The record-union., 1897-08-13
ACCIDENT AT A FUNERAL.
AN OLD PORCH FALLS AND IN
JURES SEVERAL PERSONS.
One Broken Leg and a Number of
Cuts and Bruises Were Among
the Casualties.

One of those accidents for which no
one is responsible, happened at the fun
eral of Mrs. Mary E. Tierney, which was
held from the residence of her parents.
Captain and Mrs. Mendis, at 1908 Sec
ond street, at 8 O'Clock yesterday morn
ing
Mrs. Tierney's illness dated from the
death of her husband which occurred a
month ago, and from the shock Of which
she never recovered, and yesterday
those who had been her friends and
neighbors gathered to pay their last sad
respects to her memory.
The Mendis residence is an old, two
storied brick building, which has stood
for many years, and the room in which
the remains lay was an upper one, being
reached by a flight of steps which start
from the gate, and an upper porch ex-
tended the entire front of the building.
This porch like the rest Of the building,
was old, and the beams, besides being
set but a short distance into the wall,
were partly decayed.
The funeral was being conducted by
undertaken George H. Clark, and after
the friends had viewed the remains,
about a dozen of them, chiefly women,
stood upon the porch, the farther end
of which was occupied by number OF
floral pieces, to await the passage of the
pall-bearers with the casket.
Mr.. Clark and his assistant, Charles
Craig, were standing on the porch di-
recting the pall-bearers, when the latter
called Clark's attention to a movement
of the porch. and said it was unsafe
No further words We're spoken, for at
that instant the supports holding the
porch gave way and it fell to the ground
beneath, carrying with it all who had
waited there.
In an instant all was confusion, and
the women who fell with the porch were
shrieking with fright and pain, num-
Der being caught fast and held by the
debris. A number of persons were on
the lower porch when the accident oc-
urred. and by their united efforts the
fall was eased down a little, but not
enough to keep some of those above
from receiving serious injuries.
The injured were: Mrs. M. F. Kent,
1915 Third street, badly bruised; Mrs.
Theresa Lombard, alley Q and H.
Third and Fourth streets, leg broken;
Mrs. F. O'Connor, 316 T street, both
ankles badly sprained; Mrs. P. Ha1lanan,
316 II street, bruised and badly shaken;
Mrs. Joseph Builder, 327 NJ street, badly
cut in the face and on the neck. ana
Mrs. Nellie McGraw, Sixteenth ana
Seventeenth on n street, was severely
shaken. George Vice, who was one OF
the pail bearers, was cut and bruised
about the head and face. but continued
to act as bearer.
Undertaken Clark went down with the
rest and received bad scalp wound on
the top of the head from falling TIM
Der. He, however, gathered himself up
and continued his duties as director as
though going down with porches was an
everyday occurrence. He had the IN
iured women placed in carriages ana
conveyed to their respective homes, ana
after laying a temporary bridge from
the door to the steps, the remains were
brought out and conveyed to the Cathe-
dral. where the services were held.
The accident is to be deplored, but no
fault attaches anywhere. The porch feli
about ten feet. and the wonder is that
some of the women were not fatally in
jured. At latest accounts all We're doing
xgaIl