Birmingham age-herald., 1895-07-11
A Frightful Accident at the ElkS'
 Gathering,
JOY TURNED INTO MOURNING
Men, Women and Children Dumped in a TwiakIng- Lengthy List of the
 Injured.

| ties at the Inlet casino tonight, in which l large number of persons sustained ter
 rible injuries. from which some will die.
 1t was at 9,30 o'clock when Grand Ex-
 alted Ruler Meade D. Detweler of .he
 Buffalo body of Harrisburg had finished
 his address at the opening of the social
 session of the Ellls. and was about to introduce James J. Armstrong of New
 York, when a cracking sound was heard. l A moment later Che floor, upon which
 were almost 1000 people, slowly opened,
 and the mass of humanity was precipi-
 tated to the first floor. a distance of 25 1 feet. Men, women and children were l plunged into the hole and upon one an-
 other The cries shri Is and groans | were deafening, and the direst confu- l sion reigned. An alarm was immediate l ly sent out. and all the physicians in 1 town responded. The work of eXtric1t- l by 12 o'clock they have all been removed l to the hospital or their hotels.
 Among the injured are the following:
 At the United States hotel: c. NJ. l Fcote of Minneapolis, collar bone and l arm broken; c. R. Lombard of Boston, l feet mashed and arm fractured; J. R. 1 Duke of Joliet H.. badly cut on the l head and about the face.
 1 At Schaufflers hotel: James Long of l the internal revenue service, Philadel- 1 phia, injured about the face and nose | broken; Ullie Lee of Camden, N. J., in 1 ternaly hurt; Charles Folwell of 221 l Pennsylvania street. Camden, N. J.. left | leg broken; George J. Pechlin of Camden, | leg mashed.
 | At the Majestic: J. S. Armstrong, ex- 1 alted ruler of the New York lodge of | ElkS, internal injuries, and also his little | 10-year-old daughter; Mrs. Japha and her 1 niece, Miss c. Friedenthal, of New York, suffering from slight internal injuries. At the Albermare: Mrs. c. Myers of | Philadelphia. leg fractured; Mrs R. A. | Liveslec of East Liverpool, O., leg
 mashed; M. F. Wells of East Liverpool, | O., spine injured.
 In addition to the above the following | are at other hotels: Prescott Eckerman
 of Mount Holly, N. J., of Jennings band, | leg broken; Fred LaProth of Camden, N. J., of Jennings band, internally injured, | probably fatal; J. Melville Jansen of | Carnieross theater, Philadelphia, eye 1 cut and leg badly cut; Mrs. Jansen, com | pound fracture of leg; Mrs. Anton Web | Der of Brooklyn, back injured; Mrs Hen- | ney, bruised about limbs and teeth | knocked out; John Throun of Baltimore, | severe cut in head; James Long of Cam | den revenue officer, nose broken; Mrs. William M. Mines of Camden, fractured | elbow and badly bruised; Frank Wlz- man, cornet player, ankle frac- | tured: J. T. Elkman Mt Holly, ankle
 
 | CT. rib broken. Demond, internally in- | jured: Frank Bolten, eye cut and badly | injured; Dr. Frye of Pocona, Pa., seri- | ously bruised and bad sprain of leg; c. | F. Sheriff, shoulder and knee badly | bruised; Mrs. c. F. Sheriff, left side in- | jured; J. M. Newberry, foot badly | bruised; Mrs. William Lee, badly shaken up; Mrs. R. G1aSsner, very seriously | bruised; Miss Colvin of Allegheny. Pa, | head cut and left limb bruised.
 At the-Reyal: Mrs. Knix Little of New | berg. N Y, badly shaken up; Mr. Lee, l Camden. internally injured Mrs James J. Armstrong, injured internally; Mon reese Barringer of New York, both legs broken; Antonio Dunon of Jennings band. Camden. leg broken.
 By o'clock 1900 people had gathered on the second floor of the pavilion anticpat- ing a pleasant evenings enjoyment. The bands attached to the visiting lodges had given a fine concert and Capt. Samuel Perry of the Atlantic City lodge had just begun the preliminarieS of starting the | local session. The night was a lovely one, and as the strains of the music f1oated out over the ocean it seemed that a more merry crowd could not have been gath | cred together anywhere. But there were | several hundred people who had noticed | the vibration of the floor and left the pa< vilon fearing that the great weight would lead to its destruction and the con | sequent injury of the merrymakers. Among these cautious people were a
 number of members of the Camden lodge, prominent among whom were Ex-Assem- blyman William J. Thompson and Coun- | ty Clerk Robert J. Barber of Camden. Fearing to create a panic, they quietly approached some members of visiting l lodges and discussed with them the ad- visa bility of bringing the affair to a | close so as to relieve the floor of DOT ton of the weight. While they were yet | talking the crash came. A portion of | the floor 30 feet square, located about | the middle of the pavilion and near the railing on the board walk, came tumbling | down, bringing along probably 100 peo- pie. In second the electric lights on | the second floor were extinguished, but | luckily those on the lower floor kept burning long enough to permit some of | the panic-stricken people to get to the | stairway, which remained intact. and | reach the board walk. Men. women and children were jammed together trying to escape by the stairway. while the vic tins of the crash were screaming for aid to extricate them from the falling beams and timbers.
 When the first feeling of panic had sub sided the surviving Elks gallantly rushed to the rescue of their injured brethren and friends, indifferent to the danger that confronted them, as they did not know the instant the remainder of the pavilion might bury them beneath it's ruins. While the work of rescue was going on the lights on the first floor be- came extnguished. and plunged the place into darkness. Men ran to the carl barn of the trolley road near by and ob- tained a number of headlights from the cars. These were most useful in assist ing the work of the rescuers. In the meantime the people who were seated in the vicinity of the building found thcm-s
 selves in immediate danger of falling through the hole. In some cases they
 were obliged to clutch the edge of the
 floor to keep themselves from going
 through.
 Maurice A. Rogers, ex-president of the senate of New Jersey and a member of
 the Camden lodge. was seated by the side
 of his wife in the section that fell. Mrs.
 Rogers was precipitated to the ground,
 sustaining only a nervous shock. Sem
 ator Rogers had both hands caught be-
 tween two beams and hung suspended
 in the air until released by some one
 unknown. An alarm of fire was turned
 in, but when the firemen arrived all the
 victims had been released from the
 wreck Before the arrival of the am-
 I,,lopooc nurpher If omuiblSeS were