The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1893-06-13

Both the military and naval authori-
ties took prompt action. General
Schofield ordered two troops of cavalry
from Fort Myer, just across the river,
and two companies of infantry from
the arsenal to the scene of the disaster.
The secretary of the navy ordered
out all the naval medical officers staff
here and also opened the naval hos
pltal to receive the injured. The CON-
mander at the navy yard was ordered
to render all the assistance in his
power. Every hospital in the city was
carriages and other vehicles filled with
wounded were quickly traversing the
city in every direction.
Those who were early on the scene
found the body of colored man in
the alley in rear of the building where
John Wilkes Booth had his horse teth-
cred the night he killed Lincoln. This
was Fleming Arnold, we'll known
colored clerk appointed from
Virginia. He had been seen at third
story window. He was warned not to
jump, but, despite the protestations of
number of people, he climbed
out and, lowering himself from
sill, let go. He fell
upon the covering at the lower floor
and slid off into the Cobble Stone
alley, striking on his head, being in
stantly killed. His head was mashed
to q jelly and the Cobbles for a dis
tance of several yards were bespatter-
ed with blood.
One ofthebravest and most useful feats
connected with the calamity was per-
formed by colored boy, 10 or 30 years
of age, Basil Lockwood. AS soon as
the floors collapsed and the dust clear
ed away, realizing the danger of those
at the rear windows, who were wildly
climbing out and calling for aid, he
climbed up large telegraph pole as
high as the third story and lashed a
ladder to the pole, nutting the other
end 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 but one crash heard and
instantly the whole building was filled
with binding lime dust. Running
directly through all the floors aud in
the middle of the building was light
wall ten feet or more long and nearly
as many wide. The fatal area was in
front of this, leaving a space of six or
seven feet in width undisturbed on
either side. The entire back part of
the building, containing more than
half of the floor space, remained in
tact.
There were many very narrow es-
capes from death. A number of clerks
whose desks rested directly upon the
line where the floor broke away saved
themselves while the desks at which
they sat were precipitated down the
awful chasm. Others who were walk
ing across the room heard the ominous
sound and stopped just at the very
threshold of death. When the crash
came the survivors heard a mighty
scream of anguish from their comrades
as they sank out of sight and then,
cropping in darkness, they found their
way to safety, trembling in every
joint with the pallor of the dead in
their faces.
Most of those first taken out of the
ruins were carried to the Emergency
hospital. About 1890 o'clock the
dead and injured began to arrive
faster than the corps of assistance
could attend to them. The injured
were carried in on stretchers and were
dumped at all convenient places.
Those who were most seriously in
jured were attended to, while others,
groaning and crying from broken
limbs, lay helplessly beseeching the
doctors to dress their wounds. Shortly
after the arrival of the first unfortu-
nate a crowd began to assemble in front
of the hospital many in it being wives,
daughters and relatives of the dead
and injured. Their weeping and fran
tic cries for information were heart
rending. They greatly interferred with
the work of the physicians and DR..
Kerr, in charge of the hospital, deter
mined to shut them out. Load after
load of wounded, blinded from debris
and with limbs broken and mangled,
were dumped at the door. They had
to remain outside for some time as the
force and facilities of the hospital
were unequal to the emergency
as quickly as the surgeons
who were shortly reinforced
by young medical graduates Of the
city college, so they examined and
dressed the wounds and they were
sent up stairs to more comfortable
quarters. 1t was with great difficulty
that the policemen could keep the
relatives of the injured out of the
building and while outside their
agonizing cries could be distinctly
heard by the poor unfortunates who
lay helpless.
Priests and ministers were soon on
the spot and being at once admitted
repaired to the cots of the injured
where they administered spiritual con-
ISOLATION.
Three men reached the hospital in a
dying condition so badly injured that
they were taken from the dressing
room and sent to the morgue where
they shortly expired. Chas. r. Miller
and j. Brad Jones were among them
while the other was young man OF
handsome appearance and about 2t
years of age. The first two were hor.
ribly mutulated but the last one did
not show an apparent trace of even an
abrasion.
At other hospitals and in drug
stores adjacent to the accident similar
scenes were being enacted. In the