 7:10 o’clock tonight of the footpath of the Third Street Bridge over the river here.
Gathered on the bridge to watch the recovery of the body of a five-year-old boy who had fallen from the river bank and drowned, sixty men, women and children, some of them infants in arms, were thrown into fifteen feet of water when the old structure broke.


“The little boy, Gus Apostelos, had been playing on the bank when he suddenly slipped and fell into the water among coal and ice barges moored to the shore. There was an immediate alarm, and the police arrived with grappling hooks and rowboats.They were at work in a few minutes.

“The list of dead, so far as identified, is:  [20 listed]….

 

“Frantic mothers, each thinking it was her boy who had met with death, rushed down to the riverside and out upon the bridge. They were joined by others. The bridge is of wooden construction and is thirty years old. Out upon it the crowd surged. Suddenly there was a crack as of a large rifle shot. Then there was a pattering, ripping sound, as of machine guns and drums sounding together in one great volume. In an instant those who has gathered on the bridge were a mass of tangled humanity, fighting for life in the murky waters of the river. Expert swimmers were among them, but they were unable to make a single stroke for themselves or for others.

 

“Those who went over first were without even the slightest hope of rescue. They were crushed to the very bottom of the river and there were imbedded in the mud. Every telephone in the neighborhood was pressed into service to send calls for aid. The Police Headquarters, the Fire Department, the Chester and Crozier Hospitals were called, and physicians were summoned. Hurried preparations were made for the care of the injured and the dead.  Four pulmotors were on the scene in a few minutes, and each person brought to shore was treated, whether or not he showed signs of life.

Fourteen Bodies Together.


“T. J. Ferguson, E. J. Smullen and Dean J. Deakyne have a garage within a few feet of the bridge.  The sound of the cracking girders and planking had hardly subsided when they had a motor truck backed against the shore. Men volunteered from every direction. Fourteen bodies were in the machine in a few minutes and it was on its way to a hospital. The thought was that they were dead, but there was hope of life. The machine went over a rough road to the institution of mercy. The bodies were taken together. When the hospital was reached it was found that among the fourteen one — a woman — was alive.  She was hurried to a ward and every effort was made to save her life.


“The crowd grew beyond all proportions and those who surged about the morgue became frantic with fear. Women became hysterical and fainted. Coroner White summoned to his aid private citizens, and with their assistance he threw a cordon about the building, while preparations went on inside to place the bodies in ordered rows that their relatives and friends might identify them.


“Of the first ten dead taken from the river, three were women and seven were men. 

 

“The accident happened just as the tide was at ebb. Realizing that in a few moments it would be flowing out into the Delaware and towards the sea, the firemen with forty-foot ladders, soon had a wooden screen thrown deep into the waters. Then fishing nets were sent for and a screen of finer mesh was constructed so that none of the bodies might be washed away.


“Only the footpath on the bridge collapsed. The Belgian block vehicle way and two car tracks remained intact. From that point and from the river shore scores of men worked with grappling hooks, while men in thirty row boats worked out in the river. Coroner White says he expects the death list to go far above the twenty now in the morgue.


“Captain Williams, a professional diver, was sent down to the river bottom tonight and is searching for more bodies. Powerful searchlights were brought from nearby shipyards and the whole scene was flooded with light.


“Members of a theatrical company playing in Chester tonight were about to step upon the bridge on their way to the theatre just as the structure collapsed. Every man in the company threw off coat and shoes in an instant and sprang into the water to help save those who were not beyond rescue and to recover what bodies could be found. James Emerbe dragged 23 men, women and children from the water.  Nine of them were dead.

 

“Chief of Police J. H. Davenport had all the men he could gather together on the scene within fifteen minutes after the disaster. They found their numbers too few to cope with the entire situation and so the cooler heads among the civilians were pressed into service for the night.” (New York Times.  “34 Persons Drown as Crowded Bridge Falls into River. Footpath of Chester, PA. Structure Gives Way Under Pressure of Big Crowd.” 9-11-1921, p. 1.)

 

Sep 11: “(By the Associated Press.)  Chester, Pa., Sept. 11. – Twenty-four persons were drowned and five others seriously injured in the collapse last night of the bridge spanning the Chester river at Third street, in the heart of this city’s business district, the police announced tonight after divers had definitely determined no more bodies remained in the water.

 

“A small -wrought iron gusset plate, part of the support for a foot path along the side of the structure, which had been half eaten by rust, gave way under the weight of nearly a hundred persons who were attracted to the spot by the cries of a drowning boy and precipitated the victims into the river.

 

“The last body to be dragged from the deep mud at the bottom of the river was that of 3 year old Charles Apostolus, the child whose death was the inadvertent cause of the accident. It was recovered shortly before noon today and placed at the end of the row of the 24 victims whose bodies reposed in White morgue awaiting removal to their former homes. All of the victims were residents of Chester…

 

“Little Charles Apostolus was in a large group of children who were standing on the river bank in the rear of a theatre watching the antics of a bear which was to appear in the show. In some manner he was knocked into the river by one of his excited playmates and his cries for help, together with the tumult that accompanied the accident attracted the crowds on Third street.

 

“Several hundred persons dashed for the small bridge and others were trying to push onto it when, without warning, one end of the foot way buckled. The heavy boardwalk dropped like a trap-door and before anyone could realize what had happened fifty persons were struggling for life in the muddy water below. A score more still cling to the bent hand rail and iron water pipes, fighting desperately to reach safety before their fragile perches gave way, too.

 

“The victims were caught in a veritable death trap. At the point of the incident the water is sixteen feet deep, the river is scarcely more than twenty-five feet wide and factory and store walls are built to its very edge. Those who could swim found it physically impossible to scale the slippery walls and not a splinter of debris to which they might cling had fallen into the water. The foot path simply dropped and then hung to twisted supports.

 

“In constructing the bridge the engineers had attached the walk for pedestrians to the main structure by means of wrought iron supports. All but one of these supports – the one that broke –were riveted while the one that broke was bolted. Thirty years of constant strain and the ravages of rust had caused eight inches of its fifteen-inch depth to crack and the sudden strain of last night’s crowd resulted in its giving way completely. Not more than fifteen feet of the walk collapsed and the victims were thrown one on top of another down this chute into the water….

 

“ ‘Soap’ George, Pierce, a Chester river boatman, was nearby in his skiff. He drove the boat into the midst of the drowning mass and brought to safety eleven persons. Returning, he dove and recovered five bodies before he was forced to quit from sheer exhaustion.

 

“In the meantime every available fireman and policeman in the city had been hurried to the scene.  While some erected a temporary dam of fire ladders and fish nets to prevent bodies from floating out on the tide, others dragged the river’s bed for bodies. Many of the victims were recovered before midnight and physicians made every effort at resuscitation, before hope was abandoned.  Those who showed signs of life were sent to hospitals but only five of these are still alive.

 

“Miss Mary Meehan, 19, was one of those who was dragged from the river unconscious and sent to the Chester hospital. There she gave a vivid account of her experiences. ‘I was on my way home,’ she said, ‘when a woman ran past me crying, ‘a poor little boy is drowning.’  I had to cross the bridge but had only gone a few feet upon it when the crowd became so thick I could not move.  An instant later I felt just like I was going down in an elevator. There was no noise; just a sickening, sinking sensation and a minute later I found myself in the water’….

 

Drowned Each Other.

 

“`They just seemed to drown each other,’ said Ralph Thomas, a fireman, who was on the bridge but saved himself, by clinging to a water main. ‘It was impossible to swim in that mess. Men, women and children were fighting each other like maniacs, trying in vain to keep afloat. The water was thrashed almost into a form by their wild struggles.’

 

“As the first shock, of the accident wore off today there was a general demand throughout the city for a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident. Charges and counter-charges are made by and against the Board of Commissioners of Delaware county, which, is responsible for the condition of the bridge. Police Chief J. H. Davenport said only two of the five bolts supposed to sustain the arm supporting the foot path were capable of holding any appreciable weight. Others claimed the bridge had been condemned several years ago. Thomas F. Feeley, a member of the board, denied these accusations, and issued the following statement:

 

One of the first persons on the scene this morning was H. H. Quimby, chief engineer of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit company, who made a thorough but unofficial inspection. He pointed out that the arm which snapped was supported by a wrought iron gusset plate which had been badly eaten by rust. It was also, he said, undoubtedly faulty in construction originally and half of its depth had been broken by a ‘progressive break.’

 

The county engineer inspected the bridge ten months ago and pronounced it safe for traffic.  Under the circumstances I cannot see how any blame attaches to the Board of Commissioners. We will see that this affair is investigated most thoroughly.

 

“At least two other investigations will be started immediately. One by the police department, and the other by the coroner. The inquest will be held Thursday night.” (Bradford Era, PA. “Collapse of Small Footpath Carries Twenty-Four to Death at Chester, Penn.” 9-12-1921, p. 1.)

 

Sep 11: “Special to The New York Times.  Chester, Pa., Sept. 11. – A cracked iron plate which was bolted instead of riveted was responsible for the collapse of a section of a footpath on the Third Street bridge over the Chester River in this city last night, hurling twenty-four persons to their death in the murky waters below. All of the bodies have been recovered….

 

“H. H. Quimby, Chief Engineer of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, and Edward Templer made an inspection of the bridge this morning and issued the following statement:

 

The gusset plate which supports one of the side arms which, in turn, supports the footpath, was made of wrought iron. The bridge was faulty in construction. The grain in the plate was perpendicular instead of being horizontal, and we found a crack in the plate nearly eight inches in length. The length of the gusset plate was fifteen inches, and the old crack in the plate was eight inches long and had been there for eleven years.  It is what we call a progressive break.”

 

“It was said that about ten years ago a canal-boat laden with coal broke loose from its moorings a hundred feet up the river and jammed against the bridge, bending the gusset plate. The following morning the bent plate was located and the rivets were cut out and workmen took the plate to the street, where they tried to straighten it while it was cold, with the result that the plate was cracked.  Despite the crack, the plate was put back into place and bolted….

 

“It was said that the bridge had been inspected about ten months ago and that several patches in the wooden footpath were made, but no attempt to repair the cracked plate was made. The bridge was built in 1886 by the Corrode & Saylor Company of Philadelphia.

 

Citizens Complain of ‘Politics.’

 

“Residents of Chester demanded today a thorough investigation into the tragedy. It was charged in several quarters that efforts were being made to make political capital of the tragedy. According to one city official charges and countercharges were made as to the responsibility for the condition of the bridge. It was said that the bridge was condemned seven years ago, and had been condemned twice since then. Charges were also made that ‘rotten Delaware County politics’ was responsible for the bridge not being kept in proper condition. One political faction placed the blame upon the other faction, and the members of the latter faction refused to accept the responsibility and handed it back. Director of Public Safety Woodward laid the blame upon the County Commissioners. He declared they were handicapped by lack of funds. Commissioner Hamilton denied a rumor that the bridge at Seventy and Pennell Streets had been condemned by several engineers and that no attention had been paid to the warnings. ‘The bridge was condemned, it is true,’ Mr. Hamilton said, ‘but extensive repairs were made and it is in good shape now.’

 

“Coroner Drewes said tonight that there would be no politics in the inquest. ‘I am going to sift this investigation to the bottom.’ Said the coroner. ‘I know the cause of the disaster,’ but now I am going to find out who is responsible’.” (NYT.  “Faulty Plate Cause of Chester Disaster; Old Crack Found…” 9-12-1921, p. 6.)

 

Sep 12: “By Associated Press.  Chester, Sept. 12. – Responsibility for the collapse of the Third Street bridge Saturday, causing the death of 24 persons, will not be fixed on any persons or group of persons, and there will be no prosecution for criminal negligence, was announcement made by the officials of Chester, Delaware county, after making a personal investigation in which they laid the responsibility to the steel plate supporting the wooden footbridge which buckled when the weight of more than 100 was placed on it, tumbling them into the waters of Chester river.

 

“The engineers who have been called in to help in the investigation all declared that the gusset plate which was in an almost crystallized condition at the time of the accident had been examined year in and year out and pronounced safe.

 

“Coroner Drews will start the inquest on Thursday. The flaw in the bridge was ‘called an uncontrollable defect’ today by Coroner Drews. ‘Whatever civil responsibility may be attached to the accident of Saturday night, I can see no evidence of criminal negligence that would warrant prosecution,’ said the coroner. ‘The defect was one which might escape even an expert during the course of an ordinary everyday inspection’.” (Titusville Herald, PA. “Chester Disaster Charged to Uncontrollable Defect.” 9-13-1921, p. 1.)

 

Chester Times, 1951: “…on…Sept.[10]…in 1921 the tumbling muddy waters of the Chester River, laced with the yellow foam of dyes and other foreign matter, swallowed up 24 men women and children. One of the bodies recovered was that of a three-year-old boy who’s rescue attempt started in horrible  motion the circumstances that led to the mass tragedy…. Jacob Sapovits…was 11 years old at the time. He was cycling in the 3rd and Edgmont area when a section of the footbridge collapsed, plunging almost 100 persons into the water.

 

 “Reports do not coincide as to how three year old Apostelos Apostolos…happened to fall into the river near the rear of the Edgmont Theater, now the Stanley. Some have it that the boy tumbled in while he was watching another group of boys swim. Another is to the effect that the boy struggled into a rowboat which had sprung a leak and, half filled with water, sank under his weight.

 

“But here’s the story of what happened as told to the police at the time by Thomas J Hemsworth… one of the first to arrive on the scene. `I was about to go into the Edgmont Theater, when a small boy came running toward me, telling me between sobs, that a boy had fallen into the river in the back of the Story Coal Company.’…Hemsworth followed the boy to the spot and soon was joined by John Perry, a former driver of the Franklin Fire Co. Together they started grappling for the Apostolos boy with improvised equipment fashioned from long poles. Soon a crowd gathered on the bridge.

 

“As the two men dipped experimentally in the water, dragging lines of dirty foam in twisting streaks, the crowd became swollen until the bridge was filled….The water ebbed and flowed into the small erosion caves along the banks of the river….small caves cut out by the water and looking like dark, sad eyes….

 

“The bridge with it’s wooden walkways, held rigid by steel girders….supported at each end by huge stone piers…..was spotted here and there with dark iron rust. And the 16 inch gusset plate which had been removed and hammered straight again 12 years before was still there…..still, too, with it’s eight inch split [after being hit by a barge].  Over the years the quietly gnawing current hadn’t been able to weaken the massive stone bridgeheads, but….There was a thrumming vibration in the bridge, noticed only by a few. They ignored it in favor of the view below them in the river….

 

“The bridge shivered and trembled, ever so slightly. And there was a deep hum in the wooden timbers that apparently only a few heard. One end of the bridge gently parted…then came little strained cries from the aged timbers as iron turnbolts went through.  Then a section of the walkway facing the Edgmont Theatre, let go with a shrill, piping sound.

 

“The collapsed portion of the bridge formed a chute over which the wildly clutching spectators slid in a mass of writhing legs, arms and bodies. Fear swelled in those who were fortunate enough to scramble to safety…The river boiled and swirled as hapless victims lashed about in the water in their efforts to reach shore—barely forty feet away.

 

“There were sobs, some strangled and dry, others piercing with hysterical horror, from those who’s nimble feet or location on the farther end of the bridge avoided the dive into the water.

 

“An outstanding hero was Emanuel Vadvarka….He dove, and with his powerful arms fought the water as he swam to the struggling mass of people. He seized a woman by the hair and got her to shore. Then he returned, towing two children to the muddy bank of the river. And again he swam out into the midstream, this time bringing a small boy back with him…There was a moan in the labored breathing of the woman the youth pulled out of the water, as Dr. DiMedio sloshed in the mud, resuscitating her…. 

 

“Men lifted the soaking limp bodies to carry them to private automobiles and trucks for transportation to the Chester Hospital for further treatment. Meanwhile the river had become alive with row boats as rescuers sought to keep deaths at a minimum. A group of 15 policemen, under the command of Capt. Harry Robinson, worked ceaselessly pulling victims out of the water, keeping crowds in nearby streets…now swollen into the thousands, under control and aiding Dr. DiMedio in ministrations….

 

“Another hero was George (Soap) Pierce, who later became a member of the Chester Police Force. He is credited with saving 15 lives. And still another was Morris Baylin, then in his teens, who saved the lives of four persons….Pulling one girl out of the river and working until exhausted and ordered home by Dr. DiMedio, was Morris Schwartz, then operator of the Chester Taxi Service….

 

“Within a few hours, working under floodlights, Leonard Miller, a diver, was descending into the water from a large boat owned by the Chester Construction and Contracting Company. He made five trips beneath the water, staying under for periods of 10 minutes duration. On one trip he released the body of a boy almost buried in the muddy bottom of the river, and brought it to the surface….”  (Chester Times.  “3rd Street Bridge Collapse Claimed 24 Lives in 1921,” Sep 1951.)

 

Ivory: “Ultimately, it was determined that the accident’s cause could be traced to a day twelve years earlier when a coal barge rammed the bridge’s foundation, bending and cracking a plate that supported one of the bridge’s steel beams. At the time, workers removed the plate and tried to straighten it, instead splitting it even more in the process. Despite the crack, the plate was bolted back into place. After the accident, there were reports that the bridge had been inspected just ten months earlier. The wooden footpath had been patched in several places, but no one made any repairs to the cracked plate.” (Ivory, Karen. Pennsylvania Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival.  2007, pp. 85-86.)

Sources

 

Bradford Era, PA. “Collapse of Small Footpath Carries Twenty-Four to Death at Chester, Penn.” 9-12-1921, 1. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=140239473

 

Chester Times, PA. “3rd Street Bridge Collapse Claimed 24 Lives in 1921,” Sep 1951.  Accessed at:  http://www.oldchesterpa.com/tragedies_third_st_bridge_collapse.htm

Ivory, Karen. Pennsylvania Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival. Globe Pequot, 2007. Partially digitized by Google. At: http://books.google.com/books?id=18fJF1QBu78C

 

New York Times. “34 Persons Drown as Crowded Bridge Falls into River. Footpath of Chester, PA. Structure Gives Way Under Pressure of Big Crowd.” 9-11-1921, p. 1. Accessed at:  http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FA0F12FE3E5A1B7A93C3A81782D85F458285F9

 

New York Times. “Faulty Plate Cause of Chester Disaster; Old Crack Found in Ironwork Sustaining Bridge Footpath Which Collapsed. Death List Stands at 24.” 9-12-1921, p. 6. At: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30613FF3E5A1B7A93C0A81782D85F458285F9&scp=1&sq=faulty%20plate%20cause%20of%20chester%20disaster&st=cse

 

Titusville Herald, PA. “Chester Disaster Charged to Uncontrollable Defect.” 9-13-1921, p. 1. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=105969724

 

[1] Despite the title, noting 34 fatalities, the article notes the retrieval of 20 bodies.