Union and American. [volume] (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1875-1877, 1876-02-10
AN AWFUL 6aLAmITY.,


It Because a cry Of firelwas raised
: by some thoughtless person. SAT
: urday afternoon in q RobiBson's
i Opera House, in Cincinnati, which
: was densely packed, there has
t since been an awful desolation in
4 many heart in that city. iDi
t The first startling cry of fire was
t. followed, in brief space of time,
! and within the narrow limits of
: one bnilding, by scenes of horror
J never surpassed in this city. There
: was rush Of weaklings, young
: and old, in blind insanity Of
terror; the slipping and falling of
front ranks; the piling up, many
deep, of young children, old wo-
men, gray headed and tottering at
their best, girls in, young woman
hood and strong men; the wild
shrieks of sufocating victims
crushed out of sight by their own
kind; the gurgle of death in their
Ithroats that stretched and gaped
for air; the frantic cries of those
who yet had breath to cry; the
waving Of hands in heart rending
beckonings for aid-of little
dlmpled fair hands, of strong
hands and Of the wrinkled hands
iof age. b
Then the sad dragging outOf the
dead and the dying and the others
injured; of corpses vet warm, but
already blackening in the face, Of
shrieking women, whose senses
had gone.
Then, terrible still, the frantic,
crazed rush of fathers, mothers,
sisters, brothers, all in awful un-
certainty to look upon the dead
and dying, and know if their dear
ones were safe or crushed. Per-
haps that last feature of it was
more terrible than the faces Of the
disfgured dead. 1t certainly was
to those who had to witness the
agony of the bereayed ones. Theirs
was the anguish then; the dead
we're out of pain and trouble.
The scene in, and abont the Opera
| House after the accident was
heart-rending. The news of the
catastrophe spread like wild FIRE
over the city, and from every d.
rection came people hurrying to
the scene until the squares we're
| impossible.
The result Of this horror was
4 the killing Of ninesw women and
children, and badly wounding Of .
large number. ,4.4.g..g
THE HOME OF WASHINGTON.
| 1t is understood that the home
Of Washington at Mont Vernon is
to be put in thorough repair be.
fore the arrival ofvisitors to the
Centennial, after plans drawn by
Mr.. Van Campen Taylor, the
architect, of New York. Mr.. Tay-
lor visited the homestead recently,
and is now engaged In drawing
plans of the entire building, 30
that in case of its destruction by
fire it may be rebuilt exactly as it
now stands. Along the entire
east side Of the house runs o high
piazza facing the river. The
length of this is ninety-four feet,
and the width fourteen. The
balustrade above the piazza is
} somewhat rotted, and requires to
! be rebuilt, and the same kind OF
} wood will be employed in the re.
constructions as was originally
; used. At the south end Of the
house, and opening from Washing
toms library, there is porticO
about ten by sixteen feet in size.
This was erected about the year
1890, when Washington added two
wings to the original house OF
Lawrence Washington. This, too,
is to be rebuilt, and the necessary
repairs will be made early in the
coming spring. On the piazza
stand the pillar and the bell with
which Washington used to sum-
mon his horse, which was kept
saddled and bridled In readiness
for his call. faifa9t o4