Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-07-11

THE FLOOR GATEWAY
EIks Crushed in a Failing
Building.
LARGE NUMBER INJURED.
The Hall Floor Sinks Beneath the
Combined Weight of Thousand
Visiting Elks.
LARGE NUMBER INJURED.


The social session rendered by the Atanuc
lodges to visiting Elks at the Baltic Avenue
Casino tonight ended In terrible disaster
In which fully 1000 persons were more or less
seriously injured. The session had Just
opened and only one Of the speakers had
boon heare when, without the slightest warn
Ing the building which had not been used
for several years, collapsed and fully lOO
persons were thrown TO the hoor below:
Many women, wives OF the delegates, went
down. Fully 200 persons who were on the
FIRST floor Of the building and immediately
beneath the banquet hail, were crushed be-
meath the timbers and lay helpless The
fact that all the electric lights In the build
ing went out at the time the building gave
way added to the terrible situation.
double alarm was turned In and the city's
FIRE force OF 800 and every police officer In
the city were called to the scene hospi-
tai corps. The police anbulaneos and car
riaEes Of every description were utilized TO
convey the injured 10 the hospitals and to
their hotels. when the policemen and fro-
men arrived on the scene the excitement
was 80 Intense that they scarcely knew where
TO begin nfst. An Immense crowd OF people
had been attracted TO the place by the noise
OF the falling building and groans OF the un-
| fortunates pinned under the bricks and tim-
| bers. The streets for several blocks were
choked. The air was full OF anxious inquir-
les for friends and relatives who were thought
| TO have been In the building, Within few
minutes the police succeeded In clearing a
| space In the Immediate nelghborhood Of tho
building and placed ropes around to Keep
the crowd back,
III the mehhtitnc the tlfotnQn had set TO
| work 10 oXtrioatc the wounded from beneath
| the mass OF timbors, and they were aided In
| their work by the hotel keepers and resi-
| dents near the scene. Every house was open
| for the reception OF the injured and every
| available conveyance was pressed into ser
| vice to carry them TO their hotels. Mean
| while physicians were on the scene and were
| doing everything In their power to aid the
| unfortunates who had been caught In the
crash. As soon as the unconscious form OF
| victim was taken out OF the ruins willing
hands conveyed II to the nearest place and
everything that surgical skin could do to
alleviate their suferings was done.
| The excitement amidst the assembled crowd
| was even greater than that in the neghbor-
| hood OF the building. All sorts OF rum0ts
were rife. 1t was first reported that the
| quent panic many lives had been crushed out.
| Then n rumor came that the entire edlfoe
had collapsed, As 1t had been generally
| the order had been In progress in the build
| Ing. and that II was In all likelihood the larg-
| est attended meeting OF the convention al
most every new arrival upon the scene was
| almost frantic with grief and anxiety for
| some relative or friend. Their fears were
| to an extent quieted when II was learned
from a good source that no lives had been
| lost. In the excitement Of the disaster It
was almost impossible to procure accurate
| details.
The lrst victim to succumb to his injuries
| was Fred W. Claprcth Of Camden. lie
| died shortly after midnight at a noighborlng
| hospital TO which he had been conveyed.
| Claproth had been In the crowd on the lower
door OF the building when the crash came.
Both legs were broken. He never regainod
The list OF Injured cannot be fully com
| piled, but tonight the following are tho more
| seriously injured. James j, Armstrong Now
| York. both legs broken, Mayor Wolfe, NJ
| lantlc City, injured internally; Charles W.
| Tolwell, Camden, leg and arm broken, Fred
erlck Caparth, Camden leg broken r.
| Ekman, leg and arm broken; Frank Bolton,
| clerk Of Hotel Traymore, this city, shoulder
badly crushed and otherwise injured.
| Charles W. Foote Of Minneapolis. manned and
bruised; James Doyle Of Minneapolis. in
| tornally injured and badly bruised; James
| Armstrong theatrical agent, New York ek-
allied ruler Of New YORK; lodge no. J., both
| aged IL, arm broken: w Lombard. Boston
| lei; broken Horace Arndt East Orange, N
back broken VIM; barnie, baseball man Nan
| Fleischnian. philadelphia, both legs broken
/ c. II. Foote, arm broken; Nathaniel Duke,
/ head and body bruised; Charles W. Farwell
| Minneapolis, nose broken; number OF mem
beers Of jennings band, Camden. N. j.. inter
nally injured:
| Is; Antonio Diamond, Philadelphia. Pres-
| ton Eckman. Mounthold, J. N: A. J. Lee,
Camden Mrs. Helen NJ. Rogers, Camden;
J. rockwell, Philadelphia; leopold Frey,
| New York; Henry uorney, wife and child,
Philadelphia; Mr.. Lively and daughter, ~
/ Philadelphia Miss Curing. Detroit w.
49, Rice, New York; Mrs. Alive Allen,
| Brooklyn; Mrs. Frank Neal. Bnltim0rei
| Or. Fry, Roanoke, Val ]. Melville Jansen,
Philadelphia Mrs Janson, philadelphia
| JamesI,ong, Camden; Mrs. William Mlnns,
| Camden; ID. II. Condlt, Camden; j. W. Witx-
| man, Philadelphia Jos. Cayanaugh, Pitts
burg; Lee Fry, Philadelphia; Mr.. and Mrs
| Lee, Allegheny; Charles u. Sheriff. Puts
| burg: Mrs. II. conlin. Rochester; Mrs, Henry
| Herring, Rochester; Mis-. Rudolph Chaser.
Pittsburg Mrs. @. Lasson. Pittsbufg; Mrs.
r. NJ, Newbury. New York; Fred shultz,
| Pittsburg: a. u. Conn, New York. NJ. Rich
| mond New York; Jennie Rockwell Phllnde-
phia; MIR. Gardner, Philadelphia.