The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-11-10
DEATH AND RUIN.
Particulars of the Terrible Disaster
at the Wisconsin State House.
How the Roof Came Down and Car
rfed the Workmen to Death and
WOunds---The Probable Cause
OF the Crash.

MADISON, Wis. Nov 10 AT 40 Thursday
a startling and prolonged roar in the very
heart Of the city told every inhabitant that
great calamity was upon them, ana quick as
lightning the first thought of many was the
new wings of the capitol The cries of
wounded workmen attracted people to the
south wing and in ffteen minutes dense
crowd was excitedly huTying and push
ing in ut that end of the park.
Tie building was yet unfinished,
all the walls being up with the exception of
the upper central part of the south wall On
this end was to be two-story portico with
stone. and iron pillars. Between the top of
the second pillars aud the top level of the
other three walls space had been left to be
filled up after the roof had been completed.
The rooS, entirely Of iron, was all on and in
process Of completion, and it was on and
about this roof that forty men-tin
ners, painters, masons, and carpen-
ters-were at work when the whole top of the
structure gave way and fell. The direction
of the fan was to the south, the roof tearing
away the stone from the wall and rushing
and twisting and crumbling the portico pill
lars into fragmentary bits. Here, at this
south end, beneath and out from the portico,
the crowd beheld a mass of iron, stone and
lime, and here it was that some of the men at
least were buried Citizens and tiremen COM
menced to dig for all they were WORTH and
soon the cry went out that body had been
found, and mass of excited men and
women crowded around to view the work of
exhumation. In half minute strong men
lifted up human form, and it sneeded but
glance to see there was no life in those
mangled and crushed remains. He was
soon taken away, and the digging again went
on antil another body was found, and so on
until five dead men were taken out of that
heap, all so disfgured as to be sickening to
look upon. Others were taken out in that
vicinity with more or lesi life and some
were taken from the east side. One old man
was seen high up, hanging head and body
down, his legs being caught and held on
the wall by heavy timbers When taken
down both legs were found to be broken. The
dead and wounded alike were tenderly car
ried into the main capitol building and there
the state offices and assembly halls were trans
formed into a hospital. Doctors and nurses
ministered to the injured, until one by one
they were taken to homes or boarding
places.
OF the forty on the roof at the time of the
accident come fifteen escaped by running and
leaping on to the root Of the old building OF
the rest four were killed outright one has
since died. and twenty were more or less in
jured. OF these six or seven must die, and
probably more The names and residences
Of the dead and injured are:
The dead-William G. Jones, of Milwaukee,
foreman of mason work, aged 35; James
Kelly, laborer, of Madison, aged 81; leaves a
family of twelve children; Michael Zwank,
mason, of Madison, died after being taken
out; William Edgar, mason, of Madison, an
old settler; Bernard Higgins, laborer, OF
Madison, another old settler; James Dowell,
mason, of Madison, aged co. and an old
settler. All of the dead were horribly
mangled.
The Dying-The following were seriously
injured and cannot survive: Henry Deid-
rich, mason, of Madison left leg broken and
chest crushed; Matthew Zwank, son of Mich
ael Zwank, a mason, of Madison, head terri
bly, cut; Patrick O'Laughlin, laborer, OF
Madison, an ex-alderman, left arm broken
and temples crushed in.
The injured. Those not DANCE rously
wounded, though many of them are badly
cut up, are: Miles Maxwell, mason, of James
vile, cut on the head Willis Rose, plasterer,
of Sheboygan. William Junge, carpenter,
of Madison, badly scalded Arthur Lynch,
carpenter, of Madison, head hurt Ed Bohn,
mason, of Sank county, seriously
hurt Ed and John Page, brothers,
masons, of Middleton, badly hurt
William Burke, ST., laborer, of Madison, face
and chest; Ed Kinsella, bricklayer, of Mil
waukee, head hurt; Cyrus Schenck, foreman
of laborers, of La Prairie, Rock county, head
and right eye; John Clark, plasterer, of Mil,
waukee, arm broken; Nelson Borst, of Mil.
YANKEE, slightly; Pat Cary, John Taft, Ed
Gleason and Otto Lynch, laborers all of Mad
ison; j. Close, mason, Milwaukee.
As fast as the dead and injured were re-
moved from the ruins they were taken to
their homes or into the offices of the capitol,
where medical assistance was rendered by all
the doctors in the city.
The accident occurred just after the men
had gone to their work, and it is
only strange that out of the eighty mer
employed in the wing more were moi
caught in the falling mass. Five work
men had Just been called from the portion OF
the basement where the debris is deepest, and
were on the point of returning when the
whole thing caved in.
John Gillen, laborer, of Madison, who
had charge of the horse used in the basement
in hosting materials, saw the roof begin to
fall and leaped under the horse for protection
and in doing SO escaped injury, though the
horse came out the worst for wear
The wing was to cost $50 900, and the con
struction was authorized by an act of the
legislature of 1881. Work was begun last
fall, and was to be completed January L
1884. The commissioners delegated to select
architects and let the contracts were Gov
Rusk, Secretary Timme, Treasurer McFet
ridge, Attorney General Frisby, Assoeiat,
Justice Orion, the Hon. E. w. Reyes and N
B. Van Slyke. They selected D. R. Jones, o.
Madison, supervising architect, and H. {
Koch, of Milwaukee, advisory architect. Thu
contracts called for two elegant stone wings
one at the north end and the other at til,
south The one at the north end was for thu
accommodation of the supreme court ana
state library, aud the other for the State His
torical society The commissioners let thu
contract to Bentley & Nowlan, of Milwaukee
one of the oldest and best standing building
firms in the state.
The real cause of the terrible accident i
somewhat uncertain, but the most plausible
theory is that the heavy iron pillars support
ing the roof of the second story balcony sanl
into the plank on which they rested, thus
pulling the sound wall outward and causing
the roof the entire wing to cave in. Thes
columns were made of large pieces of belle
iron rolled into circular form, stovepip
fashion, the joints not being bolted together
Competent judges estimate the loss on the
capitol building at not to exceed $4,000.
Gov Rusk was in Ashland inspecting
new line Of railway, but telegraphed to hay,
no expense spared in alternating the suffer
ings of the victims The coroner's inques
viii thoroughly investigate the cause of tho
disaster.
LATER.-Goy. Rusk arrived, and at one
called meeting of the capitol buiIdiHg com
mission, at the executive Office After pri
waite consultation for an hour, Architect
JONES' Of Madison, and Koch, Of
Milwaukee and Contractors join
Bentley and Nowlen were calleS
in, and the calamity talked over. The arch
itects and contractors expressed desire e
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