Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1860-03-06
APPALLING CATAsTRoPHE.

- ~ IN <Ae AsS@ 49,
Falling of Wall at St xavier's Church
Thirteen Lives MISUNDERSTANDING
Scenes List of the Killed.
The city was thrown int, state of great OK
ciiemcnt yesterday, inSeonscqucncc of an appull,
ing catastrophe which occurred about ght o'clock
in the morning, ut the st. Xavier Church, on Sy-
cnmore street, between Sixth and Seventh. The
Church has lately been undergoing demolition.
preparatory to the. erection of new nnd more
commodious one, and is at tho present time more
than hall torn away, Some thirty Or forty labor
era, mostly lrish were engaged in the process oi
razing, Thirteen OF whom Ut tho time of tho ncci.
dent were at work on one Of tho northern walls,
arranging To tunblc it down, but of sudden il
tnttcred. and without moments warning to the
unfortunate workmen it fell inwardly buryirg NIL
of the thirteen beneath the ruins The news of
the sad calamity, 81 unusual and terrible in
its details. spread through the length aud breadth
# our city like wildGrc and scarce half hour
had elapsed before there wns drawn To the spot
fully fifteen thousand spectators. Hundreds of
people with picks and spades lent their might and
quickly the bodies nl the men were exhumed. OK.
hihitng in their mauged appearance n n,ost hor-
rble md revolving spectacle, Brains. pieces of
skulls. &c. were scattered about here and there,
and the bodies generally were mashed and dis
figured as to preclude immediate Identification
Fathers, mothers, wives, sisters and brothers of
tIlpSe kHb"ll W ht III tHc CnuTcn. HDCk-
ell to the ground. and by their pitcous wailings,
mingled cries aud prayers. frantic CALCULATIONS,
and in some cases, the most terrible suspense, all
formed a pageant OF sorrow and desolution that
we nope never again to witness
Tho bodies were removed fast. rs tho work of
disnterring proceeded to n subtorrancan apart
nicnt OF the St Xavier school, building ndjoin-
ing. The first one taken from out the crumbling
mass ur brick and mortar, was identified by n wo-
man close at hand ns being that OF her husband.
AS it was borne away she threw herself upon the
corpse and cnng to it with the greatest tcnacity,
the whole time giving vent TO the most unbounded
grief tt1at must have touched the sympathies Of
those around. To disengago her from the body
required force. She was led away, but needed
not the caressjng kindness Of friends IL ghastly
smile was pcrceptiblc about her lip, and her eye
was lusterless and wandered from object to object
She muitered ineoherent sentences aud ever and
anon would pause and fold her hands TO Heaven,
as if in prayer. At dusk last evening she was a
n.aniac--the awful reality OF the day was too much
for her.
One of the killed. n young man from Brown
county, Ohio, had LIST been employed-- scarce An
hour had elapsed from the time of his setting T.,
work before biz death. lie came TO this city for
the purpose of studying bookkeeping, and com
pleted II course "f instructions Mt one OF tho col
leges last week being withnnt friends and with
ont money, lie availed himself Of I'M opportunity
Of going to work ms lubhicr.
With the exception Of the above mentioned, n
the parties were married anI ca,e lnmilrs who
nic in the most al eGt circumstances. depend ling
upon the meagro pittance Of II dollar dav for
subsistence.
With much commcndallcnrss, the S,cietv and
Church Of Jesus iJesuits) have determined upon
aiding and caring for the families # the deceased
At all the iicrent Catholic churches Of tho city
there will also lie taken up, next Sunday, collec
ton for the same pur;osc.
CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT.
All the wuils nf tho church had instend of
being picked to pieces, been partially undermined
and then, by means Of levers, thrown over or in.
wardy.
This wall was portion of the main one on tho
north side. and was nearly fifty feet in length aud
thirty feet in height; it rested n stone Inunda
ton, and at the base it two feet in thickness
taperlng at the top to eighteen inches. Along
the lower part Of the wall. and just above the
stone foundation, the aborers had taken out u row
of bricks to within probably ten feet of its south
ern termination,and it was while the Ii were thus
engaged undermining it that it toppled over. Pre-
caution was not taken against an accident by
"shoring" the wall AS its insecurity seems to have
heen the last thing ~hought of. It stood apart
from all otbers. and bad no connection with other
walls, either at its east west extremity.
The work of undermining was commenced on
Tuesday and at nghtfal was nearly completed
thus it was left throughout the heavy rains of
w NcuHcsu"f uth euo sefouS WiHus VI N6uHcsuhy
night, and probably had settled o good deal, aud
swayed considerably from perpendicular posi-
ton without the fact being observed by tho pei
sons who had the work in charge The contrac-
TOR and the President Of the College were, we
understand, in the cellar but few minutes prc.
vious to the crash. So they mistrusted nothing
The laborers legan to remove those of the head
bricks which had been left since Tuesday, and al.
most Immediately tho entire wall fell, bury
ing rs our readers know, fourteen men in the
ruins
THa DEAD HOUSE.
AS before stated, the bodies, quickly exhumed
were taken to what may we'll be called a dead
room, and ranged side by side in most horrible
array. 1t was here that the most distressing
scenes OF WOO were to be seen. Friends seeking
friends, wives after husbands, and children after
parents. were admitted one by one, and as the
mangled bodies Of the dead were exposed it is not
wonderful that agonizng scenes were the conse.
quence. Scarcely ono of the dead could be re-
cognized from facial features; it was by clothing.
or some other remembered marks, that they we're
distinguished.
Our reporters have made diligent inquiries. but
could not ascertain that any others save those
killed were injured. The following s list of the
killed:
Timothy Sullivan, Patrick Gallagher, Timothy
Shay, Daniel Brady, John Dufey, Daniel Fitz-
gerald, james Keamcn. Thomas Sayers, John
Manly. Thomas Masters, John Sullivan, John
Russell