The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1895-07-17
A FEARFUL ACCIDENT.
TRAGIC CLOSING OF THE ANNUAL
REUNION OF THE ELKS.
Floor of the Casino Collapses During So
cial Meeting of the Elks--Nany People
IDjured--Some will Die.

Floor of the Casino Collapses During So
cial Meeting of the Elks--Many People
Injured--Some will Die.
ATLANTIC CITY, n. j., July I0.-A
frightful accident terminated the Elk
festivities at the Inlet Casino tonight,
in which a large number of persons
sustained terrible injuries, from which
some will die. 1t was at $50 o'clock,
when the grand exalted ruler of the
Buffalo body, Meade D. Detwiler, of
Harrisburg, mad finished his address
at the opening of the social session of
the Elks and was about to introduce
James J. Armstrong, of New York,
when a cracking sound was heard. A
moment later the floor upon which
were almost thousand people slowly
opened. and the mass of humanity
was precipitated to the first floor, dis
tance of twenty-five feet. Men, wo-
men and children were plunged into
the hole and upon one another. The
cries, shrieks and groans were deafen-
ing and the direst confusion reigned
An alarm was Immediately sent out
and all the physicians in town re-
sponded.
By o'clock more than 1000 people
had gathered on the second floor of
the pavilion. anticipating a pleasant
evenings enjoyment. The bands at
tached to the visiting lodges had given
a fine concert and Capt. Samuel Per-
ry, of the Atlantic City Lodge had
just begun the preliminaries of start
ing the social session.
The night was lovely one and as
the strains of the music hoated out
over the ocean it seemed that a more
joyous crowd could not have been
gathered together anywhere. But
there were several hundred of the peo-
pie who had noticed the vibration OF
the floor and left the pavilion, fearing
that the great weight would lead to its
destruction and the consequent injury
of the merrymakers. Among these
cautious people were number OF
members Of the Camden Lodge, prom
inent among whom were Ex-Assem-
blyman VIM. Thompson and County
Clerk Robt j. Barber, of Camden
Fearing to create a panic they quietly
approached some members of visiting
lodges and discussed with the advisa-
bility of bringing the affair to close.
so as to relieve the floor of a portion
of the weight.
While they were yet talking the
crash came. A portion of the floor,
some thirty feet square, about the mid
die of the pavilion, and near the rail-
ing on the board walk alongside, came
tumbling down, bringing along prob
ably one hundred people.
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 broad walk. Men, wo-
men and children were jammed to-
gether trying to escape by the stair
way, while the victims of the crash
We're screaming for aid to extricate
them from the falling beams and TIM
bers.
When the first feeling of panic had
subsidized the surviving Elks gallantly
rushed to the rescue of their injured
brothers and friends, Indifferent to the
danger that confronted them, as they
did not know what instant the remain
der of the pavilion might bury them
beneath its ruins. While the work OF
rescue was going on the light on the
floor became extinguished and they
were placed in darkness. Men ran to
the car barn of the trolley road near
by and obtained a number of head
lights from the cars. These We're most
useful in assisting the work of the res
cuers. In the meantime the people who
were seated in the vicinity of the break
found themselves in imminent dan
ger of falling through the hole. In
deed, some 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 Cam
den Lodge, was seated by the side of
his wife in the section that fell. Mrs.
Rogers was precipitated to the ground
sustaining only nervous shock. Sen
ator Rogers had both hands caught be-
tween two beams and hung suspended
in the air until released by someone
unknown.
An alarm of fire was turned in, but
when the fremen arrived all the vic
TINS had been released from the wreck.
Before the arrival of the ambulances
a number of omnibuses were pressed
into service 10 carry away the wound
ed to their hotels or to the City Hospl-
tai.
l.1-pTIIEp pARTICI:IARS