The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1898-11-08
A CAPITOL FIRE.
The Entire Eastern Part From the
Main Floor to Basement Ruined.
Supreme Court Rooms Completely Ruined
Court Will Meet in Senate Conn
mittee ROom-The Loss Will
Foot Up 100000.


wrecked the supreme court room and
the rooms Immediately adjoining it on
the main floor of the capitol. The
damage is enormous The entire CEN
trail eastern part of the great marble
pile from the main floor to the subter-
ranean basement practically is mass
Of ruins The force of the explosion
was so heavy that the coping stones on
the outer 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 a $50
| feet from the scene of it.
Fire followed the explosion so quick
ly as to seem practically simultaneous
with it. The explosion shook the i'm
mense structure to it's foundations and
was heard several squares from the
capitol. 1t occurred in 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
5OO-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 ex-
| plosiOn 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 origin.
ating from the explosion darted up the
shaft of the elevator, which had been
completely destroyed by the force OF
the explosion, and communicated
with the record room of the supreme
| court, the Office of the marshal OF
| the court and the supreme court
library. Before the flames could be
subdued the priceless documents in the
record room had been almost totally
destroyed and serious damage had
| been done in the marshars office and
some minor rooms in the immediate
vicinity.
The library of the supreme court. To-
Gated Immediately beneath the SUI
preme courtroom was. badly damaged
| by fire, smoke and water practically
destroying the great collection of law
reference books. The library contains
about 20, 600 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. MIR. Justice Harlan said Sun
| day night that the library was
very valuable. Many of the works it
| contained would he thought, be diff
cult to replace. Librarian Clarke, after
cursory examination necessarily
made by the light of lanterns, express
ed 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
opinion of the justices of the supreme
| court, is to the records stored in the
endorsement. These included all of
1892 to 1882. The room contains records
of cases and opinions rendered by the
fathers of the judiciary of the govern
ment. Apparently the documents in
this room are either totally destroyed
or so badly damaged by fire and water
as to be useless.
Fortunately the clerks Office was not
in the least damaged by fire and the eX-
plosion did no damage in it except to
blow out one window.
The supreme courtroom was dam
aged principally by water and smoke,
the fire not reaching that point. Ad-
Joining the courtroom, however, both
the marshaFs office and the senate bar
Der 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 es-
gaping gas.
No intelligent estimate of the money
loss yet can be made. In the opinion
of capitol officials and mechanics who
examined the structure Sunday night
the loss will reach probably 100000 to
the building. The loss on the library
and records, as stated above, can be
scarcely estimated in dollars and cents.
A million dollars could not replace
them, because of many of them no
| duplicates are in existence.
Arrangements were completed Sun
day night by which the sittings of the
supreme court will not be interrupted.
Phe court will convene Monday in the
room of the senate committee on the
District of Columbia, one of the most
spacious rooms in the capitol. How
| long the sessions of the court will be
held there will be determined by the
| justices themselves.
| Funeral Services Over Consul Oldschmidt's