Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1893-06-15

| again questioned ma to where he was at the
| awful moment Tears filed many eyes as
each told OF his experiences and how no had
seen one, whom they all know and loved,
dashed down to death. IL will probably be
some days before the clerical force is again
put to work. Tho coroner's inquiry will
commence Monday. An investigation by
tho war department will also DO had.
| Col. George W. Arnold met with tragic
death. He had been clerk in the depart
men,s here for about 10 years, and was a
wcll-kuown coorod Grand Army man. His
death is best described by w. II. Spcare, an
undertaken, from whose office can DO seen
the rear Of the old theatre:
81 YVES sitting near the window Of my
Office when | heard the crash, So d Mr..
| Speare. al rushed to the window ard saw
Col. Arnold preparing to jump from tho
window to the ground, a distance OF about
90 feet. He was terribly excited, and be
| leve il it had not been for this fact ho would
be alive to-day.
1.-Two iron bars run across the window,
and grasping these the almost frantic man
attempted to wrench them from their places
| in order to make more room. lie succeeded
in partially dslodgug one OF them, and
| then mounting upon the window sill, he
threw himself to the ground.
Witnesses Testify Mt tho Opening of tho
Inquest.
WASHINGTON, June 12.-The inquest
over the bodies Of the victims of the Ford's
theatre disaster was commenced to-day at
4 oclock in Wizards hall. COL Aims
worth, chief OF the record and pension
division, who has been placed on the de-
fensive by implied accusations that he was
ii n
| old building, was present. About 100 per
soma were present most of them clerks of
the record and pension division, with
| sprinkling of war department officials,
builders, contractors and policemen.
| DR.. ShafHer, tho deputy coroner OF the
district, conducted the inquest which was
held over the remains of j. A Chaplin,
whose body hud boon selected for that pur-
| pose.
Ben jamin Reiss, clerk of class w,
record and pension division, war depart
ment, employed In the old theatre building,
| was the first witness called. Ho had been
excused, he said, at o'clock on the morn
ing OF the disaster account of business
and was not present when the building fell.
He had not seen any area roped off as
dangerous inside the old theatre. For sew
oral years he had heard it rumored that
|
(which did not fall was unsafe. He had
| heere no talk about the dangerous cond-
ton of the building within month. A
day or two before the accident be had seen
| Col Ainsworth at the building; he was
| there while the excavation was going on.
| Charles Troutman, q clerk in the old the
| atrs, whose desk was ON the first floor, de-
scribed the fall of the floors aud his escape.
| He snid he knew instinctively that the e7
cavaton had caused the accident The wit
ness knew OF no protest having been sont by
employees in the buildings to the authorities
about the dangerous condition of the build
| ing. To his knowledge no orders had been
issued about tho insecurity OF the building
except sn unofficial warning not to walk
over the roped-ofr space He saw no under
pinning OF the first floor. He had heard
the ropcd Off space called 'the dead line. 5"
The day before the accident he had seen
Col. Answorth examining the roped off
space infinitely and he thought he went down
stairs to see the excavation. Col Aims
worth came nearly every day while the ex-
cavaton was going on. The old employees
told him it was shell and death trap"
Smith Thompson, clerk in the theatre
building, who made bittor speech de
nouncing Col. Ainsworth at the Relief
meeting on Friday, testified that when the
| accident occurred he was at his desk at
work, on the second floor 10 the rear of tho
light wall the part of the building which
did not fall. In describing his experience,
he said there was no fire escape on the build
ing and only one door for entrance and
exit. He had hooked an umbrella to win
dow sill and lowered himself by it to a lad
der which some one below him held, and
| thus escaped from the building.