The Great Bridge (81 page)

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A time of “intense anxiety”: EWR, unpublished biographical sketch of WAR.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WAR’s efforts the winter of 1872-73; EWR, unpublished biographical sketch of WAR, RPI; also WAR notes, letters, specifications, etc., RPI.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“…probably no great work was ever conducted”: EWR, unpublished biographical sketch of WAR.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.