The Meeker herald., 1893-06-17
KILLED IN A FALLING BUILDING
TweDty-Four Government Clerk Lose
Their Lives by the Collapse of the
Ford Theater building at
wAshingtOn.

$50 and 10 O'Clock tie floors of the old Fori's
theatcr building, on nth street, occupied
by the records and pension division oil TIRE
surgeon-gcnerals office, fell in, as though
they had been the cards OF card houses.
This old building. in which President
Lincoln was assassinatcd, had been con
dcmuc years ago somc claim many A. If
teen or twenty. and had been repaired,
proppcd up and renovated from year TO year.
There were 415 persons, mostly government
clerks, Employed Ia the building, aud nearly
al of these were at work when the building
fell
An excavation for an electric plant, was bo-
log made In the cellar of the structural
three-s,ory airalr-and. nceord!ns 10 the best
information obtainsblc, the workmcn had
dug beneath the foundation supports in the
front OF the bIi!i ng. @eakcn' us them to
such extent that the wa.ls gave away be-
fore they could be jacket. Thl-. the explain
alton OF the cause Of tie accident, is the only
one advanced but 1t seems somewhat strange,
in view OF the fact tha, the top floor gave
away tirsi. The men who were In the building
say the crash came without warning. Those
on the top floor were suddenly prrclptatcd to
the floor below, and the weight Of falling
timber and furniturr carried the second and
first floor with 1t. Fortunately only the for
ward half Of the floors gave way. The outer
ends Of the floors and the rear part OF the
structure remained intact.
The news that the building had fallen
spread with lightning-lihe rapidiiy, aud soon
Tenth street an / adjacent thoroushfarcs were
crowded with people Within an hoar the
news was known all oTer Wash ngton, and
hundreds of anxious relative. and friends
swarrned TO the vicinity of the old thcatcr, A
general fire alarm was turned In few min
ute, after the crash. and then all the ambu-
lanccs In the city were summoned. As quick
ly as possible the iiremen formed reserve
brigade, aud ready hands assisted to take out
the killed and wounded. Police and army
ambulance. cabs, carriages and vehicles Of
every description were pressed into service
for carrying away the dead and injured. All
the hospitals In the city were utilized In car
Ing for the injured, and scores of physicians
voluniccrcl their services for this work The
commissioners of the District of Columbia
took possession OF the building and vicinity
and in person hclpci the resruers.
There were many very narrow escapes from
death. number Of clerks whose desks
rested directly upon the line where the floor
broke away, saved themselves whIle the
desks at which they sat we're prccipltatcd
down The awful chasm.
No women were employed in the building,
but In n fcs minutes after the crash cane,
the wives, mothers and daughters Of the vic
tins crowded to the scene.
Within a very few moment. hundred or
more men, stlippcd for hot work jumped In
10 the building and began throwing out the
vreckacc In front and under the floor which
rtnalnrd standing on rear. Most OF those
first taken ont Of the ruins were carried to
the emergency hospital. About 10 30 o'clock
the dead and injured began TO arrive faster
than the corps of surgeons could attend to
their injuries. Carried In on stretchers, they
were dumped at the most convenient places
Those who were most seriously injured were
attended To, while the Others, groanlng and
crying from the pain of broken limbs, lay be-
seeching the doctors 10 dress their wounds.
Three companies Of soldiers were placed on
a..arl at ilio scene of the cata.truphe.
The main duty OF the soldiers was to guard
The rebellion records stored in the building.
Clerks who escaped were pressed into service
and went willingly To work removing bundles
Of valuable documents. A great deal Of the
work of the pension Office Is dependent upon
these records and their value 10 she govern
mcnt and to individuals Is incstlmable. They
cannot be replaced
EScry few minutes during the first two
hours after the accident, dead and wounded
men were taken out OF the debris. To the
on-lookers all the bruised, manned and dust
covered bodies seemed bercft OF life One
man whose face was covered with blood and
who wa, seemingly dead, suddenly raised up
In the ambulance in which he was placed and
swallowed glass of whisky. This brought .
cheer from the crowd and thereafter every
rescue was accompanied by applause.
All the carts and workmcn that could be
secured were pressed into service to clear
away the debris. The workmen shoveled
plaster, rock, documents and broken furni-
ture into their carts and each load was taken
Away to dumping ground near by. There
WAS much danger 10 the rcscuiug gangs for
:he edges of the fallen floors hung threaten
ingly downward over the heads OF the work.
ers. 1t seemed that little progress could be
made In clearing away the immense mass Of
fallen rubbish, but the work nevertheless
progressed rapidly. An incident Of the DAY
was the number OF clergy who, on hearing OF
the disaster, focked TO the scene. Utterly re-.
gardless of their own safety they entered the
building. the rear walls OF which were warn
ingly bulgins out, and ministercd to the dying
and injured.
The floors fell with suddenncss that left no
time for thought. The hair-breadth escapes
narrated by the survivors were numberless.
One OF the most thrilling scenes of the whole
affair was the sight OF 60 zen men who were
leftiu the corner of the third story, who clam.
bered down hose-pipe to the ground. Be-
fore the accident was over, and before the
rescuers could get inside, the Injured men
who coald cared for their worse injured
brothers. There were men who did not rush
to the street to save their own lives Re.
gardless of the fact that more walls might
fall and bury them once more they stayed to
succor men who could not get away by them.
selves. A man whose arm was crushed used
his other arm to drag man from that place
Of death. Men stayed to struggle with beams
and rafters that bore down upon their fe-
lows. They spoke words OF cheer when their
struggles were in vain.
When the first of the relief corps entered
the wrcckage they were especially struck by
tho silence that prevailed. There were no
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