The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-11-07
CAPITOL AFIRE.
Explosion of Gas Under the
Supreme Court Room
In the National Capitol Does
Immenee Damage.
SHOOK THE BUILDING.
And Wrecked a Considerable
Portion of It.
Valuable Records and Works Of
Art Destroyed.

Washington, Nov. IAN explosion
and fire at 5:13 yesterday afternoon
wrecked the supreme court room and
the rooms Immediately adjoining 1t on
the main floor of the capitol. The dam
age is enormous. The entire central
eastern part of the great marble pile,
from the main floor to the subterran-
can basement, practically is mass of
ruins The force of the explosion was
so heavy that coping stones on the out
er walls, Just east of the point where
the explosion occurred were bulged out
nearly two inches; windows in all that
part of the building were blown out;
and locked doors were forced from their
hinges quite $50 feet from the scene Of
it.
Fire followed the explosion so quickly
as to seem practically simultaneous
with it. The explosion shook the i'm
mense structure to ats foundations and
was heard several squares from the
capitol. It occurred in a small room
tightly Enclosed by heavy stone walls
in the subterranean basement immedi-
ately below the main entrance to the
old capitol building. In this room was
a 50O-light gas meter, which was fed by
a four-inch main. Very little gas is
used in that part of the building, but at
the time of the explosion the gas had
not been turned off at the meter. The
meter itself was wrecked and the gas
pouring from the main caught fire. The
flames originating from the explosion
darted up the shaft of the elevator,
which had been completely destroyed
by the force of the explosion, and com
municated with the record room OF the
supreme court, the Office of the marshal
of the court and the supreme court Ii
brary. Before the flames could be sub
dued the priceless documents in the rec
ord room had been almost totally de-
strOyed and serious damage had been
done to the marshaPs Office and some
minor rooms in the immediate vicinity.
Court Library Badly Damaged.
The library of the supreme court, To-
Gated Immediately beneath the supreme
court room, was badly DANA ged by fire,
smoke and Water-practieally destroy
dng the great collection of law reference
books. The library contains about TO-
900 volumes, and was used not only by
the justices of the supreme court, but
by members of congress and lawyers
practicing before the supreme court.
Mr.. Justice Harlan said that the library
was very valuable. Many of the works
it contained would, he thought, be diff
cult to replace. Librarian Clarke, after
a cursory examination, 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 or
more after the explosion occurred.
The most serious damage, in the Op1n-
ion of the justices of the supreme court,
is to the records stored in the sub base
ment. These included all Of the records
of the supreme court from 1892 to 1882
The room contains records of cases and
opinions rendered by the fathers of the
judiciary of the government. Apparent
" the documents in this room are either
totally destroyed or so badly damaged
by fire and water as to be useless. Jus
tice Harlan said that while the loss of
the records was irreparable, it was for
tunate that the later records Of the
court which are kept in the office of the
clerk on the main floor, were not in
jured AS documents for reference at
this time and later Justice Harlan
thought these were of far greater value
than the records destroyed. Fortunate
" the clerks office was not in the least
damaged by fire and the explosion did
no damage in it except to blow in one
window.
Mr.. James McKenney, clerk of the
supreme court, expressed the hope, af-
ter making an examination of the old
record room, that some, at least, of the
documents, priceless from the view point
of the historian, could be saved
Cause of the Explosion.
While many theories are offered as to
| the cause of the explosion it seems
beyond doubt to have been due to
| escaping gas. At seven minutes after .
| Lieutenant Nelson, of the capitol police,
| adjoining the supreme court room. Not
I being able to locate it he proceeded to
Statuary halI-the old hall of the house
| of MISUNDERSTANDING the gas
| might be escaping from a burner in that
l vicinity. While he was endeaVoring to
| locate the escape of the gas the ex-
| plosion occurred. Only few persons,
I principally officers of the capitol police.
| were in the building at the time, but
| several of them had narrow escapes.
| Before the fire department which re-
| sponded to an alarm sent in by a police
| man three squares from the capitol. had
| arrived. c. P. Glenn, chief electrician of
/ the capitol and H. w. Taylor, chief en-
| gineer of the house side, had a stream
| playing into the supreme court record
| room which by that time was roaring
| furnace Within a few minutes after
the arrival of the fire department the
| flames were under control, although as
| a precautionary measure streams were
| poured into the marshaPs office, the
| library and the subterranean basement
/ for two hours.
| The fremen were unable, however for
| a considerable time to extinguish the
| flame of gas which shot out of the four
| inch main in the meter room. From
/ this main the fire swept through an
4 orifice in the basement floor caused by
| the explosion, and attacked the con-
! sultatiOn room of the supreme court
| justices on the main floor. Some dam
/ age was done to the furniture and fit
1 tings of this room. but it was inconsid-
! erable as compared with that done else
! where The robing room of the justices
| practically was undamaged.
1 It was evident that the fire could not
| be extinguished until the gas from the
/ main was cut off. That this might be
| accomplished the firemen turned two
! streams upon the main, choking the
4 flow of gas and at the same time cool
in