The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1897-10-22
Wonder the Opera House Acct
dent It Cincinnati Was 50
Long Delayed.
Warning Given1in Time For Most
Of the Audience to Leave
the House.
Huge Ratters Holding Up the
Dome Worm Eaten and Dry
as Punk.

CINCINNATI OCT. lS.-AThe common
expression with reference to the disas.
tsr at Robinson's Opera House, IL
s'what good fortune II was that the
house had 90 few people in Il. = n
L has not yet been definitely deter
mined how many were killed, and the
unknown man who was killed 10 stin
unidentified. The chief interest now
osnters In the cause Of tho dreadful %.
cident. From careful examination II
appears that not only va tho oonstruc-
tdon faulty, but the work and material
were defective. In aswosd the timbers
were rotten. III +.
The huge rafters composing the truss
that fell in were as dry a. punk, and
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 . dan,
gerous condition, that IL ID strange that
It had not been discovered long ago.
How Il Happened.
The house. was fairly well filed, but
not crowded. About $50 O'Clock the
plastering began to fall, in small par
ticles at fixst but enough to alarm some
OF; the timid or cautious, who retired.
A little later Il began to shower down
in great chunks from the ceiling above,
which supported the dome. The gal
lery and balcony were soon emptied.
Those in the dress circle retired as
) promptly a. possible, and, strange to
cay, without an apparent panic. The
providing Of those to the door oh.
structed the passage Of people from the
parquet, which accounts in 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 great crash the
center truss Of the ceiling, 80 feet long
and 80 feet wide came plunging down.
The ends Of it struck on the two gallery
wings and doubled it up in the center,
sending it down into the parquet with
. great scatterment Of joists and tim.
bers. killing several people and injuring
scores Of others. Alarms were sent in
and police and firemeh hurried to the
scene. After several hours hard work
the bodies Of the dead were recovered
and the injured all removed to the Gin.
cinnati hospital. The list at the hos
pital showed 3 dead, 3 dangerously il
not fatally wounded, and 28 more or
less seriously injured. The dead are
Mrs. Lucy Cohen, Mrs. George Klee-
man and an unknown man. In addi-
ton large number. probably % or 81,
were slightly injured and able to walk
home. OF the dangerously injured at
tho hospital. several viii require ampu-'
tations. a score Of surgeons volun-
tteered their assistance to the hospital
corps.
searchins for Missing Friends.
The scene in front Of the hospital
door was q sad one. Hundreds OF people
gathered there clamoring for the names
Of the injured. An attendant, stood at
the door with q list Of those brought to
the hospital and answered anxious en-.
quirers. At the opera house ropes were
stretched across all approaching streets,
and the police had all they could do to
keep the crowd of 1890 or 5000 people.
from crushing through. All sorts Of
wild rumors were atioat and public
curiosity was on tiptoe, all the more
ardent because Of these rumors. The
damage to the structure was nothing at
all to the stage, comparatively little to
the gallery, which suffered most; al.
most nothing to the dress circle, and
muchsless than one would think from
the debris scattered around through the
parquet. whore the main truss landed.