Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-06-25
NASHVILLE. TENN, THURSDAY, JUNE 25. 1874
SYRACUSE.
Death at the Church Festival.
Later Details OF the Appalling Scene
sixteen Dead and One Hundred In

SYRACUSE, y. Y, June 24.-Fouteen
dead bodies have been recovered from the
ruins of the Central Baptist Church. OF
the injured, two died to-day, and others
are not expected to live, while several will
be crippled for life. The number Ofminor
casualties is nearly or quite one hundred.
Among them are about a dozen persons
with broken limbs and ribs. The cause of
the disaster was the defective construction
of the building. The supporting truss
was composed of plaaks splinted together.
The excitement in the community con-
tinues very great.
second Dispatch.
Further search this morning IN the ruins
failed TO find any more bodies. The list Of
killed numbers thirteen. Last nights list
is correct except in the case of the boy
Ostrander. The number of wounded foOts
up one hundred, Of whom
Twenty are seriously Injured.
There have been no deaths to-day. A
squad of police have possession of the
building pending the cOroner's inquest.
The occasion of the gathering last
night was a festival given by
the ladies Of the church and a concert
~ the little old folks. At the rear of the
church are the Sunday-scl col rooms, occu-
pying the first floor, and the church parlOrs
occupying the second floor. This part of
the edifice was In use for the festival and
concert. At the time of the accident sup
per was being served in the central pariOr,
which had been prepared for the occasion
with tables, and this room, which was
forty feet square, was filed with people,
the session room below being deserted save
by few persons. The number in the sup
per room is variously estimated q from go
to 500, mostly grown persons.
At the time the floor gave way the chill
dren Of the congregation were in one of the
ante-roOms being prepared for the ancient
concert, and but for this fact the list of the
dead must have been very much larger, as
many of the helpless little ones would have
manity crowded into the
V-Shaped Vortex
formed by fallen timbers. At the moment
of the falling of the floor the scene within
the parlor was one of happy enjoyment.
While all were pleasantly engaged, without
a single sign of warning, the fioOr suddenly
sank beneath them, and in an instant all
were buried in mass of struggling humani-
ty, intermixed with falling timbers, etc. and
in utter darkness, the gas having been ex-
tinguished by the breaking of the gas pipe.
For an instant after the fearful descent, all
was
Silent as the Grave,
but Immediately after heartrending appeals
for help were to be heard from hundreds of
those who were in agony. Immediately
after, persons were seen issuing from the
doors and windows which were smashed
out by the frightened people, and an alarm
was sounded. The uninjuTed within the
church, who were able TO free
themselves from the mass, began
at once to assist in rescuing the Others. The
firemen and police were quickly at hand,
and labOred nObly in the work 81 rescue.
The scene within the building was terrible
in its details, and that without the edifice
heartrending indeed. Fathers and mothers
searching for their children, husbands look
ing for wives, wives inquiring for husbands,
brothers for sisters, and children for tLeir
parents, of whose fate all were uncertain
and in dread. Quietly, but rapidly, the
work of extricating the people was carried
on by aid of lanterns. As fast rs
the living and dead were rescued they were
passed out through the windows and doors,
where ready hands assisted to convey the
dangerously injured and dead To
physicians offices and neighbOTing
houses. The excitement without the
church was terrible, and as each
body was being carried to the adjoining
houses, the mass surged back and forth, all
terribly anxious to ascertain who it was
and whether dead or alive. At the height
Il H.,
people were crowded into Montgomery and
Jefferson streets, and in the adjoining
premises.
Various theories of the
Cause Of the Accident
are advanced. The floor which fell was
suspended by iron rods from a wooden
truss under the roof. These rods went
through the lower, but not through the up
per chord of the truss. The lower
chord had been splIced wrong side up,
and that point was the first TO
give away. The floor having no props be
meath sunk in the form of the letter V.
The most of the deaths were caused by the
falling timberS Of the truss. Some, how
ever, were
SmOthered by the Plastering.
The floors of the church were sup
ported originally by iron pillars.
\ short time ago the church
Building Committee, with the consent, as
they say, of the architect, removed the iron
pillars. The truss was very imperfectly
besides being spliced. The
most prominent builders in the city de-
clare that it was rotten. 1t was put in
green, and has the dry rot. The wounded
are doing well. The cOroners inquest will