Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1898-11-12
EXPLOSION IN THE CAP|I0I
QUARTER OF A MILLION roCr
Escaping Gas Exploded in tho
tol building i'm Wasn't,
Wrecking the Rooms of tho
preme Court and Destroxiu
nable Books and Document.

Washington, Nov An evnIo,;
and Il fire at 5;l3 yesterday afternoo
wrecked the supreme court room and ~
rooms Immediately adjoining if on ~
main floor of the capitol The entire oon
tral and eastern part of the great m,,a,r
pile from the main floor to the snh,s.
rHnean basement practically is a mass :
ruins The force of the explosion wa. :
heavy that the coping stones on tho OUT
walls just east Of the point where ths
explosion occurred were bulopd ont noa.
ly two inches, and locked doors woro
forced from their hinges quite $50 faot
from the scene Fire followed the exnlo
sion so quickly a, to seem practically sm
uItaneous with il.
The explosion shook the immense st,,u
tre to its foundations, and was hears
several squares from the capitol. II o.,
CURED in Il small room tightly enclosed
by heavy stone walls in the subterranpan
basement Immediately below the main on.
trance to the old capitol building. In this
room was 500-light gas meter which
was fed by four-inch main. Little cae
is used in that part of the building, but at
the time OF the explosion the gas had not
been turned off at the meter. The meter
itself was wrecked, and the gas pouring
from the main caught fire. The flames
originating from the explosion darted IN
the shaft OF the elevator which had been
completely destroyed by the force of the
explosion, and communicated with the
record room Of the supreme court, the of,
flee of the marshal Of the court and the
supreme court library. Before the flames
could be ,ubducd the priceless documen's
in the record room had been almost total.
w destroyed and serious damage had been
done in the maIshals Office and some
minor rooms in the immediate vicinity.
The library Of the supreme court, located
Immediately beneath the supreme court
room, was badly damaged by fire, smoke
and water.
Throughout the lower central portion
OF the old capitol building, doors, win
dowS and fittings in committee rooms.
and other apartments, are badly damaged
Just north OF the crypt an archway a.
most over the meter room was completely
blown out and great MASSES OF masonry
torn from the floor were hurled TO the
ceiling with such force is TO burst the
stone and plaster OF the walls above Pom
dcrous hagstones were Wrenched from
their resting places and Throughout the
corridors the frescoing on the ceiling and
walls Of the corridors were utterly ruin
ed. No damage VAS done - the nam
foundations Of the building as these are
OF solid masonry deeply embedded and
- feet four inches thick.
Justice Harlan said that While the loss
of the records was irreparabIe. 1t was tor-
tunate that the later records of the court
which are kept in the office OF the clerk
on the main floor, were not injured As
documents for reference at this time ana
later. Justice Harlan thought these were
Of lar greater value than the records de,
,troyed. Fortunately the clerk ONCE
WAS not in the least damaged by fire ana
the explosion did no damage IN 1t exec"
to blow one window out.
In the opinion OF the capitol oiilcl@'
and mechanics who examined the stru''
ture the loss will reach probably S-oo'
600 to the building The loss on the Il,
brary and records, as stated above "a"
scarcely be estimated in dollars and een's
\ million dollars could not replace uleiDi
because of many OF them no duplicates
are in existence.