Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-03-22
TERRIBLE ACCIDENT.
A Floor Gives Way. Precipitating More
+; than One Hundred Persons to the Room
Below.

A Floor Gives Way. Precipitating More
Below.
On Saturday evening fearful accident
occurred at the village of Lincoln, two
miles north of Ephrata. A public school
entertainment was being held in the sec
ond story ola building which had formerly
been used as coach factory. The hatch
way in the centre of the room had been
fOOred over. At the exhibition were as
sembled not less five hundred persons. and
all went we'll until about 10 o'clock, when
that part of the floor where the hatchway
had been gave way, carrying with it other
portions of the floor and precipitating
not less than one hundred persons
to the room below. A scene of in
describable confusion followed. The
groans Of the wounded and the screams of
the women forming heartrending chorus,
while many rushed pell NELL down stairs !;
others who did not fall through the broken
floor jumped from the windows which are
about 12 feet from the ground. One man
who jumped from a window alighted on a
cellar door, and the cellar door Civ
Ing way he was precipitated into
the cellar, and two other men jumped
on top Of him. During the con-
fusion the young performers rushed
from the stage, Overturning two coal
oil lamps, one of which broke and
set fire to the carpet, but the flames were
e1tinguished before any serious damage
was done. As soon as possible the lower
room was opened and those who had fallen
into it were extricated. A large majority
of them were women and young girls.
Twelve or fifteen were severely injured, eight
of the number quite seriously. Among
the latter are Mrs. Jacob Konigmacher, of
Ephrata, Miss Laura Erb, daughter of
Hiram L. Erb, of Clay Miss Alice Bow
man, of Ephrata Miss Ada Springer, Miss
Ada Miller, Miss Christie Bingaman,
daughter of Paul Bingaman of New Haven,
and Mrs. Keller of Lincoln. None of the
injured had any bones broken, but eight of
the number are confined to their bed, six
of them at the hotels and two others at
neighbors houses. Miss Laura Erb at last
accounts had net regained consciousness.
The accident has created the most in
tense excitement in the neighborhood, and
the warmest sympathy. and kindest atten-
tion are being extended to the sufferers.
AS an evidence of the fearfulness of the
crash, it may be stated that two new bug
gies that were standing in the room below
were crushed to pieces by the weight of
the persons falling upon them.
The Philadelphia papers this morning
publish sensational dispatches from Read
ing purportins to give details of tho acci-
dent, in which it is falsely stated that five
persons were killed and others had their
arms, legs and skulls fractured. Two of
the killed were reported to have had their
necks broken, and one poor girl was re-
ported to have had her skull fractured and
both arms broken. There is no truth
in these reports. A reporter of
the 1NTELLIGENCER interviewed Mr.. Jacob
KOnigmacher, who came from Lincoln
this morning and whose wife was one of
the ladies injured. He confirms our cor
respondents report and states that no one
was killed, no one had any bones broken,
no one received serious internal injuries,
and that in the opinion of the local physi-
clans no one will die from the injuries re-
ceived ; though it is true that several
suffer severely from cuts, cOntuSiOns and
conclusions.