The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1898-11-12
EXPLOSION IN THE CAPITOL
QUARTER OF A MILLION LOST.
Escaping Gas Exploded i'm the Capt.
toll BuiIding In Washington.
wrecking the Rooms of the SUI
preme Court and Destroying VAL
liable Books and Documents.

Washington, Nov. An explosion
and Il fire at 5;l3 yesterday afternoon
wrecked the supreme court room and the
rooms Immediately adjoining it on the
main floor of the capitol. The entire CEN
tlal and eastern part of the great marble
pile from the main floor TO the subter-
ranean basement practically is mass Of
ruins. The force OF the explosion was so
heavy that the coping stones on the outer
walls Just east of the point where the
explosion occurred were bulged out near
ly two. inches, and locked doors were
forced from their hinges quite $50 feet
from the scene Fire followed the explo-
sion so quickly as to seem practically sim
Infamous with it.
The explosion shook the immense struc-
ture to its foundations, and was heard
several squares from the capitol. 1t oc-
Cured in a small room tightly enclosed
by heavy stone walls in the subtenanean
basement Immediately below TIE main en-
trance to the old capitol building. In this
room was 500light gas meter, which
was fed by four-inch main. Little gas
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 up
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 OIL
flee of the marshal OF the court and the
supreme court library. Before the flames
could be subdued the priceless documen'
in the record room had been almost total
ly destroyed and serious damage had beer
done in the marshals 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 TIN
ceiling with such force Us TO burst thu
stone and plaster of the walls above. Pom
derous flagstones were wrenched iron
their resting places and throughout th
corridors the frescoing on the ceiling an'
walls of the corridors were utterly ruin
ed. No damage was done to the mali
foundations of the building as these ar
of solid masonry deeply embedded an'
rs feet four inches thick.
Justice Harlan said that ~ lille the los
of the records was irreparable, it was Ion
tunate that the later records OF the count
which are kept in the office OF the clerl
on the main floor, were not injured. \
documents for reference at this time ant
later. Justice Harlan thought these Wer
of far greater value than the records dc
stroyed. Fortunately the clerks Ollie
was not in the least damaged by fire an
the explosion did no damage in it exec?
to blow one window out.
In the opinion of the capitol official
and mechanics who examined the stru'
ture the loss will reach probably 500
600 to the building. The loss on the l
brarv and records, as stated above, ca
scarcely be estimated in dollars and cent?
A million dollars could not replace then
because of many OF them no duplicate
are in existence.