The Grange advance., 1874-07-01
Terrible Disaster at a Festival.

accident which occurred Tuesday eve.
ing at the Central Baptist Church Of
that city :
The occasion of the gathering was
festival given by the ladies Of the
church, including E. concert by the lit
tie old folks. At the rear of the church
are Sunday School rooms, Occupying
the first floor, the chu' ca parlors occu.
pying the second floor. This part Ct
the edifce was in use for the festival
and concert. At the time of the acci-
denl supper was being served IN the
centra! parlor, which haa been prerar
ed for the occasion with tables, &c.
This room, which was 20 feet square,
was filled with people, the session room
below being deserted save by q few
persons. The number in the supper
room is va.iously estimated al from
250 to 500, mostly erowL persons.
At the time the floor gave way, the
children Of the congregation were il
| one of the ante.rooms being prepared
for the ancient concert. Bct for this
! fact the list Of dead must have been
very much larger, as many OF the help.
less little ones would have been
| crushed 20 death in the
mass Of humanity crowded
into the V shaped vortex formed by the
falling timbers.
At the moment of the falling Of the
6oor the scene within the parlor was
one Of happy enjoyment. While all
were pleasantly engaged, without q
single sign of warning, the floor sud-
denly sank beneath them, and in an
instant all were buried in mass of
struggling humanity, inte1mingled with
the falling tinlbers, furniture. &C., and
in utter darkness, the gas having been
extinguished by the breaking of the
pipes. An instant after the fearful de-.
! cent was made all was as silent as the
grave, but Immediately after the heart
rendiDg appeals for help were to be
heard from hundreds of those who
were in agony. Then, persons
doors and windows which were
smashed out by the frightened people,
and an alarm was sounded. The un.
injured within the church who were
able to free themselves from the mass,
began at once to assist IN rescuing
others. The firemen and police were
quickly at hand and labored nobly in
the work OF rescue.
The scene within the building was
terrible in its details, and that without
the edifice heart rending indeed.
Fathers aud mothers searching for
their children, husbands looking for
wives, wives enquiring for husbands,
brothers for sisters, and children for
parents, of whose fate all were uncer>
tain and in dread. Quietly, but rapidly
the work of extricating the people was
carried on BY aid of lanterns. As
! fast as the living and the dead were
rescued they were passed out through
the windows and doors, where ready
hands assisted to convey the danger.
ously injured and dead to the physi-
J clans offices and neighboring houses.
The excitement without the church
was terrible, and as each body was be.
ing carried to adjoining houses, the
mass surged back and forth, all terri
bly, anxious to ascertain who it was
and whether dead or alive, At the
height of the excitement not less than
10000 people were crowded in Mont.
gomery, Jefferson and adjoining
streets.
Divers theories Of the cause Of the
fall of the floor are advanced. 1t was
suspended by iron rods from wooden
truss under the roof. These rods
went through the lower but not
/ through the upper chord of the truss
The lower chord had been
spliced wrong side up, and at that
poi of was the first to give away. The
fooi naving no props below it sunk in
the form Of letter "V." The most ol
;he deaths were caused by the falling
;imbers of the truss; some, however
we're sz6othered by the plastering. The
loors of the chuch were supported or
:ginally by iron pillars. A short time
ago the church building committee
with consent, they say, of the archi
tect, removed the iron pill
lars. The truss was very
imperfectly constructed, besides
being spliced.> The most prominent
builders declare that it was rotten. Il
was put in green and has the dry rot
A few minutes before the floor gave
way it trembled so that many persons
left the room, fearing an accident
which had been predicted.
The number of dead is fourteen, and
of the wounded about one hundred
All Of the latter are doing we'll.
Hon. Joseph A. Sl0ss of Alabama
Shoots the Slanderer OF His Daugh
ter.