Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1898-01-08
THIRTY WE'RE KILLED

One Hundred and Fifty Others InJurcd-
Dreadful Accident In London, Ont,
Causrd by the Giving Way of a Portion OF
the Floor Of the Old City Hall During
an Election Meeting.
LONDON, Ont, Jan. 4.-Thirty per-
sons are known to have been killed
and 15O injured by the collapse of a
floor in the city hall last night. The
meeting closed the municipal cam
paign, and the hall was crowded to
hear the addresses OF the successful
candidates.
Those who were more seriously in
jured were carried to neighboring
drug stores whence they were taken
to the hospital or to their homes after
their injuries had been attended to;
At the close Of the polls o9owd
gathered In the city hall <Nkerei ies
been the custom forsy I'M pd1 The !.
successful candidates t6sddSsA the
electors. -. -. lrs-s sss.as.s.
The building was crowded ~tos the
very DOORS probably 1000 people be-
ing jammed in the narrow space.
There was lull in the proceedings
| when the audience called for several OF
the newly-elected aldermen at once,
and there wa some delay in securing
| speaker to address them. Alderman
Carrothers joined the mayor in an eff
| fort to secure quiet. In response to
numerous calls, Il. M. Toothe was
pushed forward to the platform on
which the members stood. AS he
| reached 1t 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 sagging Of timbers and
the next moment $50 people were
hurled 20 feet to the floor below. A
beam running 20 feet along the center
of the hall had given away, and the
crowded mass standing above that sec
ton OF the floor was thrown in a heap
to the bottom.
large safe stood in one corner of
the hall, and with huge steam coil,
weighing half ton, came crashing
down on the heads of the victims.
Following the crash there was q
wild rush for the doors. AT the south
door, where the majority of the crowd
had entered, there was terrible panic.
Those in front were thrown down by
the oncoming rush, shrieking and
fighting for the door and safety. Only
one-half of the rear door--a space Of
probably three feet-was open, aud in
the mad rush no one thought to open
the door in its entirety, and 500
people struggled through the narrow
space. the strong bearing down the
weaker.
: Alderman Neil Cooper was among
e the first to be dragged out of the mass
!, of broken beams. He was qaicSl =
u carried to an adjoining room, anaia 9
moment half dozen more were Keep
a ing him company.
a Several men lowered ropes aud en-
|. deavored to haul the wounded out o.
$ the pit
y From under the massed weight o
s the broken beams came many cries fo
l. help. The windows on the grount
II floor were broken in, and the living
. and the dead were tenderly passed tt
y the waiting ambulances.
" An investigation of the wreck aftel
/. the catastrophe disclosed the fact tina
IN whole section Of the floor ha'
IS dropped, the joists having been u:
II neatly cut off as though the work hat
Ii been done with saw.
The building was an old one, having
been erected in the early sos and o
late years additional stories had beel
T. placed ON the old walls.
In the Grand opera house, which ad
l. joins the wrecked building, the frs
g act of THE Girl From Paris" had beel
" concluded when word was whispere,
n through the theater of the calamity
pa A panic was imminent, but was aserte
10 by the actors and ushers, and the pee
,e pie quietly left the building.
|