The Lamar register., 1898-11-09
CAPITOL DAMAGED.
AN EXPLOSION ArwAsHrNoros
BurnlnE Gas In the fisssneat Pisss Havoc
with supreme conrt Room. and In
iure. the BalldIng seriously.

MaSlluEIpn- H. ~. sNff- - -=hh -
plosion and fire ut 3:i3 this afternoon
wrecked the Supreme Court room and
the rooms Immediately adjoining II on
the main floor OF the capitol. The dam
age Is enormous,
The entire central eastern portion OF
the great marble pile from the main
floor to the subterrancan basement
practically is a mass OF ruins. The
force OF the explosion WAS 50 heavy
that the Gaping stones on the outer
walls, Just east OF the point where the
explosion occurred. were bulgcd out
nearly two inches; windows In that
part OF the building were blown out.
and locked doors, $50 feet away, We're
forced from their hinges. The lire fol-
lowed the explosion so quickly as to
seem practically simultaneous with II.
The explosion shook the Immense
structure 90 Its foundations and was
heard several squares from the capitol.
IL occurred in a small room tightly in
closed by stone walls in the suhteTran-
can basement, immediately below the
main entrance to the old capitol build
ing.
In this room was Ioo-light gas
meter. which was fed by 4 four.lpch
main. Very little gas T. used In that
part OF the hullding. but at the time Of
the explosion the gas had not been
turned of al the meter. The meter
itself was wrecked and the gas poEr-
inE from the main caught iire.
The flames originating from the ex-
plosion darted up the shaft OF the ele-
yator. which had been completely
destroyed by the foTcr OF the explosion
aud 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 subdncd
the priceless documents IN the record
room had been almost totally destroyed
and serious damage had been done In
the mnrshars Office and some minor
rooms In the immediate vicinity.
The library Of the Supreme Court. 10
Gated Immediately beneath the Su-
prcme Court room. was badly damaged
by fire, smoke and water. practically
destroying the great collection OF law
reference books.
The library contains about 9lOop
volumes and was used not only by the
Justices OF the Supreme Court. hut by
members Of Congress and lawyers
practiclng before the supreme Court
Mr.. Justice Harlan said Tonight that
the library was extremely valuable
Many OF the works Il contained would
he thought. h. difficult to replace.
Librarian Clarke. after eursury ex-
animation necessarily made 10y the
light OF lanterns, expressed the opinion
that many Of the books could u. saved
although they had been drenched By
water from the streams poured Into
the library for two hours or more aftcr
the explosion
Justice Harlan said that while the
loss OF the records was irreparable. it
was fortunate that the later records Of
the clerk on the main tOor. were not
injured.
As documents for reference At this
time and later. Justice Harlan thought
these were Of far greater value Than
the records destroyed. Fortunately the
clerks office was not Ia the least dam
aged by fire and the explosion did no
damage In it except 10 blow out one
window
James McKenney. clerk Of the Su.
preme Court. expressed the hope after
making an examination Of the old
room that some at least OF the docu-
ments, priceless from the point Of view
Of the historian, could be saved.
The capitol building has been dam
aged number of times before by fire.
viii prove 10 be the most disastrous in
the history OF the building. on two
occasions prior to this, fires have been
started by explosions Of gas Seven
teen years ago large amount of dam
age was done 10 the same part OF the
building by an explosion OF this kind.
and In 1876 there was an explosion Of
gas that killed two men and came near
killing another.
No Intelligent estimate OF the money
loss by the explosion and fire yet can
be made. In the opinion OF capitol Off
clals and mechanics who examined the
structure tonight the loss VIII reach
$500, 600 to the building. The loss on
the library aud records can scarcely be
estimated in dollars and cents One
million dollars could not replace them,
because Of many of them no duplicates
are in existence.
MARIA TERESA LOST.