The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-06-09
CRUSHED TO DEATH.
Ford's Opera House, the
Scene of Lincoln's As
sassination, Collapses.
CLERKS BURIED in THE RUINS
Eighteen Dead Bodies Reeov-
cred and over Twenty
FIVE Badly Injured.
FIFTY PERSONS MISSING
An Excavation Undermined the
Walls-The Building Had
Been Condemned.
FIFTY PERSONS MISSING


Opera House on Tenth street, in which
President Lincoln was assassinated. and
which has been occupied by one of the
Bureaus of the Department of the Inter-
ior, fell in at ten o'clock this morning.
Over fuorhundred Government Clerks
were in the building at the time. ana it
seems miraculous that any escaped with
their lives The building had been con-
demued as uns,fe and unsuitable for the
purposes for which il has been used for
some time. but sentiment Kept it un-
changed.
The floors were heavily laden with
records of several departments. For
some days past men have been employed
excavating for ceiler. The exc AVIATION
caused weakness to tie walls, and the
first floor collapsed, causing the fall of
the other two floors Those in the build
lug had hardly any warning Of the
catastrophe. especially those in the cellar
and Gu the first floor. Those on the up
per floor heard the crash below and I'm
mediately conjectured the building bad
fallen III as lJhey often said it would.
Many made a rush for the windows
aud jumped to the street below.
but the majority were caught,
and fell with the floors. The wallis re-
mained standing.
The scene in the neigh borhood was
terrible. The f1remen and police were
Immediately on the scene, and thousands
of persons were in The ueighborhoOd In a
short time. The firenlen aud police went
to work with Will Go rescue the injured
and remove the dead. AS quickly as a
person was taken from the ruins he was
placed in an ambulance .and removed to
the hospital. The cries of the injured
were pitia BILE, as hemmed in by TIM bers
hau nnid dcaQ IN H.. hy1t rnd
BILE to move. The rescuers worked like
beavers. apd their prompt work undoubt
edly saved many a life. The injuries are
of The seyerest character, crushed and
broken limbs and .s.ternal injuries pre-
vaiiiug.
The news of the accident spread like
wild fire, and the friends and relatives of
those employed in the building hurried
to the scene. Their excitement was
naturally intense, ana the police had
some trouble In keeping many OF the fe-
male relatives from going among the
ruins.
AS soon as General Schofield heard of
the accident he ordered out TWO troops
of cavalry from Fort Meyer, just across
the river, ana two companies of infantry
from the arsenal 10 the scene of the
disaster. Secretary of the Navy Herbert
also ordered out the naval medical officers
stationed here, and also ordered the naval
hospital open to receive the injured.
Every hospital in the city has been called |
into requistion to.care for the wounded. |
One of the workmen, colored man. |
who was employed in excavating the |
cellar, and who escaped with only slight
cuts. says:-"I told them yesterday that |
the archwaY would fall, for every time |
any one walked over the floor it would |
bend. tell you | was scared and got |
out just as quick as could. There were
twenty men at work with me. Deed |
don't know what became of them"
THE DEAD AND INJURED.
At half past twelve o'clock there had |
been removed the remains of thirteen
victims. Every minutes delay in-
creased the probabilities OF fa-
tai results. Over twenty four injured |
had been removed to the Emergency and |
other hospitals, and ir is estimated that |
there are fully sixty more persons buried |
in the ruins.
THE CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT.
WASHINGTON, 2 P.M.-Correct accounts |
as to the cause of the accident are now
partially obtaipable.
There were AIS persons mostly govern |
ment clerks employed in the building and |
nearly all of these were at work when the !
building fell. An excavation for an cleo
trio light plant was being made in the |
cellar of the Structures three story
affair, and according TO the best informa-
tion obtsined, the workmen this morii- |
ing had dug beneath the foundation |
supports in the front of the
building, weakening them to such |
an extent that the walls gave way before |
they could be lacked. This explanation |
OF the cause for the accident is the only |
one advanced, but it seems somewhat |
strange in view of the fact that the top |
floor gave way first.
Men who were ID the building say the |
crash came without warning. Those on |
the floor were suddenly precipitated to |
the floor below, and the weight of falling |
timbers and furniture carried the second |
and first floors with 1t.
Fortunately only the forward half of |
the floors gave way. The outer edges of |
the floors aud the rear part of the struc-
ture remained intact. The wall did not |
fall in.
ARNoLD'S AWFUL DEATH.
Those who were early on the scene |
found The hody of coiored ..man in the |
alley in the rear OF the building where |
JchnWilkes Booth had his horse tethered |
the night he killed Lincoln. THIS was Geo |
M. Arnold, a well known colored clerk |
He had been seen at a third story win |
dow. He had been warned not TO jump,
but DESPITE the protestations OF
numbers of the people. he climbed out,
and lowering himself from the sill. let |
iower door and slid off into the |
alley, striking on
his head, instantly killing him. His head |
was smashed to jelly and the cobb les |
for distance of several yards were be- |
spattered with blood.
BRAVE COLORED BOY.
One of the bravest and most daring |
Incidents connected with tht calamity |
was performed by colored boy nineteen |
or twenty years of age named Basil Lock-
wood.
AS SION as the floor collapsed and the |
dust cleared away. realizing the danger !
of those at the rear windows j
who were wildly climbing out.
and calling for aid. he climbed up
q large telegraph pole as high as the
third story aud lashed ladder to the |
pole, putting the other eud in the |
window. BY this means ten or fifteen |
were assisted down the ladder in safety. |
None of those who escaped injury could |
tell which of the floors first gave
way To the occupants of each |
floor there was Du5 one crash |
heard and Instantly the whole