Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1893-10-19
INTO THE CELLAR.
Floor Gives Way at a Funeral
Injuring Many Persons.
Shocking Disaster at the Residence of As
semhlyman Bow At Kingston, Wis
Many II the Victims Painfully
Injured by Their FaIl.
oNE HrNnRrp INLIRFn.

kIPON, " Is, Oct MANY of the
friends Of the wife OF Assemblrman
Bow. who attended her funeral at the
family residence in Kingston Saturday,
We're nearer to death than they
imagined, for just as the services were
beginning the floor gave way and fully
Toe persons We're precipitated into the
cellar. Among the more seriously in
jured were the following:
Mary Jones. cut about the head; H. Il Per
~, cut and bruised: Mrs. d y. Pickett, arm
broken; Mrs Pugh injured internally; Mrs
Vaughn, injured internally, Mrs. A. Vanberg,
badly crushed and injured internally, viii prob
ably die.
HAPPENED QUICKLY.
The s. vices took place in the main
room o. the house which was erected
many years ago. People crowded into
the apartment. the men standing and
some of the women occupying chairs.
just as the minister, standing near the
casllet, began to speak of the dead
cracking sound was heard. Before any
one realized the danger the floor gave
way and minister and people went down
with the broken beams and boards.
The disaster happened so quickly
that none Of those in tile room had
chance to save themselves. Many lay
motionless beneath the debris; others,
who escaped serious injury, were SO
Frustrated by fright as to be seemingly
unable to move
THE WORK or RESCUE.
The mourners and others who occu-
pied an adjoining room forgot their
sorrow for the dead in their haste to
aid the victims of the accident 1t was
a difficult task and at first it seemed as
il most of them had received fatal hurts
if they had not been killed outright
No entrance could be gained to the cell
lar from the outside and it was neces-
sary to climb down in the ruins to reach
those who needed aid.
Finally some of the people in the
cellar managed TO eXtricate them
selves from among the beams and floor
ing and lent their aid to the task Of
rescue. One after another the limp
forms Of the injured We're dragged
from beneath the ruins and carried over
the debris to the open air until
the ground about the house looked like
a field hospital Covered with blood
from numerous cuts and groaning from
painful bruises the injured pre-
scented most pitiful sight. As
fast as possible an lnvestiga-
ton of the extent Of their
hurts was made. This completed.
it was found that while all were more
or less bruised only one-third of the
hundred who went down in the wreck
had received serious injuries. One,
Mrs Vanberg, was SO badly crushed
and injured internally that she win die.
THE HOUSE WAS OLD.
The house where the accident oc-
CURED was an old one but the floors
were thought to be Of sufficient
strength to sustain all the people who
could stand upon them, The apart
ment when the services began,
was crowded to its utmost ca
pacity. Only small portion
of those in the room were
seated, anu nose who were standing
took up every inch of room available
Even the doorways were filled with
people, and the occupants Of these
places We're the only ones in the apart
ment who escaped being precipitated
into the cellar
TAKEN TO THE CEMETERY.
The casllet containing the remains Of
Mrs. Bow stood in a room next to the
one whose floor gave way 1t was
afterward taken to the cemetery and
placed in the grave, only the members
of the family being present