Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1898-01-06

London, Ont, Jan. 4.-lnlrty per
sons lie known to have been killed
and many injured by the collapse of
floor in the city hall Monday night.
The municipal campaign closed Mon
nay night and the hall was crowded to
hear addresses by the successful can
cidates. At midnight the bodies Of
the following had been taken from the
wrecked building: f. Heaman, C.
Beckett, E. Luexton, n. Carrothers, r.
Leigh, - R. Harris, l.. w. Burke,
John Smith, - Talbot, A. Phillips,
John turner, Ben. Nash, ]. W. Bor-
lanQ, - Hilburn, Frank Robinson,
James Mclean, John Barbidge, Os-
walk Bruce, b. Jacques, unidentified
man.
The injured so far as learned include
the following: DR.. wilson, mayor
elect, leg broken; Alderman Corro-
theirs, slightly injured; Edward Nor
kin; - Burgess; William Gray, leg
broken; - Fleming, both arms
broken; William Jones, water commits
sioner-elect, badly bruised; Joshua
Darch; John Blanch; Alderman Neil
Cooper; Van Wyck; George W.
Yates, city editor of the News; Harry
Passmore, reporter Of the Advertiser.
Just how many were injured will never
be known as those who suffered but
slightly returned home or were cared
Nv fri dc no in
were carried to a hospital or to their
homes after their injuries were attend
ed to.
The dead were taken to the commit
tee room of Alderman Parnell, the
defeated candidate for mayor, across
the street. At the close of the polls
a crowd gathered in the city hall,
where it has been the custom for years
Dlst for the successful candidates to
address the electors. The building
was crowded, probably 1000 being
damned in it's narrow space. There
was a lull in the proceedings when the
audience called for several of the new
NEGLECTED aldermen at once and there
was some delay in securing a speaker
to address them Alderman Carrothers
joined the mayor in an effort
to secure quiet. In response to nu-
merous calls R. w. Toothe pushed
forward to the platform on which the
speakers stood. AS be reached it
there was an ominous cracking and
the raised platform on which the
mayor and newly-elected aldermen
were seated seemed to pitch forward
to the floor There was a sagging of
timbers and the next moment $50 peo
Tle we're hurled 20 feet to the floor
below. A beam running 20 feet
along the center of the hall had given
way and the crowded mass standing
above that section of the floor was
thrown in a heap to the bottom. A
large safe which stood in one corner
OF the hall, and huge steam
coil, weighing half a ton, came crash
ing down on the heads of the victims.
Following the crash there was a wild
rush for the doors. At the south
door, where a majority of the crowd
had entered there was terrible panic.
Those in front were thrown down by
anC olCoLilhS ISL, Sill lcAlilS anu
fighting for the door and safety.
Only half of the rear door, space of
probably three feet was open and in
the mad rush no one thought to open
the door entirely and fully 1000 peO-
pie struggled through the narrow
sTace, the strong bearing down the
weak. Alderman Neil Cooper was
among the first to be dragged out of
the mass of broken beams Several
Others were then recovered. Then
the windows on the ground floor were
broken in and the living and the dead
were passed out to waiting am
balances.
An investigation Of the wreck after
the catastrophe disclosed the fact that
e whole section of the floor had
dropped, the joists having been as
neatly cut off as though the work had
been done with a saw. The building
was an old one, having been erected
IN the fifties, and of late years addi-
tional stories have been placed on the
old walls. In the opera house which
adjoins the wrecked building, word
was whispered through the theater of
the calamity. A panic was imminent,
but was averted by the actors and
ushers and the people quietly left the
building.
DIRECTOR CHINESE RAILWAYS.