Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-06-30
A FATAL ACCIDENT.
ORE MAN KILLED ABD TWO IFJURED
YESTERDAY
By the Frame CT the New Agricultural and
Industrial Building Falling to
the Ground

sounded from box &C. at the State Printing
Office. It was soon reported around town
that it was caused by the frame Of the north
wing Of the new agricultural and Industrial
Exposition buiiding, in Capitol Park, falling,
aad tkas in the ruius we're anywhere from
five to twenty-five persons dead and dying,
A RECORD UNION representative, arriving on
the scene Of the disaster, found the frame of
the building level with the ground, as re-
ported, and that enc man had been killed
and two were injured. The man who was
| killed was A-ohis Mcmillan, Of San Fran
CISCO snd the jured vera James HORIZON, Of
| oakland, and IA. r King, Of this cisy-au
| employees On the building.
| A little Introduction viii Be necessary to
| arrive az the use If the falling Of the build
| ing. Tne Building. ss i geners IL knowr,
! nsa four Wiuge, sud is in the form OK g Greek
| ccoss. II raidnq, the frame OF each wiog
! was TO be- put up FIRST b. means Of two large
0eTrieks, ald tn5 dome or central 1orli1n 60
| 10 raise! afterwards TIE work of the dsr-
rick on this wing W completed, and the men
| were 10 The act Of EloviUg J-6 Q6FrC6s TO tan.
other wing.
! TIE fame as it s7a5 in 70 ii consisted Of
! i've srusses, OF rafGeTs, with the intermediate
studiiuf ard two u mo main posts TO sup
port the dome. ghs w1.k was suppor su
VITA four main guys OF 4l-inch rope, over 800
| feet long and drsWn very taUt These were
! divided. two on tbs north and two on the
south. Mr.. Mcmillan. who was killed, went
| 10 70 the sop OF the roof 60 place d ,igrup
over tha ridge pufiine. 10 evidently found
the fastening Of one Of tie suuth guys to be
! in the way If the WO.k he proposed TO do,
! sn3 attempted % shove it out Cf tire way,
! bu5 iG DONG so unloo-ad 1t 6ufi 5ienty
for the tension 70 tear it from its fas--
enIng. Ine spring ia the two north
guys drew the whole frame IN that
direction, and ii n to his fese, Mr. Nc
MILAN yelled at the top Of his voice, Look
cut Stand from under p This. ur similar
expressions, he made several times while he
bul.cias was going ID the ground and before
be tell. The point where he was when ST.
ing d0EH was 500 feet from the ground. He
stood on ni5 feet Tor come time, but when
about half way 20 the ground he was
seen to fail head frst and mo
msn5 afterwards when assistance reached him.
ne was dead, with contusi0ns on tas hesd
and chest. There Wer5 several labOrers under
he building. but sll escaped uninjured, ey-
cspting Mr.. King. Ee Wss engaged st some
concrete work, and evidently became con-
fused, for nan working by his side was
clear OF the timbsf before IL Iescled the
ground. He YVES found under gone small tim
Der, aud In perhaps the only spot inside the
foundation 10 winch be would not have been
killed. His Injuries amount 60 dislcca ted
nip. sewers cut on the head, and few
bruises. he was immediately taken TO his
home. 523 NJ street, and his il jures attended
t., and last evening h9 was considered out of
danger.
Mir. Horton, the other ioiured man, was
on top Of one Of the main contemplating
posts, and al the FIRST alarm started 60 slide
down rope, holding on with his hands. H5
was nesrly to the ground when the post fell,
and escaped with burned hands and some
rather severe bruises on the legs and arms,
but TO bones were broken. He displayed as
much preeence OF mind as Mr.. Mcmillan,
snd not being in So c-itical place, escaped
90 stated. he was removed to his room in
thu E.drsd House, aLd viii be around N a
few days.
The remains Of Mr. Mcmillan wsre re-
moved TO the Coronel's ofiics. aad az Inquest
VIII be held this evening st $50 o'clecS He
was q native Of Nova Scotia, and unmarred.
| Two brothars live ia San Eraucisco-Dr. D.
| Mcmillan, a PRECEDING physician. snd 4. @.
! McMjllsn, q lawyer. Deceased has been in
the employ of she California Bulge Building
| Company Tor t1e past two yaars, ard was
known to be thoroughly zigEed mechanic
40 Was Conn AtAsif9iy Nc@'SNE, O"ht-6 d
| large ranch IL Los Angeles county,
beside other property, hut having
followed this business Of bcidga building
sll his lie, be Wss loth to Qnit. He has Quit
several times siace he has been working for
the bridge company, but esch time returned.
His lie was insured for $40 co., He was an
! Odd Fellow and "a member of the Knights of
the Legion OF Honor and several other So
ci.ties. Ia all Of which he stood well.
The timber and Irops in the debris ara
badly wrecked, many Of the Castings being
broken, but the cords are only helt. The es
.imated dsmage is pIo ably s., 500, aE1 it wi
take about week To replac9 the frames
Contractor McKjlliCan has ordered the
work Of raising the east wing To ba com
| meucsd this morning. TIE debris will he
clsEred away by lahoFers. and if sufficient
number of hands can be secured, there will
| De scarcely any delay.
The Building Committee of the State
Board Of Agriculture were teiegraphsd for
and meeting Will probably be held today
| A dispatch was also sent to Architect Bur
rel, who is in oakland, and he will arrive
to-day.
From the time the building fell until dark
! last evening crowds were going and coming
from the scene Of the accident, and the dis
aster was the topic Of conversation every
where. The first man met in Capitol Park
| by The RECORD UNION representative said
"Just you 20 around on the north end and
look at that mortar. It's no wonder it fell"
! The next said hs was "glad Of it, for If it
wouldn't stand now, what would it do with
10000 people in it?" Such expressions IS
these could be heard almost anywhere in the
city last evening.
Several of Sscramenl0's most prominent
contractors and builders. who had examined
the ruins and were conversant with the frame.
work, were interviewed. TIE general opin-
ion WAS that the work on the building was
htst.class, but was not sufficiently bracsd,
and that the number of guys were not sutfi
Gent to secure frame of that size.
Ia answer TO this, Mr.. Xix the contract
ors' assistant, states that the frame was once
since It's erection entirely freed from guys,
and Gays that the work could not possibly
nave fallen but for the tension in the north
guys.
An examination shows that the foundation
of the wing is intact, excepting where the top
hiss been mashed by the heavy timbers and
irons striking IT,
In regard 60 the mortar, the contractors
above referred to, state that il was Of very
good quality for thai kind OF work. It's brit
.lsness or crumbling is explained by the fact
that il contained much cement and does not
harden ss quickly as mortar without i, and
IT was yet too fresh to expect to tnd it harder
than it vas.
In this connection it may be well 30 ex-
plain of what She foundation is composed.
1t was The original plan to place tie build
ing on large concrete piers. but after an ex-
animation Of the ercu4d by mems of boring
it was cided by the Building Committee
and the Capitol Commissioners to drive piles
at an additional expense OF $500 This was
done, the piling reaching to depth Of forty
feet They were cut eff eight feet below the
ground, and concrete piers four feet square
built to the surface, and extended to the
hight of three feet by the use of brick.
These piers are twenty eight fee apart from
center to center. The intervening space is
6llea With wall two feet six inches at the
base, and gradually drawn in until it is Re.
duced TO eight inches on tbs top. Under this
wall is eight inches Of concrete. The main
weight OF the building viii rest on
the piers, the remainder Of the foundation
only supporting a lieh' weight fromnsthe
intermediates studdirg, and the ends of the
a o the central portion Of the floor being
supported By conctese piers set at regular in