Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-03-29
HORRIBIE!
A Dancing School and Several Meetings
Crushed.

Crushed.
LOUISVILLE, March 2Sth.- Probably the great
est loss OF life occurred at Falls City Hall which
was in the center of the tornado. In the lower
rooms of the hall there were fifty or seventy
five children with their mothers and other rela-
tives taking dancing lessons.
There were at least 125 persons on the lower
floors and seventy-five more attending a lodge
meeting on the upper floor when the terrible
wind swept down upon the building. The en-
tire structure in less than five minutes was a
shapeless mass of brick and mortar. burying
200 helpless victims, of which number few es-
capped uuinjured. At 3 o'clock this morning
thirty-five dead bodies were taken from the
ruins and fifteen wounded and dying. Only
those on the third floor had been reached. The
room containing the dancing-school pupils aud
visitors has not yet been opened.
PENETRATING THE DEBRIS.
At ll:30 this morning the room where the un-
fortunate children were dancing was reached.
Lewis Simms, Jr., had for hours been moving
about in great mental agony in front OF that
portion Of the wreck where the room had been,
Tor his wife and four children were there.
When the room was reached Mrs. Simms YVES
found fatally hurt.
Then, within about fifteen minutes Of each
other, three OF the Simms children were recoy-
cred. They were unconscious, and only had a
faint possibility of living.
While the father was imploring the workers
to get his other child, fire broke out aud work
had TO be suspended.
The last man trken out alive, before the flames
started up, was John Hepden.
a TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE.
Athri,ling experience was that of George H
Capito who was present at the meeting OF the
Knights of Honor in a lodge-room, Oh the toy
floor o the building. He says:
THE first intimation of danger were two dis
tinct shocks oeking the building. Then a win
dow was blown from the casing, and immeoi
ately after the plastering began to drop from
the ceiling. wild rush was made for the ante
room which carried me with it, and ! Jus
reached the door when the entire floor CAV,
way and We We're precipitated to the basement
blinded and almost sutfocated by a cloud o
dust and crushed and jsmmed by the fallini
timbers. In some way a door-frame fell witt
me and maintained an upright position when j
stopped, and / was enabled to extricate mysel
from the depris and make an exit to the stree
through the adjoining house, whose doors
kicked open.
Il at once returned over to the ruins Will
several men and helped to extinguish the FIR
ing IN torrents. Lightning flashes only CAV,
momentary views of the position of the ruin
and blinded everybody. The entire buiidiui
had collapsed in the front and rear. OF tn
esst and west side walls nothing was standing
above the second story. There were
NEARLY HUNDRED
Members present at our lodge meeting, auj
fully uwOthirds OF those were ladies. Besides
our lodge, another order was holding meetiu
on the same floor with us. 4 band was rehears
ing on the second floor and party Of decoTet
ors were at Work in the large hall preparing 70
an entertainment, So far as I could judg
out unhurt, and the cries for help and gr08u
that lssued from the broken and twisted hea
was proof that scores are still there unable {
eSCape.