Adams County news. [volume] (Ritzville, Wash.) 1898-1906, 1898-11-09
EXPLOSION IN THE CAPITOL
QUARTER OF A MILLION LOST
Esc.ping Gas Exploded In tke Capt
tol Building In Washington
wreckinw the Rooms Of the sa
preme Court and Destroying Val
liable hooks and Documents.

Washington, Nov. 7.---An explosio
and fire at 5:l3 yesterday afternoo
wrecked the Supreme court room and tn
rooms Immediately adjoining it on tn
main floor OF the capitol. The entire Ger
Iml and eastern part of the great marbl
pile from the mpin floor 10 the subte
r'tnean basement practically Is mass Z,
ruins. The force Of the explosion was !.
heavy that the coping stones on the cut,
walls just east Of the. poiut where th
explosion occurred We're bulgrd out nea
ly two inches, and locked doors wci
forced from their hinges quite $50 fe,
from the scene. Fire followed the expl,
sion so quickly as 10 seem practically sin
ultaneous with it,
The explosion shook the immense str,i.
ture TO its foundations, and was hear
several squares from the capitol. 1t
CURED in small room tightly enclose
by heavy stone walls in the subterranea
basement Immediately below the main Ell
trance TO the old capitol building. In tn
room was a 500.light gas meter, whic
was fed by four.inch main. Little e
is used in that part of the building, but
the time of the explosion the gas had NJ
been turned off at the meter. The met.
itself was wrecked, and the gas pourin
from the main caught fire. The fam,
originating from the explosion darted
the shaft Of the elevator, whick had bee
completely destroyed by the iepce OF Il
ayplnsion aud communicated ur,th .
record room Of the supreme court, the
flee Of the marshal of the court and d
supreme court library. Before the fam,
could be subdued the priceless documen
in the record room had been almost tota
ly destroyed and serious damage had bee
done in the mafshars office and son
minor rooms in the immediate vicinit
The library of the supreme court, locate
Immediately beneath the supreme cou
room, was badly damaged by fire, smol
and water.
Throughout the lower ceatral portio
OF the old capitol building, doors, wi
dows and fittings in committee room
and other apartments, are badly damage
just north OF the crypt an archway
most over the meter room was complete
blown out and great masses of'masoni
torn from the floor were hurled to u
ceiling with such force as 10 burst d
stone and plaster Of the walls above. Po
derous flagstones were wrenched fro
their resting places and throughout Il
corridors the frescoing on the ceiling al
walls of the corridors were utterly rui
ed. No damage was done tp the ma
foundations Of the building as these
OF solid masonry deeply embedded N
% feet four inches thick.
Justice Harlan said that while the 10
Of the records was irreparable, it was fo
tunate that the later records OF the coni
which are kept in the Office of~the clei
on the main floor. were not injured.
documents for reference at this time al
later, Justice Harlan thought these we
OF far greater value than .he records d
stroyed. Fortunately the clerks Off
was not in the least damaged by fire al
the explosion did no damage in it exec
to blow one window out.
In the opinion Of the capitol officis
and mechanics who examined the strp
ture the loss will reach probably s20
900 to the building. The loss on the
brary and records, as stated above, cs
scarcely be estimated in dollars and cen
A million dollars could not replace the
because Of many Of them no duplicat
are in existence.