The Lincoln County herald., 1870-05-05
Richmond In Meurniug.
SIXTY PERSONS KILLED AND OVER TWO
HUNDRED WOUNDED.


Another Of those horrible catastro.
phe's, over which our country has 81
often bad 10 mourn Of late years, has jus
occurred at Richmond, Virginia. A
large crowd assembled in the Capitol, or
Il 9th ult., to hear the decision of th'
Court Of appeals of Virginia 10 the cas'
arising out Of the two consesting mayor,
Of hichnond, among them many Of thu
most prominent men Of the State. AT II
o'clock the galleries of the court room
which we're crowded fell in. The Aool
followed and descended thisty feet to the
floor below, which was the floor Of The
house Of delegates of Virginia, on which
some few Of the members Of caucus were
Whiting. There was general crash oi
timbers, and falling Of the inside wall
burying the immcsse crowds 10 the
debris. Over sixty persons were killed
outright, or smothcred in the ruins, aud
more than two hund: ed badly wounded
among the latter ex Gov. Wells, whose
ribs were badly crushed, the point OF
one saterieg his left lung. The dis
patches say: ..
Directly after the disaster the fire.
alarm vas used and the hook and ladder
companies Of the city repaired to the res
cue. A Gordon Of police was drawn
around the building and ladders thrown
up to the windows. For thsee hours the
scene was full Of horrors. Each minute
there appeared, swung out by rope tied
around the middle Of his body, some pop.
ulsr favorite, who after being swung on
the shoulders Of one Of the FIRE brigade,
manglcd aud dead, was brought down the
ladder into the green of the public park,
where it was entirely surrounded by 1000
or 5000 Of those who gathered to recog
nize the slain.
The park was flled with weeping wo
men and anxious men until o'clock,
when the last victim was drawn from the
building. The scene in the capitol
square cannot be described. In several
cases wives came upoa the bodies Of their
husbands. One Of thoM was so shocked
that it is scarcely hoped that she cap
live through the day. Another is insane,
with little hope of recovery.
A member Of the legislature describes
his fall as follows: II heard a low rum
bling sound and felt myself sinking rap
idly. 1 was facing the gallery and saw
it falling towards me fortunately it did
not reach me. | saw men ecrambling
over each other in the gallery, and heard
what seemed unearth.y yells Of agony
Then came the crash, aud I sank into
dask ness. found myself under . mass
Of rubbish with dead body over me,
wounded man under me, and another at
my side. The poor fellow under me said
"Oh NE but if l could only fear God,
always as 7 do now how wicked have
been all my daysl Oh, God forgive me !!
Spare me, and | will be true follower Of
jesus" The man at my side exclaimed,
"Oh death where is thy sting2 Oh,
grave where is shy victory ?" | heard a
number Of cries on all sides Of me some
were speaking about their wives and chill
dren, while others we're begging for air
| believe many died from suffocation, for
although little hurt myself, | should have
suffocated if not removed when l was.
Mr.. Jaynes tells the following touching
concerning DR.. Brock. was
sitting behind DR.. Brock add fell under
him. l lay with my mouth TO his cheek
and could feel him growing cold. He
asked MY name | told him. He said
81 am dying. Tell my poor wife how
much l loved her and thought Of her in
my last moments.
Tho city psescnts q sad appearance,
with ITS streets filed with funeral process.
sions, and all its business houses and
dwellings draped in deep mourning.
Everything within the power Of man was
done to relieve the suffering and pour
cons olstion into the hearts Of the mourn
ers -...
The Capitol was built 10 1902, and is
now nearly 88 years old. 1t will proba-
tly now be abandoned as a public institu
tiono An experienced architect. who has
viewed the plan Of tho capitol building,
says the sirder which gave way was con.
posed oftwo pieces Of wood bolted together.
making, when combined, an area Of l3
by 20 inches. twas formerly supported
by columns which .were subsequently 70
moved to improve ths appearance Of tue
hall Of delegates. In centre Of The gisder
was a mortice which reduced the avails-
bio strength to 81 BY 20 inches. The
fatal error wsstn making iatsrohssges
without examining che gifders with ref.
srcnce to their capacity to endure new
strains placed upon them. ar7'r- "a
lnn;s d William. ,se..o