Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1893-06-10
THE DISASTER IN WASHINGTON.

DuG liGlle IuOEc uecu NC S.lU VI VIZ
terrible disaster in Washington yester-
day caused by the collapse of Ford's
old theatre, the GAZETTE having al
ready published the main facts connect
ed with the sad affair, the number OF
killed and wounded, Sc. Yesterday
and last night numbers OF people from
this city visited the scene of the dis
aster. but the neighborhood being
guarded by soldiers they were not al
lowed to get within two squares of the
ill-fated building
Those who were fortunate enough
to escape with their lives amid the
crash of timbers and plaster tell thrill
ing stories.
So far twenty-five bodies have been
recovered from the debris. The search
for the killed was finished about nine
o'clock last night, by which time every
thing had been removed from the IN
terror of the building, and it was deh-
nitely known that the full extent OF the
tragedy had been ascertained. The
number Of injured runs up in the scores.
The horror has been added to the cata-
logue of disasters for which some one
is to blame, and the building with sew
eral others in Washington has been
looked at with apprehension for some
time. Five stories high it rises with
smooth, straight walls unencumbered
by the formality of fire escapes, with
one narrow stairway at the southern
end, standing between the half-thous-
and inmates and possible death. In
side a square open court pierces the
centre to the roof, and on the galleries
around this were packed the clerks at
their desks.
Five hundred government clerks, of
the Record and Pension Division of the
War Department, herdcd into the
building, felt the floors sinking under
them at twenty-five minutes to ten yes
terday morning. One hundred of them
subsequently dropped into a pit OF
chaos, crashing, binding, groaning
mass of bricks, timbers, furniture, pa
pers, and mangled humanity, the ter
ror of sudden death. Spectators rush
! ing to the street could see but cloud
lof thick choking dust pouring from win
dows and doors, enveloping the build
ing completely, and from under which
as they stood perplcXed with swift hor-
ror, came crawling miserable blood
dripping, dirt matted, half-clothed men;
1t was without Il prcmonitory sound
of any sort at twenty-five minutes be-
fore ten pillar on the southwest cor
ner of the spot marked off as danger
Gus began to slowly sink. Those near
est it jumped for their lives, but
they had no time to escape, and
knew not which way to turn.
The second floor above the pillar be-
gan to drop, the third floor caved,
there was creaking, tearing sound OF
breaking timbers, the load of the front
half of the third floor dropped through
to the second floor, the whole combined
mass of men, furniture and tlmbers
crashed to the second floor, and in a
shorter space than the telling has tax
Ell the whole front interior of the build
ing was a wreck. Like rats caught in
sinking ship, the living in the rear
of the trap rushed about. Some hur-
ried for the doors and windows, crowd
Jug. trampling and thrusting, all ex-
pecting their half of the building to
Sink under them. Some had sat there
for years planning their channels of
escape when the expected casualty
should come, and those made good
their lives. Some, turning the wrong
way in the dust cloud, slid off the slop-
ing floor, clutching frantically, like
drowning men, at every object, into a
mass below. The imprisoned men
could only be heard occasionally utter
ing groans and faint cries.
The work of rescue was prosecuted
by willing ones who rushed from every
direction when news of the terrible
calamity was noised through the city,
and the dead, mangled and injured
were carried to drug stores and impro-
vised hospitals as soon as they could
be extricated from the tangled debris.
There were many heartrending scenes
at the theatre of the horror. Frantic
women wrung their hands and men
with blanched faces and full of appre-
hension underwent terrible ordeal as
body after body was removed, not
knowing what minute tho remains of n
relative would be taken from the ruins.
Toward midnight the crowd in the
neighborhood had thinned percepti-
bly, and subsequently the streets in the
locality had but few more people than
the average upon them.
To-day the work of removing the
debris was resumed.
At first it was feared that all Of the
diggers under the front of the building
must have been killed. They had been
working directly under the front of the
building, and their excavations had so
weakened the pillars supporting the
upper floors that they fell. Luckily,
no one was at work Immediately on the
spot, which was protected only by
temporary floor, but all were back I'M
der the brick archway of the cellar,
which remained firm.
A court of inquiry will be appointed
to determine the cause of the calamity,
and, if possible, fix the responsibility
where it properly belongs.
Relief associations are being organ
lied and contributions are coming in
from many quarters.
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