Bumped Bridge (Daily Crescent 15 Aug 1910)

The Canal Bridge On Third Street (Defiance Ohio)

    The M.& E., canal this season resulted in the putting out of commission the Third street bridge for a day and night, and the interference with street car service over Sunday.

    Water was let in the canal last week and Sunday morning two boats passed up. The first boat passed safely through, but the second boat in bumping the Third street bridge knocked it off the track on which it turned so far out of line that there was barely room for a pedestrian to walk over.

    This bridge is turned by hand and cannot be bumped open as can some of the canal bridges. It was turned for the first boat to pass up the canal and the craft sailed through in a majestic way. For some reason the crew of the second boat bumped the bridge a number of times throwing the structure off the track.

    This morning the city employed, Andy Pessefall to place the bridge back in position.

    The boat that bumped the bridge is the property of the Defiance Box Company. The captain of the crew is Robert Mc Intyre. As the city claims that the crew or owners of the boat should stand the damage as according to city employees the crew had been ordered not to bump the bridge, the captain, Mr. Mc Intyre and his son were placed under arrest. They were released on $200 bond. The trial was to have been this afternoon, but because of the absence of the city solicitor from the city, was postponed and will probably occur tomorrow afternoon.

    It seems that the bridge did not turn very easily and the boatmen bumped it to force it around. They were too strenuous in their bumping, however, with the result the bridge went off the track.