At the time when the bridge started falling there is said to have been quite a heavy traffic on it. Fortunately, before completely falling into the water the splintering of the worm-eaten timbers could be heard and this served to give a warning! to those who were in the vicinity, For a period of some seconds the noise could be heard and Chinese pedestrians, handcarts, and other traffic made a hasty exit from the structure. About 20 persons on the bridge at the time, however, did not take these precautions, dnd five were hurled into the creek, where they were rescued by passing boatmen. Two of them were struck by the falling debris and injured, though not fatally.
At the time of the occurrence} there was a large coal barge passing! beneath, and this was pinned beneath the wrecked timbers. None of the boatmen were hurt.
On Sunday the whole structure was mass of bent and twisted wood. "The centre was completely in the water as well as that extending along the Settlement side. The Chapei end was still intact, but was expected to collapse at any time.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.