The San Francisco call., 1898-11-08

occupied by the Justices was uninjured
 and even the briefs and papers left by some of the Justices under paper
 weights remained undisturbed
 But while tn fire had made no pro-
 gress here, smoke and water had left
 the chamber. which has long been re- garded as model of classic beauty
 in sorry condition. The windows and
 sashes of the old colonial windows
 thanking the bench are in ruins The
 frescoed ceilings, which had recently been done over, are blurred and
 spotted, the carpets and draperies are soaked, while the whole chamber has damp, smoked aspect. The personal effects of the Justices, their robes, etc.,
 were uninjured. The main loss of the court was 1n the marshaPs office and Ill the storage room, where valuable old records were kept
 sergeant -at-Arms Bright of the Sem ate was busy this morning making temporary provision for the sessions or the court. Senator McMillan's com inlttee-room was hastily prepared with bench and seats for the Justices and dozen rows of seats for attorneys and spectators. The quarters are rather Gramped and the Chief Justice and five justices had to sit on one side of a long oak table when court was held there to-day. This was the first time the court has sat outside of its own cham Der since 1914.
 Architect Clark of the Capitol is old ana very feeble so that the active work of Investigating the cause of the explosion and of clearing away the Wreckage is in the hands of the as- s1stant architect of the Capitol Mr. Wood
 Il have made preliminary examina- ton, MT. Wood said to-day, but I am not yet ready to say what caused the h. L., l1s~- gwen to the gas supply. I find the gen. eraI damage sustained by the building IS not as serious as was at first sup posed. The heavy foundations to the building do not appear to be disturbed, and the partitions blown down are con- fined to the thin encircling walls cover ing the steam pipes etc.
 No heavy sustaining arches or pill lars have given way, so far as I can find. l will make a fuller examination with better light to make certain on these points. For the present it does not seem that a rebuilding of any part of the Capitol will be necessary. The work will be that of repairing. and I hope we can finish this by the time Congress convenes. We have a small balance for this, but in any event the work will be done"
 An examination of the meter room, | where the gas supplied to the Capitol is measured, showed that the big meter had been blown to pieces. This satis- | fled most of the Capitol officers that a gas explosion was responsible for the l damage, but they would not express this view openly until an official -in- quiry had been made.
 Several Supreme Court Justices made 1 a visit to the scene during the fore noon Chief Justice Fuller and Justice | Harlan walked through the various apartments, guided by a man with a lantern. While they looked at the l scenes of destruction with manifest in- 1 terest, they made no remarks. They | spent somewhat more time in the court | room than elsewhere. They found the | upholstery and the courts new $4000 | carpet greatly injured, but the two | court clocks were ticking away as reg ularly and as dignifiedly as ever. The | busts of former Chief Justices, which 1 line the walls of the old chambers, were 1 also uninjured, and this appeared to be | a source of much qualification to the | Chief Justice and his companions.
 They found nothing but ruin and l desolation in Marshal Wright's office 1 This room was completely wrecked. No | furniture escaped, and the walls of the | room are as black as night the effect | of smoke and fire and water combined. | While this damage was regretted, it | was not considered irreparable.
 The only damage that cannot be 1 made good was done in the fle-room of l the Supreme Court in the basement, l where were stored all the official | records and the original copies of opin- ions from the foundation of the Gov ernment All these opinions have been printed but the original manuscripts were highly valued.
 This room was almost over the scene of the explosion, and 1t was one of the first compartments of the Capitol to be attacked. The documents here were stored away in an orderly manner in i wooden cases, and none of them had i any other protection except the rec ords of the courts from 1792 to 1892, which were encased in tin boxes. The | flames appear to have completely en- veloped this room, but they were only