Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 November 1898 — RUIN IN THE CAPITOL [ARTICLE]

RUIN IN THE CAPITOL

A GAS EXPLOSION DOES GREAT DAMAGE. Supreme Court Chamber Wrecked ant the Valuable Library Injured Beyond Repair-Maria Teresa Lost in a Gale—Elfven Killed at Detroit. An explosion of gas in the basement of the capitol building in Washington Sunday afternoon completely wrecked the Supreme Court room and the room adjoining, and many valuable books of the Congressional lawlibrary wcr§ destroyed. This library contained 75,000 volumes and its value was placed at $1,000,000. The historic Supreme Court room, which was formerly the Senate chamber of the original capital building, is a complete wreck. The busts of Chief Justice Marshall and others who have presided over the highest court in the land are ruined, and the court will for a time have to be provided. with a temporary home. There have been other fires in the capitol building in the past, but none so destructive as this. The explosion that started the fire, was of terrific force. It shook the old north wing and tore asunder the foundation and basement walls until apertures in places are sufficiently large to receive the open hand. The furniture and hangings of the Supreme Court were destrojed and the law library damaged, but mostly by water. It will also require a elose examination of the library to place the damage there. Owing to the fact that the walls of the building are of masonry the fire had nothing but the woodwork of furniture and fittings to feed upon, and was soon extinguished in the upper floors. In the basement there was a raring volcano of flame, which seemed to be fed by gas. The office of the marshal of the Supreme Court suffered most. The floor was completely blown out of this room. The law library consisted of 75,000 volumes, many of them legal books of rare value, and a large percentage of the volumes cannot be replaced. The collection is estimated to be of the value of $1,000,000 for such of these as might be obtainable, but the intrinsic value of the library is beyond estimation. There is another valuable collection of books in the consultation chambers of the Supreme Court, which also suffered great damage. The rooms comprising the consultation chambers are just across a narrow corridor from the Supeme Court room, and here more than 10,000 volumes were stored.