The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-11-07
Room in Ruins and Many Valuable
Records Destroyed.
Force of the Explosion Was Terrific and
Outside Columns of Building Are Said
TO Be Out of PIumb-$2O,OOO Had Re-
Gently Been Expended ON the Building
Value of Records Lost Cannot BE Es-
timated.

Tho most serious damage in the opinion
OF the justices of the Supreme court is to
the records stored in the b-basement
These include all the records oflthe Su-
preme court from 1893 to 1882. Apparent
ly the documents in this room are either
totally destroyed or so badly damaged
by fire and water as to be useless.
The Supreme court room was damaged
principally by water and smoke. the
fire not reaching that point. Adjoining
the court room, however. both the mar
shal's Office and the Senate barber shop
furnished food for the flames. While
many theories are offered as to the cause
of the explosion, it seems beyond doubt
to have been due to the escaping gas
At seven minutes to five Lieut. Nelson
of the Capitol police detected an odor of
gas in the corridors adjoining the Su-
preme court room. While he was endeav-
oring to locate the escaping gas. the ex-
plosion occurred. Only o few persons,
principally officers of the Capitol police,
were in the building at the time. but sew
eral of them had narrow escapes.
It was evident that the fire could not
be extinguished until the gas from the
main was cut off. Electrician Gliem
Drawing the intense heat, entered the me-
ter room and cut off the gas at the floor
valve of the main.
Throughout the lower portion of the
old Capitol building, doors, windows
and fittings in committee rooms, and 9TH
er apartments are badly damaged. Just
north of the crypt an arch way almost
over the meter room was completely
blown out and great masses of masonry
torn from the floor were hurled to the
ceiling with such force rs TO burst the
stone and plaster of the walls above.
Ponderous flag stones were wrsnched
from their resting places and throughout
the corridors the fresooing on the ceilings
and walls were utterly ruined. The
electric lighting apparatus were not dam
aged. Among tine losses which will be
most sincerely regretted are those of busts
of Chief Justice Marshall and other dis
tinguished members of the Supreme
court.
AAO OupAvOA uulAOAuB LIDS uo0A ArsAA-
aged number Of times by fire before.
but it is believed that tonight's fire will
prove to be the most destructive in the
history of the building. On two other oc.
casions prior to this, fires have been
started by explosions of gas B
In the opinion of Capitol officers and
mechanics who examined the structure
tonight, the loss will reach probably
5000, 600 to the building. Thesloss on the
library and records as stated above can
scarcely be estimated in dollars and cents.
A million dollars could not replace them
because many of them have no duplicate
in existence
Arrangements We're completed tonight
by librarian Clark of the Supreme
Court and Col. Richard D. Bright,
sergeant at-arms Of the Senate, by which
the sittings of the Supreme court will
not bs interrupted. The court will
convene tomorrow in the room of the
Senate committee on the District of
Columbia, one of the most spacious rooms
in the Capital. How long the sessions of
the court will be held there will be deter
mined by the justices themselves.