Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-02-17
CLINTON'S LOSS.
Rear Wall of Fine New Theatre
Blown Down.
Accident Is Attributed To inadequate
Design and Faulty Construction
More Trouble May
Occur.

Clinton, Feb, 16.-One of the most seri-
Gus disasters in the history Of Clinton,
and one which is seriously regretted by
the townspeople in general, occurred at
O'Clock this morning when through
faulty construction the rear wall of the
Clinton Theatre building, a 100000 struc-
ture, completed and occupied for
the first time Feb. g. fell in
upon the stage and to the
ground entailing loss of thousands OF
dollars, endangering the lives of many
people living near the structure, ruin
ing ten sets of scenery, some of which
mad never been used, and making bare
and desolate, cherries and uninhabita-
Die block which for architectural beau
" was unsurpassed in town.
The structure faces on High street.
the principal business thoroughfare,
and was built of brick. On the High
street front it is four stories high 1t
is 100 feet deep, and the natural slope
of the land to the rear of the lot made
a six story structure in the rear The
tall shaft rose to a height of 80 feet into
the air, rs feet OF which was construct
ed of brick, the remainder being a
wooden hood 10 feet high, covered with
slate, into which the scenery was run
when not in use.
The rear wall was entirely exposed to
wind pressure, there being absolutely
nothing to prevent the merciless sweep
of the element against this brick barri-
cade. A valley Of nearly a quarter of a
mile separates the hill which is the only
barrier on the west end. Across this vail
ley swept the wind at cyclonic velocity
this morning. The immense pile Of brick
and mortar 16 inches in thickness with
stood the awful pressure until shortly
before 8 o'clock, when the scene paint
ers who were at work on the bridge
above the stage and on level with the
point where the bottom of the hood
met the top of the brick work, OBJ
served a large crack in the centre of
the wall. They Immediately went down
the ladder, and informing the owners
the latter came up, and believing that
something serious was about to take
place, sent for the brick masons, but
before any timbers could be secured to
brace the strained walls a tremendous
roar of wind came across the valley,
struck the wall squarely in the centre
and forced IL in. For a minute it yiblat-
ed as If trying to find its equilibrium,
and then with crash the brick fell up
on the stage and to the earth below, a
mingled mass of debris. The wind tore
through the building in all its madness,
and being pent up in its fight the whole
structure vibrated until one after an
other of the pAnes of heavy glass in the
windows were forced out.
The wind continued all day and at 130
In the afternoon about one-third of the
north wall came down into the street.
The two openings allowed the wind TO
sweep in and out of the building, and
in this way saved its being racked by
the gusts.
The whole affair is said to be the re-
suit OF an inadequately designed and
faulty constructed wall. 1t was 16 inch
es in thickness, but the 80 foot stretch
did not have pillar to strengthen 1t.
1t seems. also, that the mortar did not
dry sufficiently to render the additional
support that it should have given.
The portions of the north and west
| walls that fell were the north and west
! boundary lines of the theatre stage. The
theatre was one of the best equipped
playhouses in the county The stage
was all that could be desired, and the
appurtenances were complete in every
! detail.
The building was owned by o., A. &
P. F. Cannon, and was occupied oy
them as a grocery and furniture store,
and by Frank W. Slnard as druggist.
The other stores were vacant
The greatest danger is apprehended
as to the hood or dome, which carries
the scenery, and which is likely TO fall
AT any time. The owners blame the
architect for having allowed the wall
to be built without ptlasters, ana assert
that they insisted on them, but he stat
ed the wall would be secure enough
without them.