The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-06-10
More Than Four Hundred Me,
Buried in an Awful Mass
Of Debris.
Twenty-F -Four OF Them Arc Dead
Many of Them Man9led
Most FriGhttully
Dirsst Calamity 4. tho History Of tho Cap
itAl Due to the Parsimony Of
the G0yornment.

building which was notoriously inseouro;
human lives crushed ont By tons Of debris
and iron and sent unheralded to the throne
Of their maker; mon By the scoYe msimed
and disfgursd for life; happy families
hurled into the ds,ths of despair;
women calling for their husbands, children
calling for their fathers, mothers calling
for their sons. and not an answer to the
criss! This il but = shadow Of the awful
calamity that bsfsll shis city this morning.
Words cannot picture the swfulnsss of the
accident. The Imagination stands back
and fails to give any idea Of the scene. It's
horrors will never be fully told. Ito sud
dsnnesE was almost the chief horror.
In moment. in the twinkline Of an eye.
thers was = change, and men who came TO
the scene Of their daily toll will never re-
turn alive. In the national capital Of the
proudsst nation Of the earth there has been
. catastrophe unparalleled In the annals Of
it's history and In every mind there is the
horrible conviction that its genesis 10 to be
found in the criminal negligence of gov
srnmsnt too parsinonious TO provide for tho
safety Of it, loyal servants BY erecting
buildings proper for their accommodation.
II was between $3.50 and 10 O'Clock this
morning that the floors Of the old Ford's
thsassr building. Tenth street. occupied BY
the records and pension division Of the sur
Rson generals Office. fell In as though they
had been parts Of card house. On each
door were SCORES Of men at work. Without
warning they were carried down as by an
awful cataract. The floor vas made up of
iron eirders hardly strong enough to sup
port the walls. but heavy enough to stamp
out human lives. The walls of bricks were
held together by plaster long since dried
out and of wooden beams that have been in
place too long. There was no escape from
such q flood.
The government Of this great nation
could not afford to provide q safe building
for faithful employees, but herded them to-
ton was notorious. Again and again have
the columns Of the press been nlled with
tho story Of the yottsn walls. There is
shame and Ssmorse on the souls of somo
men who ws'e responsible for the state OF
things that ooAhned men working for their
tho city of Washington knew was unsafe.
Twenty-eiRht years ago there was another
tragedy within the walls of the building.
News of IL WAS flashed to the four quarters
of The earth and it wrought constet nation
wherever it went. The man who wss killed
was tho president of the United States. A.
though the building had borne q curse
upon it from that time. 1t ended its career
in fitting manner. But how much better
il would have been If the government had
removed the structure years ago. Those In
the multitude who would think Of some
thing beside the catastrophe alone, re-
marked upon the strange coincidence that
slew President Lincoln, should fall and kill
scores of people on the very day that the
assassin's brother was being laid to his
final rea..
Evidence found in TIE official records APP
psars conclusive that as long ago as 1885
chased after the assassination and used az
| an army museum was officially proclaimed
unsafe - . depository for even inaninlats
| skeletons. mummies and books Of the army
medical Il raSy, for which safer place of
storage was provided by act OF congress.
But Notwithstanding the fact that In the
pablo rrsss and in congress also continued
attention was oallsd to tho bulginR walls of
the building, its darkness and general I'M
suitability and unsafsty. II confined to be
used for the daily employment OF nearly
five Hundred government employer. The
buildings OF tho printing office and the
Wlndef building. an .s annex .,o.,;n'a OF sns .
many more employees thsn were
Gagged In Ford's theatsr desth trap. are in
equally dangerous condition. While tho
work of rescue was going ON. mon who had
been atrangers to emotion wspt like chil-
dren and turned away sheir faces. AZ the
limp and lifolsss bodies of those who had
| besn crushed beneath the ruins were
brought forth to the sunshine they could
see NO more upon this earth forever. women
vsis helped away in . fainting condition.
and in every heart there WAS sorrow and in
every eye there stood the moisture Of grief.