Anamosa - A Reminiscence - Bertha Finn

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Wapsipinicon River bridge. Anamosa. Iowa.
(Submitted by John ant‘ Bettie Miller)
point — the long-awaited bell for the new city foundry
arrived from New York. but was cracked and had to be
sent back.
At the June Board of Supervisor's meeting there was
strong talk of taking legal action. as the bridge was still
two feet shy of what was called for.
In August. a representative of the bridge company
was again sent for and arrived at the site. After taking a
good look at the structure and listening to the
complaints of the local officials. he informed them that
he did not blame them one bit for being upset and not
accepting such a structure: and promptly washed his
hands of the whole matter.
At long last. in September. five months after the
bridge was erected. the “head man"from Ohio came
personally to the scene of the crooked. short. bridge.
After his visit. the bridge was completed in the proper
manner and was accepted. It was given two coats of
white paint — and $99.60 was deducted for ferrying
expenses in the final settlement.
The first iron bridge. and the fifth constructed. lasted
until the last week of April 1887. The paper stated.
"The community was not a little startled last Monday
forenoon. by the news that the iron bridge across the
Wapsi had gone down with a portion of a drove of cattle
belonging to Messrs. Remley. Ercanbrach and L.
Schoonover. It appears that they have been feeding
about 100 steers on the premises of J.L. Joslin south of
the river. concluding to transfer them to their Cass
pasture. They employed three men. and when they
arrived at the bridge. one of the drivers. as usual in
such cases. stood at the south end of the bridge for the
purpose of dividing the heads in lots of 20. so as not to
endanger the structure by overloading. Jake Joslin
claims he was doing this when the bridge collapsed.
"22 Head were on the bridge. he says. surging with
more or less violence. when he heard a report like a
revolver shot.
"Immediately the west or upsteam side gave way. in
or near the middle. sinking straight down. and the
eastem arch swinging westerly and falling on the
balance of the structure. and remaining almost intact.
“Joslin was a few feet onto the bridge. but was able to
jump to the ground. This is the bridge the Board of
Supervisors refused to accept in the April 1873 session.
"The stage of water. fortunately. is rather low for this
season and loaded vehicles cross readily at the old ford.
a few rods below the dam. where a man is stationed to
see that the teamsters follow the proper course. "
It can scarcely be believed that the Board of
Supervisors would again experience six months of
difficulties with this second iron bridge. but they did.
Conversely. little did they know that. when completed.
this structure would still be in place in I00 years time.
At the May meeting of the Board of Supervisors.
more than a dozen bridge companies were represented
at the bridge lettings. The Shiffler Bridge Works
Company of Pittsburg. was awarded the contract for a
structure 170 feet long. 16 feet wide and in the truss
pattern: the cost to be $5.250. and to be ready for
business by August 10. Milne & Son of Scotch Grove
were to take charge of the abutments at $5.25 per
square yard. The abutments were to be nine feet thick
at the base and six feet at the top and five feet further
apart than before. The wings were to be 24 feet long.
In the June issue of the Eureka. it was told that the
Board was having second thoughts about the amount of
money and how the contracts were made by the bridge
firms. It seems that a bid was made by letter only. by
the Milwaukee Bridge and Iron Works Co.. for $3.000.
The board discarded this as too cheap. and perhaps
remembering the troubles with the last bridge. decided
that they would spend more money and eliminate any
troubles.
Perhaps too. in the flurry of the rash of bridge
contractors at the meeting. the letter accompanying
the Milwaukee firrn's bid was overlooked until later. In
any event. the letter was read. The substance of the
letter stated that the Milwaukee bridge firm did not
come personally to any bridge lettings. as the cost of
these county bridges could be ascertained at the firm's
office. The letter also warned of the practice of
dishonest former employees of bridge companies. who
got together and pooled their bids and the winning bid
would divide with the others. The firm hoped that this
wasn't the case in Jones county.
Upon further investigation the Board of Supervisors
adopted a resolution to dissolve the contract with the
Shiffier Bridge Company and made the contract with
the Milwaukee Bridge Co. This was in July. after many
meetings and delays.
In the September 29 issue of the Eureka we find that
there was an unavoidable delay in shipping the new
iron bridge. If the bridge was not forthcoming in a very
few days. the ferry would again be put in operation."for
the benefit of the public."
The October 6 issue announced. "The new iron
bridge will shortly be in place." During the "dull"
summer months and with the shallow water at the ford.
the merchants were pretty patient and excuses made
by the bridge company were accepted by them. After
all. it was to have been completed by September 23.
and they were expecting their heavy fall trading to
start; and it would take anywhere from 10 days to 2
weeks to erect the structure once it did arrive.
The November 24. files of the Eureka told the good
news. "The last plank on the Wapsi bridge at Doan's
mill. was laid Friday night just before the first blizzard
of the season swept down upon us."
On the Tuesday Mr. Riddell. the vice-president of the
Milwaukee Bridge Company. made a special trip to
Anamosa to meet with supervisors A.L. Fairbanks.
John Pfeifer. Robert Inglis. and E.E. Brown. who met in
special session. Also present was G.A. Mitchell. a civil
engineer from Cedar Rapids. who pronounced the