Niagara Falls, New York, USA
1938 - 'HONEYMOON BRIDGE' COLLAPSES WITH LOSS OF MILLION DOLLARS.

Niagara Falls, N. Y., Jan. 28 - (AP) - An international crowd of several thousand lined the lofty banks of Niagara Gorge today for a glimpse of twisted steel and concrete on the icy carpet far below - all that remained of America's famous 'Honeymoon Bridge.'

With a roar that drowned the cataract's thunder, the towering structure succumbed late yesterday to a 30-hour battering by the worst Niagara river ice jam in 30 years.

It was the second span on the side to fall from attacks by nature. In 1899 a giant suspension span was blown down in a gale.

Thousands watched the shiny tons of steel plunge 200 feet onto the grinding river ice, so thick that it prevented the shattered bridge remnants from sinking into the 175-foot depths of Niagara river.

Even the gigantic lights on the falls were out last night because the generating plant of the Ontario Hydro Electric commission was covered almost entirely by the ice jam and forced to close.

Company officials estimated damage at nearly a million dollars.

U. S. Meterologist JAMES H. SPENCER, at Buffalo blamed a "continuation of bad weather circumstances" for the collapse of the bridge.

"Thin ice on Lake Erie, a five-day January thaw, and nearly three days of constant high winds caused the disaster," he said, explaining that the thaw cracked up the think ice and the winds sent it tumbling into the Niagara river, over the falls and down the gorge where it jammed against the bridge.

The "Maids of The Mists," two steamboats which have carried thousands of tourists to the falls and as famous as the bridge itself, were barely visible downstream where they had been hurled against the walls of the gorge by the ice.

Last night officials of the International Railways company owner of the bridge, held a conference to decide whether to rebuild. A spokesman said no decision was reached.

Meanwhile Canadian-U. S. traffic was being routed over the Peace bridge at Buffalo and two other bridges below the falls.

The Lima News
Lima, Ohio
January 28, 1938

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