Article content On Friday, June 26, 1908, the left side of The Freeholder’s front page was dedicated to a catastrophic event: a disaster at the Cornwall canal. The headline that day provided a quick synopsis of what happened, “Break at Lock 18 – 200 Feet of Bank Carried into the River – Collapse of the O. & N. Y. Draw Bridge.” We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser. Freeholder at 175: The day the bank gave way, and the bridge fell Back to video Considered the “worst break in the history of the Cornwall canal,” a large slice of the south bank above Lock 18 washed out into the river. This caused the swing bridge of the Ottawa & New York Railway (which crossed the canal at that section) to collapse into the water.