Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1898-11-08

the great cOllectlon OF law relerenSc
books. The library contains about 20,
900 volumes and was used not only by
the justices of the supreme court but by
members of congress and lawyers prac-
ticing before the supreme court.
Mr.. Justice Harlan stated that the
library was very valuable. Many of the
|. works it contained would, he thought,
be difficult to replace. Librarian Clarke,
after q cursory examination, necessarily
made by the light of lanterns, expressed
the opinion that many of the books
could be saved, although they
Had Been Drenched by Water
from the streams poured into the library
for two hours after the explosion o.
CURED. The most serious damage, in
the opinion of the justices of the su-
preme court, is to the records stored in
the sub-basement. These included all
of the records of the supreme court
from 1902 to 1882. The room contains
records of cases and opinions rendered
by the fathers of the judiciary. Un-
doubtedly the volumes in this basement
are either totally destroyed by fire or
so damaged by water and fire as to vbe
utterly worthless; r.,
The supreme court room was dam
aged principally by water and smoke,
the fire not reaching that point. Ad-
joining the courtroom, however, both
the marshal's Office and the senate bar
Der shops furnished food for the flanres
Damage on the Main Floor.
> A number of apartments on the main
floor were badly. damaged. Just north
Of the crypt an archway directly over
the main room was blown out and great
masses of masonry was hurled against
the ceiling with such force as to burst
the stone and plaster of the walls above.
Ponderous dagstones were wrenched
from their resting places and through
out the corridors the frescoing on the
ceilings and walls were utterly ruined.
No damage was done to the main flags
of the building as these are solid mason
ry. In the opinion Of Capitol off,
Gals and mechanics who examined the
structure the loss will reach probably
$500, 900 to the building. The loss on
the library and records as stated above,
can scarcely be estimated in dollars and
Cents. : @s5%TE a.! Isl III,
s Gas Theory Probably Correct: +
While many theories are offered as to
Che cause of the explosion it seems be-
yond doubt to have been due to escaping
gas. At 5:O o'clock Lieutenant Nelson
Or the capitol police detected an odOr Of
gas in the corridor adjoining the sl-
preme court room Not being able to
locate it he proceeded to Statuary hall
the old hall Of the house Of representa-
tives-thinking the gas might be escap-
ing from a burner in that vicinity.
While he was endeavoring to locate the
escape Of the gas the explosion occurred.
Only few persons, principally officers
iof the. Capitol police, were in. the build
ing at that time, but several of them
had narrow escapes. n
u The Way to Hunt.
Bishop Wilberforce, discussing fox hunt
Ing with q young curate who rode 20
hounds, urged that 1t had a worldly ap-
pearanoe. Tho curate replied that 1t was
not Z bit more worldly than ball at
Blenheim palace at which the bishop bad
been present. The bishop explained that
be was staying in the house, but was new
sr within three rooms Of the dancing.
"Oh, if-it comes to that, - replied tho
curate, ~ never am within three fields Of
the hounds. ."-Nugget4.