Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1893-06-13
A MOB At THE INQUEST
Wild Scene at the Fords
Theatre Investigation.
COL AINswoRTH THREATENED

Charles Barnes Accuses the Chief of Muir
dering His Brother. and a Scene of the |
widest Confusion Ensues-Instructions
to witnesses from the Secretary of War.
WASHINGTON, June The inquest over |
the body of ]. A. Chaplin, one OF the vic
tins of the Ford Theatre horror, was re-
sumed at II o'clock this morning. Be
cause of the sensational developments of
yesterday, the hall in which the proceed
ings are held was crowded.
Just at II o'clock yesterday Col. Aims
worth, chief of the Record and Pension
Pavilion. who has been placed on
the defensive by implied accusations
that he was responsible for the
presence of clerks in the old building,
entered the hall and engaged in short
consultation with his attorney, Mr.. R.
Post Perry, of this city
About a hundred persons were present.
most of them the clerks of the Record and
Pension division, with sprinkllng of w ar
Department officials, builders contractors
and policemen.
DR.. Shaffer. the deputy coroner of the
district, conducted the inquest. The jury,
which was sworn in Saturday, consisted of
B. H. Warner, G. J. Kellogg, j. A. Sibley,
Frank L. Harvey, VIM. Aver, Jr, and
Charles F. Schneider, and included archi-
/ tects and builders.
order, and prefaced the investigation by a
statement that, holding an investigation in
a public hall was something of an ex-
pertinent, and he admonished the people
| present to keep perfect quiet. There was
nobody on trial, he said. The jury would
| simply endeavor to get at the facts in the
case. He stated that the inquest was to
be held over the remains of ]. A. Chaplin,
whose body had been selected for that pur-
pose.
The statement of witness that the clerks
| held themselves in abject fear of Ainsworth
| was responded to by a round of applause
| letter from Secretary Lamont was read,
| giving assurance that no clerk need fear
| dismissal on account of his testimony.
Benjamin Reiss, clerk of Glass l, en-
| ployed in the old theatre building, was
the first witness called, He had been eX-
| cused, he said, at 8 o'clock on the morning
| of the disaster on account of business, and
was not present when the building fell.
He had not seen any area roped off as dan
gerous inside the old theatre. For several
years he had heard it rumored that the
building. particularly the rear wall (Which
did not falD, was unsafe.
| He had heard no talk about the danger
| GUS condition of the building within a
month.
A day or two before the accident he had
| seen Col. Ainsworth at the building, he
was there while the excavation was going
| on.
Charles Troutman, also a clerk in the
old theatre, knew of no protest having
| been sent by employees in the building to
the authorities about the dangerous con-
dition Of the building.
He had been warned by J. W. Webb in
charge of the first door, not to approach
an area on that floor, which had been
| roped off while the excavation was going
| on eight or ten days before the accident.
| The day before the accident he had seen
| Col. Ainsworth examining the roped-off
space infinitely, and he thought he went
| down stairs to see the excavation.
Col. Ainsworth came nearly every day
while the excavation was going on. The
} old employees of the building had told him
it was q shell and death trap"
Smith Thompson another clerk in the
theatre building, who made a bitter speech
denouncing Col. Ainsworth at the relief
meeting on Friday, testified that there was
no fire escape on the building and only
: | one door for entrance and exit. He said
that the clerks had frequently been warned
L to 60 up and down stairs on tip toes by
messengers of Col. Ainsworth as a matter
| / of general safety.
He saw no pillars or props used in hold
ing up the first floor while the excavation
I was going on.
1t was a matter of common talk that
this work was dangerous, and fellow
l clerk had warned him not to go there.
At the afternoon session of the inquest
, l q we'll dressed man walked forward and in
, ! voice trembling with passion, shaking
i his fist In Col. Ainsworth's face, shouted:
"YOu murdered my brother and vol
/ shan't sit there intimidatinS these wit
@ | nesses!"
The man was Charles Barnes, whose
brother was q victim of the disaster. After
: the uproar thus occasioned had quieted
Mr.. Davis, representing Col. Ainsworth
started to speak, when dozen excited de
partment clerks rose to to their feet ant
Q shouted for him to sit down.
q The lieutenant OF police present en-
deavored to quiet the outbreak but hi:
l. | voice was as Intellectual as it would hav,
| been in a cyclone.
e The excitement grew in intensity
q Nearly every clerk present who was EN-
- | ployed in the old theatre building was Oh
his feet shouting. At first tlAy only called
''Stt down; shut your mouth" but finally
t some frenzed individual cried ''han,
him, hang him."
Men were springing forward by thi
= time, and mere spectators present sough
| covers.
II looked as if harm would come to Col
Ainsworth, for some clerks were shaking
their fists over his head and others wer
, pushing forward as if they wished to tea
him to pieces.
Mr.. Warner, one of the jurors, finally
managed to quiet the mob and the deput,
coroner adjourned the inquest.
The Military Inquiry.