Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1877-05-17
ROOKFORD'S GRIEF.
Eleven Lives Sacrificed to Arehitectu Tnse-
eurity.

VI OWCsFO AOh Aud tuC IualiuluR Va
fourteen others, has brought home
to us sympathy with the sufferers
in those other great disasters which
have spread sorrow and desolstlon
over the land.
At twenty minutes before IL, when
the street was unusually full of peo-
pie, and large force of men was
busy upon the top of the new Court
House, in an instant a great mass of
brick wall, iron columns and stone
york, comprising the lower part of
the northern dome, was orumbing
mass Of ruin. All fell inward, leav.
ing most OF the outer front entire :;
but portions of the wall are sprung
out of place. There does not appear
to have been any movement sin
the shock. The impression of Ca
lamity was instantly felt over the
city. Judge Brown, in the court
room Of the old building, close by,
thought in the ncipient rumble that
a load of coat was being dumped, but
= feeling of reality came over him in
the prolonged and increased concus-
sion. Within two days be had been
npon those waIIs, and had said, in
view of holding court under The enor-
nous weight of the upper orDamen-
tato1, "You wi crush me under
Lhis." Scholars in the High School
saw the great stone eagle fail, and
the cloud OF dust rise over the ruin.
The Principal OF the South school
was at the moment looking from
North window, ana the por,entous
cloud Of dust rose before bis eyes.
The noise Of the fall was distinctly
heard at the quarries near town and
by persons out doors. Little chill
dren noted it as remarkable, and
even conjectured the Court House
must have fallen. To the multitude
of eye witnesses close at hand, it
was sudden, appalling, sickenipg
shock, with mono of that relief to the
feelings that comes from the posi-
bilily OF checking which ono can
have IN progressing calamity like
q raging fire One mason, Timothy
Flanagan, was painting on The very
front Of the top. Whether be jumped
OF was thrown by the breaking Of
the wall about him may never be
settled. Ho went clear over the or
namented front TO the ground out
side aud was taken up dead. The
donkey engine, set on the upper
rarG Of the building TO lift the blocks
of stone and The mortar, went down.
Great blocks of tons weight and APP
parontIy al many as twenty-five
men were mingled in the wreck.
That the reader may moro fully
understand the causes which led to
the fall, it will be necessary to describe
the structure. The style of the
Building was French Venetian, of the
Renaissance type. Ii had Two pa.
viions and g c8ater dome over the
front entrance. The two pavilions
on each side rose about thirty feet
above the level Of the c0rnice The
dome was 119 feet from The ground
The dome was supported by the
front wills on the North eide and
two iron columns from ten to twelve
inches in diameter on the inner side.
These columns rested upon brick
wall going up from the grouLd floor
TO tho floor Of the courtroom. The
walls were about thirty feet high,
and, it appears, were entirely made
quatc 10 hold the immense weight of
the iron pillars and she massive ma
sonry of the dome, which rested up
on the pillars. Upon the top of the
iron columns was wr0ught-iron
girder, upon which was laid tho We
neer and brick Of tho domo. 1t ap-
pears that the lower BRICK walls
were crushed by the weight Of the
upper masonry and crumbled like 80
much rotten mortar, bringing with
them the cDtire interior of the build
ing, taking all the rafIers, the CORFU
gated iron ceiling of every room,
with It's concrete filing, and tho iron
iosts. The scatfolding came down
10 one terrific mass, bringing with it
nearly ali the workmen who were
operating upon the top Of The build
ing.
Men lay terribly mutilIated be-
meath these rocks, shrieking for as
sistsnce that was only rendered at
the risk of the rescuers' lives. One
unfortunate man named William
Gloss was oxtricated, bat one OF his
legs was Jeff beneath ponderous
stone. He was lifted out upon the
greensward, in font of the old Court
House, and expired in great agony.
A negro Jumped from window six>
ty feet from the ground, and, though
seriously injured, will probably re-
cover. WiihiH ten minutes after the
catastrophe, no less than four bodies
were recovered by the almost super
human efforts Of the i'm mense crowd
which had by this time assembled.
The sights in and about the ruins
were terrible. The anguish Of the
living was also hear;Tending. 1t
was nesr the loon hour, and the
workmen's wives and mothers were
soon upon the spot. One poor Ger
man woman rent tho air with her
SODS 1pI uEI bNSbdhuS -
A. Haugh, who was brought out Of
the ruins two hours after the acct
dent in a terrible condition. His
face was smashed beyond recogoi-
ton.
w. D. Richardson, contractor, and
F. Il. Latham, Superintendent, bad
a narrow and thrilling escape from
death. They were both en- top. of
the dome of the building a few min
utes before it fell. They were talk
iog Of the probability Of the building
falling, when they heard a crash and
rushed at once for the West wall of
the building. whore they stood when
the dome went down. Had they
been moment later, both must
have inevitably persisted. When
IL