The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-11-07
Fire At THE CAPITOL,
Gas Explosion Causes Great De-
struction in the Big Building.
SUPksME COURT ROOM WRECKED.

Valuable Rec ords of tho Court, Which
We're Filed Away in the Vaults Be-
meath That Portion Of the Capitol,
Have Been Utterly Destroyed.
Washington. Nov. THE United
States supreme court room. located
near the center of the Capitol, ls wreck
ed. the vaiua BILE law library connected
with it seriously damaged, and many
OF the valuable records OF the court
filed away in vaults beneath that por-
This is the result of an explosion of
gas. which occurred in the sub base
ment of the Capitol just beneath the
supreme court room at 500 yesterday
afternoon. The explosion destroyed
the flooring and entrance to the room
Immediately below the supreme court
room. and the fire which followed com
municated at once to the law library
and supreme court room. Except for u
small flame of burning gas the fire
had been extinguished at 1880.
Those about the building at the time
OF and Immediately after the explosion
all agree that 1t came from gas, though
there is difference of opinion as to
what caused It, An engineer in the
building stated that a gas meter had
exploded Another official stated that
hs understood a small gas engine used
In running the private elevator for the
members Of the supreme court was To-
Gated in the vaults, and that the ex-
piosion came from It., but the most
plausible statement is that In the
vaults where the records are stored
gas jets continually burn. 1t Is believed
ti,at one of these jets blew out from a
draft and that the gas escaped from
ii until the tightly closed vault had
been filled with gas. which percolated
through cracks and reached lighted
Jet. thus causing the explosion.
An examination of the lower portion
of the building shows that the force
Of the explosion was terrific. Doors
and windows were blown out, and in
many places there are large cracks in
thu under pinning Of the walls. 1t is
asserted that several supporting col
umns to the main entrance of the
building are six inches out of plumb.
There is no doubt that many valuable
papers and documents have been per-
snsnently destroyed, and their value
fNm IL money standpoint could not
be estimated. Twenty thousand dol
lars had just been expended in mprov-
ing the supreme court room.
TIE entire central eastern part Of the
great marble pile, from the main floor
to the subterranean basement. prac-
tically is a mass Of ruins. The force
of lie explosion was so heavy that the
coping stones on the outer walls just
cas-. of the point where the explosion
occurred were bulged out nearly two
anches, windows in all that part Of the
fbuilding were blown out and locked
0oDrs were forced from their hinges
quite $50 feet from the scene of it.
Fire followed the explosion so quick
~ as to seem practically simultaneous
Wnh It, The explosion shook the i'm
mense structure to its foundation, and
was heard several squares from the
Capitol 1t occurred in small room
tightly enclosed by heavy stone walls
In the subterranean basement, immedi-
0tety below the main entrance to the
Did Capitol building. In this room was
= 500 light gas meter. Which was fed
by four inch main. The meter itself
was wrecked and the gas pouring from
the main caught fire. The flames orig
Anaiing from the explosion darted up
The shaft of the elevator which had
been completely destroyed by the force
6f ihe explosion, and communicated
with the record room of the supreme
cnurt. the office Of the marshal of the
cDurt and the supreme court library.
Before the flames could he subdued the
had been almost totally destroyed and
Herious damage had been done in the
office and some minor rooms
In HE immediate vicinity.
Tin library of the supreme court, To-
Gated Immediately beneath the su-
pre,,l, court room. was badly damaged
by fire smoke and water, water prac-
flcaiiy destroying the great collection
Of taW reference books. The library
about 10000 volumes, and was
uE,.i not only by the justices of the
Buaren" court. but by members Of
coKsl,ss and lawyers rlacticing be-
Fore the "lpreme court.
It's. ,,st serious damage in the
Opium {! III" justices of lhr supreme
court is To the records stored in III"
sub basement. Thes" included all of
the records of the supreme court from
lIs2 to lN32. The room contains records
Of cases and opinions rendered by the
fathers Of tn" governments judiciary.
!u.tt north Of the crypt an archway,
almost over the meter room. was COM
pieley blown out and great masses of
masonry torn from the floor We're hurl-
I'd to the ceiling with such force as to
burst the stone and plaster Of the walls
above. T6nderous nagstones were
'*irnchrd from their resting places and
the corr litlurs the fresruing
IN The ceilings and walls Of the cor
ridOrs were utterly ruined. No dam
lge wa9 done to the nrain foundations
II the buildings, as those are of solid
masonry. deeply embedded, and 25 feet
'our inches thick.
Among the losses which win be most |
sincerely regretted are those of busts |
If Chief Justice Marshall and other !
distinguished members of tn" supreme |
:ourt, which We're arranged on small |
pedestals about the supreme court |
:hamher. In the smoke and ruin which |
followed the explosion thes.. valuable |
works Of art We're either badly dam |
lged or wholly destroyed.
In the opinion of the Capitol officials |
Ind mechanics who have examined the |
Itructure the loss will reach probably
200. 900 to the building. The loss on the |
library and records, as stated above,
IAN he scarcely estimated IN dollars and
:ents million dollars could not re-
,lace them, because many of them have
10 duplicates in existence.
J.,f