Hutchinson gazette. [volume] (Hutchinson, Kan.) 1895-1902, 1898-11-10

'eu' -
Washington, Nov 9,--The north CEN
trail part of tho capitol, containing the
supreme court room, was damaged by
an explosion and Are Sunday afternoon
and the big capitol building was the
scene OF wreck and desolation to-day.
The engines aud flromen had gone and
In their place small army OF work.
men was carrying of tho debria OF
brick and mortar, chArred wood work,
soaked and hRlf.burned official papers
and documents which had been heaped
In confusion In the basement and sub
basement under the quarters occupied
by the United States supreme court
An examination OF the court room
showed that the damage was confined
10 dlscolorcd walls and ceilings
aud soaked carpets. No substantial
damage had been done. The bench
occupied by the Justices WAS unin'
jured and even the briefs and papers
left by some OF the Justices under
paper weights remained undisturbed
But while the FIRE had made no prog
ress here, smoke and water had left
this chamber, which has long been re-
garded as n model OF classic beauty
In sorry condition. The windows and
sash OF the old colonial windows flank
ing the bench are in ruins. The
frescoed ceiling, which recently
had been done over are blurred
and spotted, the carpets and
draperies are soaked, while the
whole chamber has the damp, smoked
aspect usually following FIRE.
Sergean t-at.Arms Bright OF the sem
ate was busy this morning making
temporary provision for the sessions
OF the court Senator McMillan's
committee room on the District Of
Columbia was hastily prepared with n
bench and seats for the justices and n
dozen rows Of seats for attorneys end
spectators,
Arch itect Clark OF the capitol is ad.
vanced In age and very feeble, SO that
the active work Of investigating the
cause of the explosion and OF clearing
away the wreclsage is In the hands OF
thu assistant architect Of the capitol,
Mr.. Wood. n have made u prelimi-
nary examination" Mr. Wood said to-.
day, land am not yet ready to say
what caused tho explosion, although
the main attention is being given to
the gas supply, find that the gen.
eral damage sustained by the
building Is not as serious rs
first supposed. The heavy foun-
datlons to the building do not
appear TO be dis turbed, and the walls
blown down are confined to the thin
encircliug walls built to cover steam
pipes, etc. None Of the heavy sustain
ing arches or pillars have given way, so
far Us can find. will make fuller
examination with better light later
TO make certain on these points For
the present 1t does not seem that re-
building OF any part OF the capitol
will be necessary. The work will be
that OF repair Ing, and | hope we can
finish this by the time congress con-
venes. We have a small balance for
this, but in any event the work will
be done"
An examination of the meter room,
where the gas supplied to the capitol
Is measured, showed that the big meter
had been blown to pieces
Several supreme court justices made
a Witt to the scene Of the catastrophe
during the forenoon. Chief Justice
Fuller and Justice Harlan walked
through the various apartments guild
ed by man with lantern. While
they looked at the scene OF destruction
with manifest interest they made no
remarks. They spent somewhat more
time In the court room than elsewhere.
They found the upholstery and the
courts new $4,000 carpet greatly in
iured, but the two court clocks were
ticking away as regularly and as dig
nihedly as ever. The busts OF
former chief justices which line the
walls Of the old chamber were also un-
injured, and this appeared to be a
source of much qualification to the
chief justice and his companions.
They found nothing but ruin and desc
latlon In Marshal Wrights Office. This
room was completely Quilted. No fur
niture escaped, aud the walls Of the
room are as black as night, the effect
OF smoke and Gre and water combined.
While this damage was regretted 1t
was not considered irreparnble. The
only damage that cannot be made good
was done In the file room of the supreme
court In the basement where were
stored all Of the official records and
the original copies OF opinions from
the foundation OF the government
All these opinions have been printed,
but the original manuscripts were
highly valued. This room was almost
over the scene of the explosion, and 1t
was one OF the Hrst compartments OF
the capitol to be attacked. The docu-
ments here were stored away in an
orderly manner in wooden cases, and
mono OF them had any other protec-
ton except the records of the
court from 1899 to 1882, which were
encased In tin boxes. The flames
appear to have completely enveloped
this room, but they were only suffi-
GENTLY intense to badly char all the
woodwork and many OF the documents.
Comparatively few of the papers were
absolutely destroyed, but those which
sufpered this fAto were among the most