The Portland daily press., 1893-06-10
BRINK OF DEATH.
Men Saw Their Desks Tall
Into a Chasll.
ANOTHER TRAGEDY In THE
FORD THEATRE.
Where Lincoln Was Shot Twenty-Five
Government Clerks Died.
THREE FLOORS FELL YESTERDAY
WITH A CRASH.

U1lh IL OhASns
Workmen Digging at the Foundations of
the Old and Unsafe Building Under
,ained 1.-THE Structure Was Used as
Government Office, and Was Full of
Men-Some Had Hairbreadth Escapes
and Found Themselves Standing on
the Brink OF a Chasm Filled with
Dead and Wounded-But Many Went
or Badly Hurt.
WASHINGTON, June 9.-Ford' s old thea
tire, in which Abraham Lincoln was as
sassinated, and used by the government
for many years as part of the Office of
the surgeon general of the army. col
lapsed this morning shortly after 80,
with terrible result in loss of life and
injury. The building stood on Tenth
street, Northwest, between E and F
streets, not far from Pennsylvania ave-
nue.. 1t was condemned years ago, but
had been repaired, propped up and reno
waited from year to year. Four hundred
and seyenty-five persons, mostly govern
ment clerks, were employed in the build
ing, and nearly all were at work when
the building fell. An excavation for an
electric light plant was being made in
the cellar of the structure. According
to the best information obtainable, the
workmen this morning had dug beneath
the foundation supports in the front of
the building, weakening them to such an
extent that the walls gave away before
they could be lacked up. This explana-
ton is the only one advanced. The men
who were in the building say the crash
came without warning. Fortu-
nately only the forward half of the
floors gave way. The outer ends of the
floors and the rear piers of the structure
remained intact, and the walls did not
fall.
The news spread with lightning rapidi-
ty, and soon Tenth street and the adia-
cent thoroughfares were crowded with
people. A general fire alarm was turned
in, a few minutes after the crash, and all
the ambulances in the city summoned as
quickly as possible. The police and fire.
men formed rescue brigade, and ready
hands assisted them to take out the
killed and wounded. In less than an
hour, about 25 people were taken out,
and every few minutes thereafter
Some Still Form
would be borne on stretcher from the
building. PoliceIand army ambulances,
cabs, carriages, and vehicles of every de-
scription were pressed into service for
carrying away the dead and injured. All
the hospitals in the city were utilized in
caring for the injured, and scores of
physicians volunteered their services for
this work. The commissioners of the
District of Columbia took possession of
the building and vicinity in person and
helped direct the police and rescuers.
Owing to the excellence of the police
regulations, the rescuers were not him
dered in their work by the anxious
debris was cleared away to such an ex-
tent that the work of rescuing could be
carried on without hindrance.
Both the military and naval authorities
took prompt action. Gen. ScofeId or
dered two troops of cavalry from Fort
Wayne and two companies of infantry
from the arsenal to the scene of disaster.
The Secretary Of the Navy ordered out
the naval and medical officers stationed
here and opened the naval hospital to
receive the injured. The commandant of
the navy yard was ordered to render all
assistance in his power.
None of those who escaped injury
could tell which of the floors first gave
way By the occupants of each floor
there was but one crash heard and in
stantly the whole building was filed
with binding lime dust. Running direct
ly through all the floors in the middle
of the building was light well ten feet
OIL more long. The fatal area was in
front of this, leaving space six or seven
feet in width undisturbed on either iside.
The entire back part of the building con
tanning more than half of the floor
space remained intact. There were
many narrow escapes from
death. A number of clerks whose desks
weres directly upon the line when the
the floors broke away, saved themselves.
and the desks at which they sat were
precipitated into the awful chasm. 9th
ers walking across the room heard the
ominous sound and stopped just at the
very threshold of death. Three men
reached the hospital so badly injured
that they were taken from che dressing
room and sent to the morguo where they
shortly expired. The main duty of the
soldiers was to guard the rebellion rec
ords stored in the building. The clearks
who escaped went willingly to work re-
| moving bundles of valuable documents.
All the carts and workmen that could
be secured were pressed into service to
clear away the debris.
One of the most thrilling scenes of the
whole affair was the sight of - men
| left in corner of the third story clamb-
eFing down hose pipe to tho ground.
Another man