Morning journal and courier., 1893-06-13
NEWS BY TELEGRAPH.
 From All Quarters. THREATS OF LYNCHING. Excitement at the Ford Theater Inquest.
 BICYCLE MEN ARE INDIGNANT. They Claim They Were Not
 We'll Treated in England. DR. noLAN PLACED ON THE STAND. Mrs. Borden Died Long
 Before Her Husband.
DR. nolAN PLACED ON THE STAND.
TIT WAS A DEATH TRAP

Before Her Husband.
 TIT WAS A DEATH TRAP. Testimony Given Regarding the Con. l dftion of Ford's Theater-Clerks
 Held in Abiect Fear by Colonel . Ainsworth - The Building Was
 Nothing Hut . She'll.
 WASHINGTON, June 12.-The inquest
 over the bodies of the victims of the Ford'a
 theater disaster was commenced to day ai
 II o'clock in Willsrd's hall. Colonel Aims.
 worth, chief of the record and pension
 division, who has been placed on the de.
 fensiye by implied accusations that he was
 responsible for the presence of clerks in
 the old building, was present. About a
 hundred persons were present, most of
 them the clerks of the record and pension
 division. with @ sprinkling of war depart
 ment officials, builders, contractors and
 policemen. Dr. Shaffer, the deputy coro-
 ner of the district, conducted the inquest,
 which was held over the rem sins of J. A. Chapin, whose body had tsen relecte1 for that purpose.
 Benjamin Reiss, clerk of class 1, record I ployed in the old theater building, was the first witness called. He had been excuee1, he said, at g 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 dangerous inside ! the old theatsr. For several years he had heard it rumored that the building, partiou- | larly the rear wall (which did not falD was 1 unsafe. He had heard no talk about the ' I .f kka1 1,rf Ill | in . month. A day or two before the acoi- dent he had eesn Colonel Ainsworth at the building. He was there while the exoava ton was going on.
 Charles Troutman. a clerk in the old theater, whose desk was on the first floor, described the fall of the floors and his escape. He eaid he knew instinetivsly that the excavation had caused the scci- dent.
 The witness knew of no protest having been sent by employees in the building to the authorities about the dangerous con- dition of the building. To his knowledge no orders had been issued about the inse- curity of the building, except an unofficial warning not to walk over the roped of space. He saw no derpinning of the first floor. He had heard the roped-off space called "The Deed Line" The day before the accident he had seen Colonel Ainsworth examining the ropcd off space minutely, and he thought he went down stairs to see the excavation. Colonel Ans worth came nearly every day while the ex- of the building had told him 1t was shell and "a death trap."
 Smith Thompson, & clerk in the theater building, who made a bitter speech de- nouncing Colonel Ainsworth at the relief meeting on Friday, testified that when the accident occurred he was at his desk at work on the second floor to the rear of the light wall, the part of the building which did not fall. In describing his experience he said there was no fire, esosps on the building, and only one door for entrance and exit. He had hooked an u mbrella to a window sill and lowered himself by 1t to @ ladder which someone below him held, and thus escaped from the building
 "Had you ever heard any warning about the stairwaya" asked the deputy coroner.
 "Frequently," said witness Servants or messengers of Colonel Atnsworth, who were stationed on the stairway notified us with bsted breath, that 1t was Colonel Ainsworth's orders that employees should go easily on tip toe up and down the stairs. The building was known to all the clerks as death trap, but one's bread and butter depended on working there; so what could we do" MT. Warner, a juror, asked the witness what was the feeling of the clerks in the theater building towards their superior officer, Colonel Ainsworth.
 "That of abject fear," answered MT. Thompson impressively.
 A burst of hand-clapping followed: It came from the portion where the clerks were sitting.
 Colonel Ainsworth grew red. Dr. Shaef- | fer looked astonished. MT. Warner asked if there was such feeling of fear that the l clerks were afraid to make suggestions as to the dangerous condition of the building. "There was," Thompson said emphaticsl- ly, "there was" MT. Thompson said that the feeling of fear also extended to Jacob Freehr, Colonel Ainsworth's right bower and the l chronic pessimist of Washington" and to O. B. Brown, chief clerk of the building.
 A man standing near Colonel Ainsworth suddenly cried out.
 "You murdered my brother. What right have you to sit here and intimidats witnesses"
 There was moments silence after this outburst and then @ wild shout of ap- proval. Colonel Atnsworth sat calmly in his chair. Police Lieutenant Amiss pushed the disturber towards the door. "Who Is hea" asked some one. "His name is Charles E. Banes, his brother was filled," was tine answer from 8 dozen clerks. Banes is real estate agent. The shouts continued ':That's rightI' "He did iti' Put him outln were the endorsements of the
 Nsps made hsr sas' fsst and s0ns it looked for moment es # Colonel Ainsworth wes in danger. But sharp | words from the police lieutenant finally l brought quiet. Juror Warner suggested l to the coroner that the episode showed the l existence of 6 feeling that could best be } silenced by the withdrawal of the parry against whom 1t was directed. "rnere ts a belief,n said MT. Warner, ''smong many of those here, that his preesnes esrves as an intimidation to witnesees. object to the presence cf any person who Is likely to be blamed for participation in this affair" 1 Loud applause followed MT. Werner's re. marks. Dr. Schaeffer whispsred . request to Colonel Ainsworth to withdraw. He refused to do so, however, and the coroner said he had no right to exclude any Fer son who was likely to be party to the l verdict.
 Juror Henvey said that he had been told by half a dozen clerks that they were afraid to testify and would have refused to do so bat for the letter of the secretary.
 R. Ross Perry, representing Colonel
 Ainsvortb, began to make some remarks
 when Butler Fitch, white haired clerk of
 the record and pension division, shouted:
 "Sit down; you are an outsider and have
 no right hers."
 ssSit down, sit down." echoed his fellow
 clerks. Fitch cried out something about
 "murder," ," and his words were echoed from
 every part of the hall. Clerks were on
 their feet trying to make speeches as
 though public meeting was being held.
 Mr. Perry stood immovable, and when the
 uproar had quieted somewhat he appealed
 to the crowd to let him speak. '9 appeal
 to you as American citizens for fair play" 7"
 he cried.
 "You did not give us fair play" yelled
 an excited individual.
 Butler Fitch kept crying, "No intimida-
 ton"