The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1874-07-02
ACnURCH FLOOR GIVES WAY.

"Wednesday, June "a, at the Central
Baptist Church, in Syracuse, New
York, the floor of the Church gave
way while it was crowded with peO-
pie. The particulars are given below:
The list OF killed numbers fifteen,
and the number wounded foots M
one hundred, of whom twenty are se-
riOusly injured. a squad Of police
have possession Of the building pend
ing the cOroner's inquest.
The occasion Of the gathering was 3
festival given by the ladies of the
church and concert by "The Little
Old Folks" At the rear of the church
are Sunday school rooms, oeeupying
the first floor, and church parlOrs. Oc-
eupying the second floor. This mart
or the church was in use for the con-
cert and festival. At the time Of the
accident, supper was being served in
the central part, which had been pre-
pared for the occasion with tables,
&c. This room. which was forty feet
square, was filled with people, the
Session room below being deserted
save by few persons. The number
In the supper room Is estimated at
from two hundred and fifty to five
hundred, mostly grown persons. At
the time the h0Or gave way, the chill
dren OF the congregation were in one
OF the ante-rOOms, being prepared for
the sncieat concert; but for this the
list OF dead must have been much
larger, as many Of the helpless little
ones would have been crushed to
death in the mass Lf humanity
crowded into the V shaped vortex,
formed by the falling timber.
At the moment Of the falling of the
floor, the scene within the parlOr was
one OF happy enjoyment While all
we're pleasantly engaged, without
single word OF warning, the floor sud-
denly sank beneath them, and in an in
stant all We're buried in 8 mass of
struggling humanity, intermixed with
falling tlmbers, furniture, &C., and in
utter darkness, the gas having been
extinguished by the breaking of the
pipes For an instant after the fear
fuI descent had been made, all was ST.
lent as the grave, but soon heartrend-
ing appeals for help were to be heard
from hundreds OF those in agony. I'm
mediately after hundreds OF persons
were seen issuing from the doors and
windows, which were smashed out by
the frightened people, and an alarm
was sounded. The uninjured 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 build
ing was terrible In its details, and that
without tle edifice heartrending in
deed. Fathers and mothers were
searching for their children, husbands
looking for their wives, wives inquir-
ing for their husbands, brothers for \
sisters, and children for their parents,
Of whose fate all were uncertain and
in dread. Quietly but rapidly the work
OF extricating the people was carried
on by the aid Of lanterns. As fast as
the living and dead were rescued, they
we've passed out through the windows
and the doors, where ready hands as
sisted 10 convey the dangerously in
jared and dead to the physicians Of
fees and neighbOring houses. The |
excitement without the Church was
terrible, and as each body was carried
to the adjoining houses, the masses
sWayed back and forth, all terribly
anxious to ascertain who It was, and
whether dead or alive. At the height
Of the excitement, not less than ten
thousand people were crowded into
Montgomery and Jefferson streets and
the adjoining premises-
Various theories of the cause Of the
accident are advanced. The floor
which fell was suspended by iron rods
from Q 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
splieed wrong side up, and that point
was the first to give way. The floor,
having no props beneath 1t, sank la
form OF letter V. The most OF the
deaths were caused by the falling
timbers of the truss. Some, however,
were smOthered by the plastering.
The floors Of the Church were sup
ported originally by iron pillars. A
short time ago y Church Building
Com mittee, with the consent, as they
say, Of the architect, removed the
iron pillars. The truss was very i'm
perfectly constructed. Besides being
splieed, the most prominent builders
in the city declare that it was rotten.
1t was put in green, and has the dry
rot.