The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1898-11-12
THE CAPITOL EXPLOSION.
A Scene of Wreck and Desolation In
the Vicinity Where the Ex-
plosion Occurred.
WORKMEH CLEARING AWAY THE DEBRIS.
he Damage While Great, Is Not as Serious
AS at First Announced, and Assistant
Architect Wood Does Not Think There
is Any Structural DispIscement-Tem-
porary Quarters for the Court.


porary Quarters for the Court.
Washington, Nov. THE big cap
itol building was a scene of wreck and
desolation, following the explosion
and fire which wrought such serious
havoc Sunday night. The engines and
firemen had gone, and in their place
a small army of workmen was carry
ing off the debris of brick and mortar
charred woodwork, soaked and hall
burned off papers and documents
which had been heaped in confusion
in the basement and sub-basement I'm.
der the quarters occupied by the Unit
ed States supreme court.
Supreme Court Room Not Substantially
Damaged.
An examination of the court room
showed that the damage was confined
to discoiored walls and ceilings and
soaked carpets. No substantial dam
age had been done there. The bench
occupied by the justices Sas unin
jured, and even the briefs and papers
left by some of the justices under pa
per weights remained undisturbed.
But while the fire had made no prog
ress here, smoke and water had left
this chamber, which has long been re-
garded as a model of classic beauty,
in sorry condition.
Windows and Frescoing n Sorry Sight.
The windows and sash of the fine
old colonial windows fanking the
bench are in ruins. The frescoed cell
ing, which recently had been done
over, are blurred and spotted, the car
pets and draperies are soaked. while
the whole chamber has the damp,
smoked aspect usually following 8
fire.
Justices Personal Effects Uninjured.
The personal effects of the justices,
| robes, etc, were found to be unin-
jured. The main loss of the court
was in the marshal's office, and in the
storage room, where valuable old rec
ords are kept. The extent of this last
loss is not exactly determined, but the
court officials expect to make a crit
ical examination during the day.
Making Temporary Provision for the
Court.
Sergeant-at-arms Bright of the SEN
ate has beer busy making temporary
provision for the sessions of the court.
Senator McMillan's committe room on
the District of Columbie was hastily
prepared with a bench and seats for
the justices, and a dozen rows of seats
for attorneys and spectators. The
quarters are rather cramped, however,
and the chief justice and justices will
have to sit on one side of u long oak
table.
Investigating the Cause.
Architect Clark of the capitol is adj
vanced in age and 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 assistant architect of the capitol,
Mr.. Wood.
A Preliminary Examination.
Il have made a preliminary exami-
nation" Mr.. Wood said, land | am not
yet ready to say what caused the eX-
plosion, although the main attention
is being given to the gas supply. 1
find that the general damage sus-
tanned by the building is not as seri-
Gus as at first supposed. The heavy
foundation to the building do not APP
pear to nave been disturbed, and the
walls blown down are confined to the
thin cncircling walls built to cover
steam pipes, etc.
No Structural Displacement.
None of the heavy sustaining arches
or pillars have given way so far as l
can find. | will make Il fuller eNami-
nation, with better light. later, to
make certain on these points. For the
present it does not seem that a re-
building of any part of the capitol will
be necessary. The work will be that of
repairing, and l hope we can finish
this by the time congress convenes.
We nave Il small balance for this, but
in any event the work will be DONE"
The Only Irreparabie Damage.
The only damage done That can not
be made good was in the file
room of the supreme court, in the
basement, where were stored all the
official records and the original copies
of opinions from the foundation of the
government. All these opinions have
been printed, but the original int
scripts were highly valued.
I