Connecticut western news., 1898-01-06
THIRTY ARE KILLED.
FRleHTsuL CATASTROPHE AT A 20.
 LlTlcAL MEETING IN CANADA.
The Floor of the City Hall, whioh We Denseiy Packed, Gave Way. Buryins Hundreds Iu the Hains--Thlrty Dead Bodice Tsken From the Debris.

London. Ont. Jan. tone of the
 most stubbornly contested municipal
 elections ever known in this city cui-
 minated last night in tragedy that
 has put the city in mourning. At the
 close of the polls the crowd, as ia usual
 gathered in the city hall. where it has
 been the custom for years past for the
 successful candidates to address the
 electors. The meeting had been cons ducted in the usual manner and was
 about to be closed, when the floor in the
 northeast corner of the hall gave way,
 and the people situated in that section
 were percipitated 10 the floor below. An alarm of fire was sounded, and the brigade soon reported and began the
 work Of removing the debris and taking from the ruins the bodies of the dead and injured.
 Thirty bodies have been removed from the wrecked building and identi- lied. How many were injured will new CT be known. as those who suffered but slightly at once started for their homes or were taken care of by their friends. Those who were more serious ly Injured were carried to neighborinR drug stores. whence they were taken to the hospital or to their homes after
 
 The dead were taken to the committee rooms of Alderman Parnell. the defeat ed candidate for mayor across the street. The building was crowded Co the very doors probably 2 900 people be- ing damned In It's narrow space. There was a Hull In the proceedings. the audience called for several of the newly elected aldermen at once and there was some delay In securing speaker Co address them. Alderman Carrothers joined the mayor in an ef- fort to secure quiet. In response 10 nu- merous calls R. NJ. Toothe was pushed forward to the platform on which the speakers stood. As he reached it there was an ominous cracking. and the rals- ed platform on which the mayor and newly elected aldermen were seated Il seemed to pitch forward to the floor. saggiaK of the Timbsrs.
 There was a sagging of tImbers. md the next moment l50 people were hurl- ed 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 bot tom. A large safe stood in one corner of the hall and huge steam coil weigh ing ton, and they came crashing down on the heads of the victims.
 Following the crash there was a wild rush for the doors. At the south door. where the majority of the crowd had entered, there was a terrible panic. Those in front were thrown down by the oncoming rush. shrieking and fight ing for the door and safety. Only one half of the rear door. a space of proba- bly three feet, was open, and in the mad rush no one thought to open the door completely, and 600 people struggled through the narrow space. the stronger bearing down the weaker. Within moment after the floor had fallen in there were not more than three persons in the hall on that portion of the floor which had not fallen.
 glance at the wreck after the ca tastrophe disclosed the fact that a whole section of the floor had dropped the Il joixts being as neatly cut off as though the work had been done with a saw. The building Is an old one, having been erected in the early fifties. and of late years additional stories have been placed on the old walls.
 In the Grand Opera House which ad- joins the wrecked building. the first act of "The Girl From Paris had just been concluded, when word was whispered through the theater of the calamity. A panic was imminent, but was averted by the actors and ushers, and the peo- pie quietly left the building.
 The injured include the newly elected mayor, several aldermen. the water commissioner and several newspaper men.