The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1893-06-17

sSudde SJollapss sof# Ford1's Theai,ter
ION. 81

AN OLD d Rt1 III y F n, I; |, I. j

LllnS are now whining In the agony o.
their wounds Shortly before 10 o'clock
Friday morning, with scarcely q sec.
ond's warning, large portion Of the
three floors Of the old Ford theate1
on Tenth street broke down, car
rying to the ground below hun.
dreds of clerks, heavy desks and the
miscellany of great government OF
fee. The old building was used by the
pension and record division of the war
department.. Repairs undertaken re-
Gently had weakened the supports, but
to the penuriousness of congress, which
made it impossible to secure fitting
building, may he charged the awful
catastrophe that must cast blot OF
shame upon the national government.
LIST OF THE VICTIMS.
The following list of the dead thus
far reported, with the names. OF the
state from which they were appointed,
contains twenty-five names, including
one unknown.
Unknown man, taken from the ruins at 5
O'Clock Friday evening, evidently a clerk;
George Allen, Pennsylvania; George w. Ar
mold, Virginia; L. j. E. Chaplin, South. Chicago;
Samuel P. Banes, Pennsylvania: John Bossius,
District of Columbia: Arthur L. Dietrich, Ken
lucky; jeremiah Daley, Pennsylvania; James
II, Fagan, Kansas Joseph B. Gage. Michigan;
David c. Jordon, Missouri; M. NJ Jarvis,
Michigan: j. Boyd Jones, Wisconsin; r. B.
Lotus, New York: F. W. Maeder; B. F. Mil
Ter, New York; Howard S. Miller, Ohio; j. H
McFan Wisconsin,: e. G. Shull, Kansas; Will
liam Schriever, Maryland; Fl. S. Wood; F. NJ
Williams. Wisconsin,: A. M. Gerault, New Jer-
sey; M. T Muledy, Louisiana
The injured, SO far as known, num-
her forty-fve Many of them are being
treated at their homes. Some will un-
doubtedly die of their injuries.
WITHOUT WARNING.
The building collapsed without q
moments warning, The front half of
all three floors fell, carrying every.
thing to the bottom. For a moment
all was still. Then the air was
split by the shrieks and groans of the
frightened, wounded and dying
hundreds who, like mass of
worms: struggled, twisted and fought
to free themselves from one anoth-
er and from the heavy iron beams
and timbers and furniture and govern
ment records which pinned them to
their places. The people in the neigh
borhood were for the moment stunned.
The horror of it all had robbed them of
their senses. Then in few moments,
but what to the wretches pinioned in
deaths embrace seemed ages, the truth
burst upon their befuddled brains
and they joined their cries with the
unfortunates within the collapsed
1,,..1.ls~.. nHbor ho1
for help; some ran to the sinkhole Of
death itself. to lend their hands, while
others, with selfish regard for their
own safety and curiosity, stood where
they were to look upon the scene.
CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT.
An investigation of the cause of the
accident discovered that, it was appar.-
emily due to criminal carlessness. A
number of laborers were at work be-
meath the first floor excavating for
an electric plant. The building
rested on underpinning and the
earth, and as the earth was dug away
the pressure of the building rested on
the unsupported beams of the first
floor. The weight proved too much
and the floors collapsed and fell
into the excavation, burying the labor
ers and clerks beneath them. The
people in charge of this excavation
were supposed to have known that the
building was condemned and had been
unsafe for years. The general insecur-
ity of the building had already been
repeatedly reported, and for a long
time past, whenever q heavily loaded
wagon has gone by, the building
seemed to sway backward and for
ward, as the clerks describe the sensa-
ton. A strange coincidence is that
the old theater is wrecked on the day
of the funeral of Edwin Booth, brother
of John Wilkes Booth.
CONDEMN THE GOVERNMENT.
Condemnation of the government for
permitting the building to be used is
heard on every hand The federal gov
eminent has an account on its hands
Of immense proportions There is little
doubt that friends Of the dead and
the victims who were fortunate enough
to escape with their lives will seek
damages from the government which
may aggregate millions Of dollars. In
Vic dangerous COuu1G1OA VI UllCs DuIlO"a
ing they will have strong popu-
lar support of their claims. Strong
words of denunciation were ut
tered against the federal au-
thorities for permitting the building to
be occupied in view of it's unsafe con-
dition. $
WAR RECORDS LOST. ~ *
&. Least thought of now, when death
and suffering FILL the national capital,
but certain to bring sorrow in the
future, is the destruction Of war records
on which the claims of thousands Of
veterans in all parts Of the land de
pend. &.
MORE THAN A SCORE KILLED.
WASHINGTON, June IL. The list OF
dead by the Ford theater collapse now
mum bers tsventy-three, the latest VIC
tim being A. N. Gerault, of New Jer-.
sey. whose death was reported Satur-
day morning s5 5.,
WANTED HIS LIFE. gs5s$9.9H
WASHINGTON, June Is. 81: 81 At fyester-
days session of the ord theater in-
a., ,r,,n =, WI 1lx<,d for.