occurred at 6:50 p.m. on May 13, 1936, while the Fleetwood, a bulk freight steamer 247 feet long, was down-bound in the Cuyahoga River, loaded with 1900 gross tons of steel. When she was about two-thirds of a mile above the bridge the steamer blew one blast of her whistle, and when a thousand feet from the bridge, the bridge signal of a long blast, two short, and another long, as required by Bulletin 45 of the War Department, issued April 19, 1936, for the opening of drawbridges on the Cuyahoga River. The steamer was then proceeding at about 2 miles an hour with engines at slow speed. When about 800 feet from the bridge the engines were stopped and another bridge signal given, but the draw failedto open. When the steamer had drifted to within 300 feet of the bridge, the bridge captain signalled by waving his hands and calling out that the draw would not open. The steamer's engines were then reversed, but too late to avoid slight contact with the bridge and collision with the tug.
The Center Street Bridge is located under the Superior Street High Level Bridge, and is a highway for both pedestrians and automobiles. It is of the horizontal swing type. The center of the swing span, being mounted on an abutment, divides the river into two draws. Of these, only the east draw is navigable with a clear width for the passage of vessels of about 110 feet. In the middle of the swing span, above its traffic