Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-07-13
An ATLANTIC HORROR
Collapse Of a Crowded Building in
the City by the Sea.
ELKs WE'RE CELEBRATING THERE

Fully Thousand People Precipitsssd TO
the Floor Beneath. and Many Caught By
Failing Beams Many Legs and Arms
Broken, but Only ono Death Thus Far.
ATLANTIC CITY, July 1.-THE social scs-
sion rendered by Atlantic City lodge to
the visiting Elks ut the Baltic avenue en-
sine last night ended in a terrible disaster,
In which fully hundred persons were
more or less seriously injured The ses-
sion had just opened, and only one Of the
speakers bud been heard when, without
the slightest warning, the building. which
had not bean used for several years, col
lapsed, and fully thousand persons were
thrown to the floor beneath. Many wo-
men. the wives of the visiting Elks, went
down in the ruins. Fully go persons who
were on the first floor Of the building and
Immediately beneath the banquet hall,
were crushed beneath the timbcrs.
Thu fact that all the electric lights in
the building went out at the time the
building gave way added to the terrible
situation. A double alarm for the fire de-
partment was at once turned in, and the
city's entire force of 200 flremen and every
police officer in the city were called to tho
scene as hospital corps. The police am
balances and carriages of every descrip-
ton were utilized to convey the injured
to the city hospital and to their hotels
When the police and fremcn arrived on
the scene the excitement was SO intense
that they scarcely knew where to begin
first Animmense crowd of people had been
attracted to the place by the noise of the
falling building and the groans of the UNI
fortunates who were pinned beneath bricks
and timbers, and the streets for several
blocks were choked. Within a few min
utes the police succeeded in clearing the
space in the immediate neighborhood Of
the building and stretched ropes around
to keep the crowd back.
In the meantime the firemen had set to
work to extricate the wounded from be-
meath the mass of timbers and they wero
aided in their work by the hotel keepers
and residents near the scene. Every house
was thrown open for the reception of the
injured, and every available conveyance
was pressed into service to carry them to
their hotels Meanwhile, physicians were
on the scene and were doing everything in
their power to aid the unfortunates who
had been caught in the crash. As quickly
as the unconscious form of victim was
taken out of the ruins willing hands bore
it to the nearest place. ard everything
that surgical skill could do to alleviate
their suffcrings was done.
The list of casualties SO far reported is
as follows: Frederick Claproth, of Cam
den, both legs and arms broken, died soon
after; James J. Armstrong theatrical
agent, New York, exalted ruler of New
VprIr Cd h,f1x
Meyer Wolfe, Atlantic City, lighthouse
engineer, injured internally; Charles w.
Tolwell, Camden, leg and arm broken
P. Eckman, Camden, leg and arm broken;
Frank Bolton, clerk of the Hotel Tray
more, this city, shoulder badly crushed
and otherwise injured; Charles w. Foote,
of Minneapolis, manned and bruised; De-
tective James Doyle, of Minneapolis
badly bruised and injured internally; Miss
Armstrong, daughter of james j. Arm
strong mentioned aboye), aged II. arm
broken; William Varney, baseball mana
ger, Baltimore, injured internally; Mrs
Fleischman, Philadelphia, both legs
broken; G. NJ Foote, arm broken; Nathan
lei Duke, head and body bruised; Charles
w. Farwell, Minneapolis. nose broken;
a number of members of Jennings band,
of Camden, N. j., were injured internally
The first victim to succunb to his inju-
ries was Frederick Claproth, of No SIC
Kimber street, Camden. He died shortly
after midnight at a neighboring hetel to
which he had been conveyed. Claproth
had been in the crowd on the lower floor
of the building when the crash came He
was caught and pinioned down under a
mass Of timbers and when, after great
difficulty, the police succeeded in extricat-
ing his body, it was found that both his
legs and arms had been broken. He never
regained consciousness.
1t is now feared that many more deaths
will result, and it is a matter Of wonder
ment that out of the 200 or more persons
who were on the lower floor none were
lrillod irrl,t