The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1898-11-07
FIRE AT
CAPITOL
Gas Explosion Causes Great De-
struction in the Big Building.
SUPREME COURT ROOM WRECKED.
Valuable Records OF the Court, which
Were Filed Away In the Vaults Be-
meath That Portion of the Capitol,
Have Been Utterly Destroyed.

Were Filed Away In the Vaults Be-
meath That Portion of the Capitol,
Have Been Utterly Destroyed.
Washington, Nov. THE United
States supreme court room, located
near the center Of the Capitol, is wreck
ed, the valuable law library connected
with it seriously damaged and many
of the valuable records Of the court
filed away in vaults beneath that por-
tion of the Capitol have been destroyed
This is the result Of an explosion of
gas, which occurred in the sub
ment of the Capitol just beneath the
supreme court room at $50 yesterday
afternoon. The explosion destroyed
the flooring and entrance to the room
Immediately below the supreme court
room, and the fire which followed com
municated at once to the law library
and supreme court room. Except for a
small flame Of burning gas the fire
had been extinguished at 1880.
Those about the building at the time
of and Immediately after the explosion
all agree that 1t came from gas, though
there is a difference of opinion as to
what caused it. An engineer in the
building stated that a gas meter had
exploded. Another official stated that
he understood a small gas engine used
in running the private elevator for the
members of the supreme court was To-
Gated in the vaults, and that the ex-
plosion came from it, but the most
plausible statement is that in the
vaults where the records are stored
gas jets continually burn. 1t is believed
that one of these jets blew out from a
draft, and that the gas escaped from
1t until the tightly closed vault had
been filled with gas, which perColated
through cracks and reached a lighted
Jet thus causing the explosion.
An examination of the lower portion
of the building shows that the force
of the explosion was terrific. Doors
and windows were blown out, and in
many places there are large cracks in
the under pinning of the walls. 1t Is
asserted that several supporting col
umns to the main entrance of the |
building are six inches out of plumb |
There is no doubt that many valuable |
papers and documents have been per-
manently destroyed, and their value |
from money standpoint could not
be estimated. Twenty thousand dol
lars had just been expended in improv-
ing the supreme court room.
The entire central eastern part of the
great marble pile, from the main floor
to the subterranean basement. prac-
tically is a 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 nearly two !
inches, windows in all that part of the |
building were blown out and locked |
doors were forced from their hinges
quite $50 feet from the scene of IT,
Fire followed the explosion so quick
ly as to seem practically simultaneous
with it. The explosion shook the i'm
mense structure to it's foundation, and
was heard several squares from the
Capitol. 1t occurred in a small room
tightly enclosed by heavy stone walls
In the subterranean basement, immedi-
ately below the main entrance to the
old Capitol building. In this room was
a 500 light gas meter, which was fed
by a four inch main. The meter itself
was wrecked and the gas pouring from
the main caught fire The flames orig
mating 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 Office Of the marshal Of the
court and the supreme court library.
Before the flames could be subdued the
priceless documents in the record room
had been almost totally destroyed and
serious damage had been done in the
marshals office and some minor rooms
In the immediate vicinity
The library of the supreme court, To-
Gated Immediately beneath the su-
preme court ROOM was badly damaged
by fire, smoke and water, water prac-
tically destroying the great collection
of law reference books. The library
contains about 10000 volumes, and was
used not only by the justices of the
supreme court, but by members Of
congress and lawyers practicing be-
fore the supreme court.
The most serious damage in the
opinion of the justices of the supreme
court is to the records stored in the
sub b-basement. These included all of
the records of the supreme court from
1892 to 1882. The room contains records
of cases and opinions rendered by the
fathers of the governments judiciary.
Just north of the crypt an archway,
almost over the meter room, was com
pletely blown out and great masses of
masonry torn from the floor were hurl-
ed to the ceiling with such force as to
burst the stone and plaster of the walls
above. Ponderous tlagstones were
wrenched from their resting places and
throughout the corridors the frescolng
on the ceilings and walls of the cor
ridors were utterly ruined. No dam
age was done to the main foundations
of the buildings, as those are of solid
masonry, deeply embedded, and 25 feet
four inches thick.
Among the losses which win be most
sincerely regretted are those of busts
of Chief Justice Marshall and other
distinguished members of the supreme
court which were arranged on small
pedestals about the supreme court
chamber. In the smoke and ruin which
followed the explosion these valuable
works of art We're either badly dam
aged or wholly destroyed.
In the opinion of the Capitol officials
and mechanics who have examined the
structure the loss will reach probably
5000 900 to the building. The loss on the
library and records, as stated above,
can be scarcely estimated in dollars ana
cents. A million dollars could not re
place them, because many Of them have
no duplicates in existence,