The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1897-10-18
Wonder the Opera House 'Acci-
dent at Cincinnati Was So
Long Delayed.
Warming Given in Time For Most
of the Audience to Leave
the House.
Huge Rafters Holding Up the
Dome Worm Eaten and Dry
as Punk.

NlNAlNNA14 wv.
expression with reference to the disas.
ter at Robinson's Opera House, is
s'what good fortune it was that the
house had SO few people in it."
It has not yet been definitely deter
mined how many were killed, and the
unknown man who was killed is still
unidentified. The chief interest now
centers in the cause Of the dreadful &C.
cident. From a careful examination it
appears that not only was the construc.
ton faulty, but the work and material
were defective. In a word the timbers
were rotten.
The huge rafters composing the truss
that fell in were as dry as punk, II
the pieces Of joist that connected them
were worm eaten and rotten. The
nails and bolts were rusty, and every.
thing went to show that this entire
part Of the building was in such q dan
gerous condition, that it is strange that
it had not been discovered long ago.
How 1t Happened.
The house was fairly we'll filled. but
not crowded. About $50 o'clock the
plastering began to fall, in small par
ticles at first, but enough to1llarm some
Of the timid or cautious, who retired.
A little later it began to shower down
in great chunks from the ceiling above,
which supported the dome. The gal
lery and balcony Were soon emptled.
Those in the dress circle retired as
promptly as possible, and, strange to
say, without an apparent panic. The
crowding Of those to the door OBJ
structed the passage Of people from the
parquet, which accounts in a measure
for the number of casualties. Nobody
expected at that moment any other
danger than from the falling plastering.
Big Center Truss Drops.
Suddenly and with a great crash the
enter truss ct the ceiling, 50 feet long
and 30 teet wide came p4unglng down.
The ends Of it struck Oh the two gallery
wings and doubled 1t up III the center,
sending it down mo the palquet with
q great Settlement OF lolstS and TIM
bers, killing several people and lnjuring
scores Of others. Alarms We're sent III
and police and tircmen hurried 70 the
scene. After several hours hard work
the bodies OF the dead Were recovered
and the injured ell removed to the Gin.
lnnat hospital. The list at the hos.
pltal showed 3 dead, ) dangerously ii
not fatally wounded, and .6 more OF
less seriously injured. The dead are
Mrs. Lucy Cohen, Mrs. George klee'
man and an unknown man. In add.
ton a large number. probably 70 or 81,
Were slightly injured and able to walk
home. OF the dangerously injured al
the hospital, several will require ampu'
tatlons. A score of surgeons volun
teered their assistance to the hospita
corps.
Searching for Missing Friends.
The scene in front of the hospita
door was a sad one. Hundreds OF people
gathered there clamoring tor the name
OF the injured. An attendant stood a
the door with a list of those brought t.
the hospital and answered anxious en-
quirers. At the opera house ropes wer
stretched across all approaching streets
and the police had all they could do t
keep the crowd of 1000 OF 5000 peopl
from crushing through. All sorts O
wild rumors were afoat and publ
curiosity was on tiptoe, all the NOR
ardent because of these rumors. TIL
damage to the structure was nothing a
all to the stage, comparatively little t
the gallery, which suffered most; al
most nothing to the dress circle, an
much less than one would think fro1
the debris scattered around through tn
parquet, where the main truss landed