The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1860-01-18
me lawrence Disaster.

tiers should be carried up three stories don't
know why plan was altered; consider projec-
tions on which the timbers rested in the up
per stories strong and safe enough. If the
floors fell in, no wall could resist them, had
they been two feet thick. The work was done
in a most thorough manner; the walls were
banded between the window caps and stills; my
opinion is, that the mills were strong enough
to stand a thousand years, if the walls and
floor should not give out; he had some obJec-
tons to pillars being hurried by Knewls, ear
penter; for some pillars I made requisiton
upon Bigelow, others sent from Boston by the
owners; they were not according to our plan,
which was like those with clasps, such as are
used in other mills. The first load came was
poor iron; made complaint to Bigelow, who
said he would write about it to Mr.. Putnam to
fasten chimney, which would shake the mill,
as it would swing at any rate; the mill, of
course, was not so strong as it would have been
if tie chimney had not cracked away from the
building; as a whole, 1 regard 1t as an imper-
feet structure, having discovered defect in one
of the pillars; was somewhat suspicious OF
them, but never anticipated such a result as
has happened. IA piece of pillar from the
ruins was brought in, and, on examination,
was found extremely defective.1
Witness always felt uneasy about iron pill
lars; when the mill fell attributed it at once
to defects in the pillars. In reply toquestions,
he said he Judged from what had been learned
from testimony heard, and reliable statements
outside, IT was owing to a pillar breaking
near the center of the mill; to break one pillar
would leave unsupported an area of ffty-eight
by twenty feet; great strength of floor would tend
to destroy walls when the support gave way, and
also to break off the pillars when first started it
noises, which ran into a general roar; have no
doubt the building fell in that way. The mill
is of great width, and each pillar bears two parts
of the weight, and each wall one part.
John P. Putnam testified as to the building
of the mill; said it was the steadiost he ever
knew; had no apprehension about cracks in
chimney; sides and ends so clamped together
with iron that he had no apprehension from
that cause. He testified further, but this evil
dence was not important.
Adjourned until tomorrow.
LAWRENCE, Jan. 1.-THE excitement touch
ing the catastrophe of Wednesday evening is
passing away, and the operatives are at work
in various mills as usual. The Mayor to-day
received a donation for the sufferers of $500
from Messrs. Lathrop, Ludington & Co., of
New York.
So far as known, the dead number 1859;
missing 49, and wounded 206. The INQUEST
was resumed this morning. The testimony re-
1ates to the construction of the building.
The remains of Mary Barret, aged twenty
four, and Catharine Sweeney, aged twenty-five,
were discovered in the ruins to-day. Both
bodies were nearly consumed by fire. -Four
additional bodies were also found, but they
cannot be recognized. There are now parts
of five bodies at the City Hall, but two are
utterly unrecognizable, and the other three
can only be recognized by shreds of clothing
one of the latter is the whole trunk of a
woman.
On the night of the accident, a little daugh-
ter of James Bannon, ten years old was pinned
fast in the ruins. When the flames broke out,
and seeing there was no escape. for her she
took her due-bill from her pocket and handed
it to another girl near her, and said: "You
will be saved; 1 Will not; give this to my poor,
dear father, eaabid hirn seed-by for nr. -
The most complete list of the dead and miss
ing that has appeared is contained in the Law
renee Sentinel, and figures up as follows
Dead, 90; missing, I07. 1t makes the num-
Der badly wounded 100, and those slightly
wounded 1919.
The inquest was resumed this morning.
Charles S. Storms, agent of the Essex Com
pary, testified as to the sale of the land and
water-power, at a nominal rate. to Mr.. Putnam,
as the agent of John A. Lowell. The con-
required, erect for the purchasers of the mill
a building of such size and plan as should be
required, and give the purchasers five years
credit for the building.
1t was not supposed that the building would
be half as large as it was made; the difference
to the Essex Company has only been the ad-
vance of a large sum to build the building;
witness had never heard intimations that the
building was unsafe; the iron pillars were fur
nished by John G. Wood think the cause of
the accident came from the interor, and not
from the walls if from the latter, there must
have been large cracks Mr.. Coolidge frequent
ly inspected the building; 1 should not neces-
sarily think one pillar alone would cause a fall,
though thereby a strain might be so great as
to cause them all to give way, one Pillar was
broken in the machine shop, but it caused no
accident; the gearing was attached to the
southerly walls, and if there had been a set
ting of any part of the structure, it would
have thrown the gearing out of line.
Testimony of James Patterson, who was
buried in the ruins-I was employed in the
weaving-room had been there but a short
time my place was on the ~ground-foor; was
with Mr.. Adams, on the westerly side,
when the accident occurred; it was the last
pillar hut one toward the south end there was
no pillar between me and the east side Adams
was on my left side; I threw up my head to
the north end of the mill A; I said, "What's
and that was al, and jumped for the
door; got my hand on the latch and could get
no further; the timbers came rushing down,
and when they ceased ] was down fiat; between
the time my attention was called and when all
was Town it was perhaps a minute; I perceiv-
ed, when 1 first looked up, something was
cracking in the center, between the columns
there was no giving way from beneath; my idea
was that something was falling through the
ceiling, and my thought was to get away from
under :. there were two oirlS Ieavino the looms
directly under they sat down and were saved
by the iron-work; 1 have seen them; the sin
gle glance that 1 cast up gave me the impress
ion that not the whole foor was coming down,
but that something was coming through the !
ceiling; I ran to the easterly side, to a door
which was ten feet from me; this was quick
as thought; Mr.. Adams was covered up in the
ruins about five feet from nae, the instant L saw
the break in the ceiling, I sprang; the whole