The Saint Paul globe., 1898-11-08

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7. - The big
capitol building was a scene of wreck
and desolation to6iay following the ex-
plosion and fire which wrought such
serious havoc last night. The engines
and hremen have gone, and in their
place small army of Workmen was
carrying off the debris Of bricks and
mortar, charred woodwork, soaked and
half burned official papers und docu-
ments which had been heaped in con-
fusion in the basement and sub-Lnse-
ment, under the quarters occupied by
the United States supreme court. An
examination of the court room showed
that the damage was confined to dis
colored halls and ceiling and soaked
carpets. No substantial damage hnd
been done. The bench occupied by the
justices was uninjured and even the
briefs and papers left by some of the
Justices under paper weights remained
updisturbed. But. while the fire had
made no progress here, smoke and
water had left this chamber. which
mas long been regnrded as a model of
classic beauty, in sorry condition. The
WINDOWS and sash Of the fine old CO.
ionaa windows fanhng the bench are
In ruins. The frescoed ceilings. which
recently had been done over, are blur
red and spotted, the carpets and dra-
chamber has the damped, smoked as
pect usually found after a fire. The
personal effects Of the justices, robes
ETC., were found to be uninjured The
main loss of the court was in the mar
shaIs office and in the storage room
Mhere valuable old records are kept
Ihe extent of this last loss is not vet
exactly determined but the court Of
lclais expect to nHke a critical exam
ination during the day.
oefgeant-at-Arms Bright, of the SEN
ate, was busy this morning making
temporary provision for the sessions
OF the court. Senator McMHIan's COM
m1ttee room. on the District Of Colun
bia. was hastily prepared with a bench
ana seats for the justices, end Ia dozen
rows OF seats for attorneys and spec
latofs. The quarters are rather
cramped, however. and the chief ius
tlce and five justices will have to sit
on one side of a long oak table
Archltect Clark, of the capitol. Is nd
Vanced In age and very feeble, so that
the active work of investigating tha
cause OF the explosion and clearing
away the wreckage is in the hands Of
Mr.. Wood. 'oA'
Il have made preliminary examin-
atlon." Mr.. Wood said today land
am not able to say what caused tbe
explosion, though the main attention is
Delng given to the gas supply. I find
tnat the general damage sustained bv
sne building is not as serious as al
nlst ~ supposed. The heavy foundations
~ the building do not appear to he
disturbed, and the walls blown down
are connned to the thin encircIino
walls, pu1lt to encircle pipes, etc. None
oI the heaVy sustaining arches or nil
t1r5 sr5 nave given way so far as can
III. NJ l WIZ make fuller examination
lot
tdln on these points. For the present
II does not seem that a rebuilding of
any part OF the capitol will be neces-
S"ry. Ihe work will be that Of renair-
M ana hope we can finish This hy
tHe uafne congress convenes. We have
ax,e,1t a eritatL W balance for this, but in any
event the work will be done''
While this damage was regretted -
was not considered irreprabIe.
ONLY IRREPARABLE
Inc only damage that could not be
made good was done in the file room of
the supreme court of the basement
Wnere were stored all the official rec
; oius ana the original copies Of opin-
IONS IONS Irom the foundation of the gov
ernment. All these opinions ha.va Seer
prlhted, but the original manuscripts
were mighty valued This room was 81
InoSt over the scene Of the explosion
ana It was one of the first cOnonart-
mlents OF the capitol to be attacked
Iue UCculnents here were stored away
III an orderly manner in wooden casas
ana none of them had any other nro,
lection, except the records of the oorrt
rfom 1892 to 1892 which were encased
IN tin boxes. The flames annaar 70
nave completely enveloped this room
put they were only sufficiently intense
10 paoly char all the woodwork and
q n
~ IeW or the papers were absolutely
deslroyed, but those which suffered
tniS rate were among the most yalua-
Bile in the room. They included the
original opir3ions of the court in the
early days of the republic, and among
IRefn were many manuscripts prepared
IN the handwriting of the iurists of
the days Of Washington, Jefferson and
Adams There were in the list many
opinions In manuscript written bv
Marshall, Story, Samuel Chase, Bush
rod w aShlng'ton and others of the ms
tlces of the period between 1890 and
leoo' ana therefore priced as relics of
the early days of the court They were
also occasionally referred to to settle
disputed points concerning words or
punctuation marks. These papers were
stored under the arch Of the room. and
seem to have been completely conslm-
ed. On the other hand, the official rec
AN' VI tAC CONIL proceedings, cover
ing the same period, appear to have
oeen preserved, and probably in good
condition. These were encased In fin
boxes, and these in turn placed within
wooden cases. The debris Is in such
disorder as to, have rendered 1t impos
sfble to open the wooden doors this
AFTERNOON, but these doors were not
penetrated ait any place; hence the be-
lief that the records themselves are
intact. Many Of the more modern doc
uments, including letters and opinions
of recent date. were also so badly
burned that 1T will be impossible to
restore them, but none of these ap-
pears to have suffered such complete
demolition as befell the early opinions.
NO documents affecting the present
docket of the court were injured
Ihe lire at one time threatened to
invade the senate document room,
reaching to within four or Ave feet Of
1t. Mr.. A1nzi Smith, the superintendent
OF the room, was on hand prepared to
contest it's progress with the aid of
the fire department., but the chances
are that, If 1t had gained any head
way in this department, the damage
would have been far more serious, as
the apartment is extensive and con-
teiEs much exposed paper
Sergeant-at-Arms Bright has tele-
graphed Senator Mcmillan concerning
the use of the senator's committee
room for the supreme court If it Is
not convenient to continue it's use,
another committee room, or If need be-
the senate chamber will be utilized as
a court ROOM