Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 June 1893 — A FEARFUL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A FEARFUL

FORD’S THEATER THE SCENE OF A NEW HORROR. Awful Catastrophe Attending the Collapsot of the Building—Four Hundred United State* Government Clerks Burled Under* Heavy Timber*—Few Escaped Injury. Scores Are Killed. Death visited the national capltall Friday in its most terrible form and reaped a mighty harvest. Ford’s Thea-j ter, where a little over a quarter of aj century ago a tragedy startled the nation, was the scene of the black angel’si visit. Without a moment's warning! the building collapsed, and 500 Govern-' ment clerks and a cellar full of laborers, were buried in the awful mass of w;eck-i age which was piled in the cellar. The< front half of all three floors fell, carry-' ing everything to the bottom. i For a moment all was still. Then the< air was split by the shrieks and groans of the frightened, wounded, and dying hundreds who, like a mass of worms, struggled, twisted, and fought to free themselves from one another and from heavy iron beams and timbers and fur-i niture and government records which pinned them to their places. The people in the neighborhood were for the moment stunned. The horror of it all had robbed them of their senses. Then in a few moments, but what to the wretches pinioned in death’s embrace seemed' ages, the truth burst upon their befud-

dled brains, and they joined their cries with the unfortunates within the collapsed building. Then, dividing, some rushed for help, some ran to the sinkhole of death itself to lend their hands,, while others, with selfish regard for their own safety and curiosity, stood: where they were to look upon the scene. With the speed of the e'eetric mes-' senger the news seemed to fly from* man to man throughout the city, and by the time the first ambulance reached the street that fronted the theater the thoroughfare was choked with people. It was like breaking into a mob to get through the crowd to the building, for many there had fathers, husbands/ brothers, sons and sweethearts hi the wreck, and they fought to retain the places they had gained and fought to get nearer. Meanwhile the cries of; the wretches within the trap—for it was but little else—were becoming weaker. Many whose voices had blended with the rest at first had died a miserable death, others had fainted from fatigue. Some in their terror jumped from the third story windows and were crushed into a mass of life- • less pulp on the concrete below. At the time this dispatch was sent' out it was impossible to tell how many' had been killed outright, but the num-' ber was conservatively placed at sev-enty-five. Many others will die.

AwluL Tangle of Debris. The tangle of stuff inside of the building that had to be cleared away in getting at bodies was terrible. Girders, bricks, beams, desks, furniture, all were! inextricably piled together. Several, hundred men were at work clearing away, heedless of the danger that menaced them from the possibility of falling walls. It was a difficult as well as’ dangerous task, but there was far less confusion than one would have expected. Men turned pale and sick at the horrible spectacle presented by the injured. General Schofield promptly ordered two troops of cavalry from Fort Meyer, just across the river, and two companies of infantry from the Arsenal to the scene of the disaster. The Secretary of the Navy also ordered out all the naval, medical officers stationed there, and opened the naval hospital to receive the Injured. The Commandant of the navy yard was ordered to render all! assistance in his power, and every hospital in the city was called into requisition to care for the wounded. Cause of the Accident. An investigation of the cause of the accident discovered that it was apparently due to criminal carelessness. A number of laborers were at work beneath the first floor excavating for an electric plant. The building rested on underpinning and the earth, and as the earth was dug away the pressure of the building rested on the unsupported; beams of the first floor. The weight proved too much, and the floors collapsed and fell into the excavation, burying the laborers and clerks beneath them. The building was acquired by the Government some years ago because of its historical associations, and, although It had been condemned as unsafe and unsuitable for the purpose for which it was occupied, sentiment kept it unchanged. The floors were heavily loaded with the records of the pension division of the War Department. The clerks employed there were all men.

FORD'S THEATER.