The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-06-13
WAR CLERKS IN A FURY.
Threats Of LynChin6 AiRSWOTth Made
at the Inquest.

Menaoing Movement Was Made To-
ward the Colonel-He Sat Calmly
Facing His Subordinates With His
Hand Held Threateningly in His
Pocket.
Washington, June 12.-The chances of
recovery of J. P. Mccormack of Wiscon-
sin, now at the Emergency hospital, who
sustained n depressed fracture of the ribs
in the Ford theater tragedy last Friday,
hang in the balance.
Frank Metcalf of Massachusetts, who
In addition to his injuries has contracted
pneumonia, is reported about the same.
A. L. Aimes of Iowa and r. A. Smith
of Connecticut are better
p. ]. Pennington of Alabama is out OF
danger.
F. w. Test is so much improved that he
was conveyed to his home to-day
THE INQUEST.
The inquest over the bodies of the
victims of the disaster was commenced
this morning in Willard 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 responsible for the presence of the
clerks in the old building, was in attend
ance without an attorney About 100
persons were present, mostof them clerks
of the record and pension division.
A stenographer from the war depart
ment and representative of the district
attorneys Office had seats at the Coro-
ner's table The deputy coroner called
the jury to order and prefaced the inves-
tigatiOn by statement that holding an
inquest in a public hall was something of
an experiment and he admonished the
public present to keep perfect quiet.
There was nobody on trial, he said. The
jury would simply endeayor to get at the
facts in the case. He stated that the IN
quest was to be held over the remains of
J. A. Chaplin of South Carolina, whose
bo ly had been selected for that purpose.
BENJAMIN Reiss, a clerk of class - in
the record and pension division of the
war department, employed in the old
theater building, was the first witness
called. He had been excused, he said, at
9 O'Clock on the morning of the disaster
on account of business, and was not pres
ent when the building fell He had for
several years heard rumOrs that the
building was unsafe. He had seen Col.
Ainsworth in the building a day or two
previous to the disaster, while the work
of excavation was going on.
ONE OF THE MEN WHO WENT DOWN.
Charles Troutman, a clerk in the old
JllbdlGI5 W IOSC utSh was Oil lllC uLob ltpOls
described the fall of the floors and his
escape. He said he knew instinctively
that the excavation had caused the acci-
dent. The witness had been warned not
to approach a roDed-off space, but, to his
knowledge, no orders had been issued
about the insecurity Of the building, ex-
cept an unofficial warning. He saw no
underp1nning of the first floor He
had heard the roped-off space
called "the dead line" The day before
the accident he saw Col. Ainsworth ex-
amining the roped-off space minutely and
he thought he went downstairs 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 a shell and ga death
trap"
THE MAN WHO ATTACKED AINswORTH.
Smith Thompson, clerk in the theater
building who made a bitter 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 to the rear of
the right wall, the part of the building
Which did not fall. In describing his eX
perience he said there was no fire escape
on the building and only one door for
entrance and exit.
Had you ever heard any warning about
the Stairway" asked the deputy coroner.
Frequently, frequently" said the wit
ness. Servants or messengers OF Col.
Ainsworth who were stationed on the
stairway notified us with bated breath
that it was Col. Ainsworth's orders that
employees should go easy and on tip-toe up
and down the stairs. | do no know the
names of the servants or messengers. One
was called Henry, colored man. The
building was known to all the clerks as a
death trap, but our bread and butter de-
npnnnO JW0Txinr thn~A what pO1lln
we do2 Only this morning I re-
ceiyed a letter from friend, a
lady in which she said she recollected
distinctly that | said two years ago / was
going into death trap"
RECKLESS WORK IN THE CELLAR.
The witness said that he had been a
civil engineer. Every day he went below
stairs and watched the progress of the
excavation. He saw no pillars or props
used in holding up the first Aoer while
the excavation was going on. 1t was "a
matter of common talk that this work
was dangerous, and fellow clerk warned
him not to go there He had heard that
Mr.. Gage, one of the victims had applied
for leave of absence during the progress
of the work in the basement, but that it
had been refused. Mr.. Gage, he under
stood, was apprehensive of danger. Con-
corning the one stairway in the theater
building, Mr.. Thompson said it was not
sufficient for the rapid exit of one-half the
clerks with safety In going downstairs
he heard clerks call out Take care, the
stairs are unsafe
BITTER FEELING AGAINST AINSwORTH.
Just at this stage in Mr.. Thompson's
testimony there was a strange scene illus
trating the bitter feeling against Col.
Ainsworth A majority of the spectators
present at the inquest were clerks who
were employed in the old theater building
Mr.. Warner, one of the jurors asked the
witness what was the feeling of the
clerks in the theater building toward
their superior officer, Col. Ainsworth
'That of abject fear, answered Thomp-
son, impressively A slight buzz and
shifting of chairs followed, then slight
clapping of hands. The lieutenant of
police present held up his hand to stop the
attempt at applaud, but hewas too late. A
burst Of hand clapping followed that lasted
a quarter of a minute. 1t came from
portion of the room where most of the
clerks were sitting. DR.. Shaefter looked
astonished and Col Ainsworth grew red
Mr. Shaeffer then arose and delivered
lecture to the offenders, after which the
hearing proceeded.
AFRAID TO COMPLAIN.
Mr. IETa,.na,. co ~ 1,a aclxad tho question