Asheville daily citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1890-1900, 1893-06-10
FORD THEATER DISASTER
Tvys MY THREE I.NIPI.0EB:S
~ ERE E<EI.sG.D.
Harncs of some of ghe UniOrtu-
nates- Ar HnNCstiG GRuOn From
isen-NO Oiher RuuoiuK FRO
1ided 4 nH K1nprSoHes

WAsHING IOr;. June 1O.--Nrne of tho sc
who escaped injury IN the fall OF Eord's
! the atre yesterday could tell which of the
| floors first gave way. Tothe occupants
| of each floor there was but one crash
| heard and inst autly the whole building
was filled wit biinJIn;. lime dust. Run
ming directly through all Of the floors
aud in the middle OF The building was q
liGbt-weII ten feet o., more long and
nearly as many wide. The fatal area
was in front OF this, lea wing u space OF SIX
or seven feet in width uudsturbed on
either side. The entire back part OF the
building, containing more than half of
the Hoot space, remained intact.
| There wete many v''es marrow c>raTc,
| from death. A mum be- OF clctkS whose
desks rested directly upon the line where
the floors brnk- away saved Themselves
while the desks at Iivh they sat were
| DrecIpitatCd down tho awful Cha3tu.
Others who were walking across the
| room heard an omnious sound and stop
ped just at the very threshold of death
| when the crash "amc. Those who sur
v'v"d heard Il mighty scream al anguish
| from their coiurnhcS as they sank out of
| sight, ana then, cropping almost in dark
ness, they found their way to safety
|
palor OF dead in thcr faces.
No women were en plOyed in the build
! ing, but in a few minutes after the crash
came wives. mothers and daught, rs of
| the victims began to arrive. Within a
| very few moments a hundred or more
| men stripped for hot work, jumped into
| the building and began throwing out
| wrcckagc in front and under the floors
| which remained standing in the rear.
| Most of those first taken out of the
RUNS were carried to he emergency hos
| pital. About 1870 O'Clock the dead and
| injured began to arrive faster than the
corps of surgeons could attend to their
! injuries. Carried in on StretchcrS they
| were dumped at the most convenient
| places. Those who were most seriously in
jured were attended to first while others,
groaning and crying from the pain of
| broken limbs, lay limpless, bcsccching
| the doctors to dress their wounds.
| Shortly after the arrival of the first TN
| fortunate Il crowd began to assemble i'll
| front of the hospital, many of them be-
ing relatives of the dead and Injured.
| They were weeping and their frantic
| cries for Information were hc;,rtrending.
They greatly interfcred with the work
| OF the physicians.
Fearful Scenes.
AS can we'll be understood there were
many appalling scenes. On the front
| scat Of one of the ambulanccs rode away
| one of those who had gone down in the
CTStSI Ills IaCS, na1luS, nu1r ana
clothing were completely covered in
blood. He did not look to be seriously
hurt, but the spectacle was revolving in
the extreme.
All during the long hours while the
workmen were working with all their
| strength to rescue such were not past
| help, relatives of those that had gone
| down hovercd around the front of the
building and with streaming eyes in
| buried of all whom they met of some
| tidings of their dear ones. Some could
hardly be restrained from pushing their
way into the building.
look into the interior shows sick
cning tale of how some were taken and
| others left. Desks arc seen half toppling
over the brink of the broken floor others
| stand upright, but the chair which
stood beside it and its occupant went
down with a crash. Records and papers
are scattered everywhere. AS fast as
| possible they were gathered up and
saved, many of them spotted with
blood and all more or less oblitercd.
The President was informed of the sad
event just as he reached the entrance to
the White House, and he at once inter
csted himself in relief measures, learning
with satisfaction what had been done by
Assistant Secretary of War Grant, who
| came over to the White House before
noon.
When the crash came there were sup
posed to be in the building 496 clerks,
| Is messengers, 20 laborers and total
OF 532 PERSONS Four of the city hospit-
ais at lao yesterday afternoon gave the
| following dct ails respecting the arrivals
! of dead and injured: Emergency hos
pital. dead. s. Wood, NJ. W. Jcrvis; %
| hospital: Inj nred, f. Lcgcr, Mississippi,
injured internally; W. S. Gustin, Ohio,
left arm broken. Frrcdmcn's hospital:
DIR. James III. Howard, colorcd, Mary
| land, Internal injuries. Garfield Memo
| rial hospital: John H. Thomas, Scdalia
| Mo-, arm broken.
| Names of Dead.
| There were sixteen dead at the morg
They arc: George NJ. Arnold, colorcd
Va; B. +. Miller, New York, john Bush
ins, Columbia; German .. Allen, Pa;
f. B. Lotus, New York; David c. Jor-
don, Missouri; San. +. Banes. Pa; VIM.
Schriener. Maryland; J. b. Gage, Mich;
Wis; l.. w. Brady, New York: F. NJ
| Williams, Wis. There were also three
bodies said to be +. w. Molder, X. S.
Dieterch, and - Young. Jeremiah
| Bailey of Pennsylvania died at the Emer-
gency hospital while the surgeons were
| dressing his wounds
| Injured.
| a partial list of the injured at the
Emergency hospital is: Fred. Calvert,
Charles MetcaIf, s. d. Dewey, VIM
Lecture, F. n. Test, Pennington,
Charles Miller, c. +. Hathaway, w. Nj. .
Patrick, ]. A. Stewart, F. F. Sims. Louis
| Dusapy, q. NJ Mclaughlin. Following
are all seriously, but none fatally injured:
]. II. Thomas, F. b. Smith, A. N. Gerault,
and A. Esterling of Fort Scott, Kansas;
= Spadbolt OF Missouri.
The Death roll Increased.
This morning the old theater building
looked less hideous than on yesterday
when scores of dead and broken bodies
| were being carried from it. No suitable
building to take it's place has yet been
| aud Y,roha mill 10