Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-05-03
A CITY IN MOURNING.
The Richmond Calamity.
The Old Capitol-The Crash
Death of the Victims.
CAUSE OF TnE DISASTER.

An experienced architect, who has re
viewed the plan of the Capitol building
says that the girder which gave way wa
composed of two pieces of timber bolte
together, making, when combined, a
area of 10 by 20 inches. II was formerl
supported by columns, which were sub
sequently removed TO improve the appear
ance of the Hall of the House of Dele
gates. In the centre of the girder was
mortise which reduced the availabl
strength to 81 by 20 inches. The fata
error was in making interior changes
without examining the girders with refer
ence to their capacity TO endure the new
stress placed upon them
THE CAPITOL
In the center of Capitol square, Rich.
mond, is the Virginia State House.
Looking to the south from 1t you behold
the famous James River, over whose
placid waters Numbered SO often during
the war the roar Of mighty battles
Turning from the river, there are, to your
left hand the Washington monument, to
your right the State Executive Mansion,
and Immediately in your front broad
gravelled area in which in the war time
many and many gray coated regiment
went through its dress parade under the
battle flag. So located, the capitol of the
Old Dominion is on spot that is dear at
once, from its natural beauty and histori-
cal "reminiscences, to the Virginian heart;
and to this attachment and the
traditions of its foundation it is
perhaps due that, unsuitable as it was in
many respects, it has been the assembly
place of the Legislature so long. The
story runs that when in France Thomas
Jefferson saw building that suited his
taste so well that he brought back with
him model, and on this model was the
State House that now lies in ruins. 1t
was erected in 1892, from plans fur
nished by NJ. Cleressault, French archi-
tect. A glance at the inside of the walls
of the building revealed the cause of this
frightful calamity. The old Hall, in which
the lower House meet, was so very high
that when it was deemed necessary to have
additional offices in the Capitol floor was
thrown across, and thus two stories made
of one. In doing this, the architect, in
stead of inserting the floor beams in the
wall, rested them upon ledge OF Offset in
the wall which projects not more than four
inches, and on this frail support timbers
measuring at least two feet by eight or
ten inches thick were rested, the constant
tendency of which was to press out the
walls and lessen the support. For many
years the floor has been concave to an ex-
tent that was alarming, but familiarity had,
as usual, removed the doubts of its safety.
In outward form the building was
erected ina simple DOric style, and within
arranged about as follows: Entering by
high flight of steps, the ground floor
being devoted to State offices, you came
upon a rotunda, in the centre of which,
within an iron railing, was Houdin's
statute of Washington. From this rO-
tunda, lit by cupola, extended to the
right hand the Virginia Senate Chamber,
the same room in which the Confederate
House of Representatives heldits sessions,
and to the left the House of Delegates, as
the lower house of the Virginia Legisla-
ture has almost immemorially been called.
Passing from this floor to the one above,
you emerged upon balcony, which
skirted the skylight through which the
sun shone down through the building upon
the statute of Washington; and from this
balcony, turning to the left, door led off
into a room just above the House of De-
legates, for some time used as the Cham
Der of the Confederate States Senate, but
normally as the apartments of the Su-
prone Court of Virginia, or Court of
Appeals.