The state herald., 1898-11-11
.4AAAAon Dnmnuuu.
AN NExPLosIoNATwAsHlNoToN
burning Gas In the Basemcnt Plays Havoc
With Supreme Court Rooms and In-
jures the Building Seriously,

Washington, ID. c., Nov. Gan cx'
plosion and fire at 5:13 this afternoon
wrecked the Supreme Court room and
the rooms Immediately adjoining 1t on
the main floor of the capitol. The dam
age is enormous.
The entire central eastern portion of
the great marble pile from the main
floor to the subtcrrnncan basement
practically is n mass of ruins. The
force of the explosion was so heavy
that the Gaping stones on the outer
walls, just east of the point where the
explosion occurred, were bulged out
nearly two inches: windows In that
part of the building were blown out.
and locked doors, 100 feet away, We're
forced from their hinges. The fire fol-
lowed the explosion so quickly as TO
seem practically simultaneous with 1t.
The explosion shook the immense
structure to Its foundations and was
heard several squares from the capitol.
1t occurred in n small room tightly in
closed by stone walls in the subterran'
can basement, Immediately below the
main entrance TO the old capitol build
ing,
In this room was n 5O0.light gas
meter, which was fed by n four-incll
main. Very little gas Is used in that
part of the building, hut ut the time of
the explosion the gas had not been
turned on at the meter. The meter
itself was wrecked and the gas pour.
ing from the main caught fire,
The flames originating from the cX-
ploslon dartcd up the shaft of the cle-
vator, which had been completely
destroyed by the force of the explosion
and communicated with the record
room of the Supreme Court, the Office
or the marshal of the court and the
Supreme Court library.
Before the flames could be subdued
the priceless documents In the record
room had been almost totally destroyed
and serious damage had been done in
,hc marshars office and some minor
rooms In the immediate vicinity.
Tie library Of the supreme Court, To-
Gated Immediately beneath the Su-
prnme Court room, was badly damaged
by fire, smoke and water, practically
destroying the great collection of law
reference books.
The library contains about 10000
volumes and was used not only by the
Justices of the supreme Court, but by
members of Congress and lawyers
practiclng before the Supreme Court.
Mr.. Justice Harlan said tonight that
the library was extremely valuable.
Many OF the works II contained would,
he thought, be difficult TO replace.
Librarian Clarke, after n cursory cN-
animation necessarily made by the
light of lanterns, expressed the opinion
that many OF the books could be saved,
although they had been drcnched by
water from the streams poured into
the library for two hours or more after
the explosion.
Justice Harlan said that while the
loss of the records was irrcparablc, 1t
was fortunate that the later records OF
the clerk on the main floor We're not
injured.
As documents for reference at this
time and later Justice Harlan thought
these were of far greater value than
the records destroyed. Fortunately the
clerks office was not in the least dam
aged by ilre and the explosion did no
damage In 1t except TO blow out one
window.
James McKcnncy, clerk Of the Su-
pfrilc Court, expressed the nope aittf
making an examination of the old
room that some at least II the docu-
ments, priceless from the point OF view
Of the historian, could be saved.
The capitol building has been dam
aged number OF times before by fire,
but il is believed that to-ulght's fire
will prove to be the most disastrous In
the history Of the building. On two
occasions prior to this, fires have been
started by explosions of gas. Seven
teen years ago large amount Of dam
noe ,sas .i.,..-- - sl'- rart ur ffir
building by an explosion of this kind.
and In 1876 there was nm explosion of
gas that killed two men and came near
killing another.
No intelligent estimate of the money
loss 10y the explosion ana fire yet can
be made In the opinion of capitol ON.
cials and mechanics who examined the
structure tonight the loss viii reach
100000 to the building, The loss on
the library and records can scarcely he
estimated IA dollars and cents. one
million dollars could not replace them.
because OF many OF them no duplicates
are In existence,