Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-08-29
NINE LIVES LOST
By the Collapse of Several
Steel Arches.
MANY OTHERS INJURED
OF Whom Four Will Surely Die, While
Two More are Westinghouse of
the Accident is Not Yet Definitely
Known.

eacn weighing 81 tons, which were to
have supported the superstructure of the
Coliseum building, in course of erection
on Wabash avenue. fell to the ground
late this afternoon. It is known tina nine
lives We're crushed out. The bodies of
two men are supposed to have been bur-
led under the w%reckage. Thirteen are in
the hospital with injuries received in the
may possibly recover and the balance are.
Tor the greater part. seriously injured.
All OF the II arches We're standing. the
twelfth and last having been completed
today. 1t was the intention of the steel
contractors. the Pittsburg Bridge Com
pany of P~ittsburg, Pa, to turn over it's
work tonight to the general contractors
Ihe IRON traveller" or derrick, which had
been used in the erection Of the arches,
had been removed and the gents Of the
bridge We're accounting their
work as practically completed when sud
denly and without the slightest prelimin-
airy warning the arch last put in place
suddenly fell over against the one next
to 1t. The weight was too much for this,
1t gave way, crashing against the third
and. one by one, the great steel spans
fell over to the south. precisely in the
same manner as a number of cards would
fail.
Nearly all the men who were killed
We're at work on top Of the arches. 40 feet
above the ground. Some of them made
futile attempts to slide down the side OF
the riches, but before they could help
themselves they We're hurled to the
ground. Many of them uttered piercing
shrieks for aid as they fell. Most Of
them were killed outright by the awful
nature OF their injuries. The skulls Of the |
unfortunate men We're crushed into
shapeless masses, their limbs We're cut
Off as If by a monster knife, and they
We're mangled beyond recognition. The
immense structure began falling slowly.
each arch being sustained by the cross
beams supporting the entire structure.
AS the mass gained impetus the bars Of
iron, inches thick, snapped With a loud
report and the great mass moved faster
and faster in it's descent. To the ground
with a crash that could be heard blocks
distant the structure fell, leaving the
walls practically ~uninjured and sending
up great clouds of dust and dirt.
An Immense crowd gathered around the
and despite the efforts of the police,
who were close at hand, they swarmed
over the mass of Wreckage. making des-
perate but ill-directed efforts to drag out
the dead and save the wounded. 1t was
only with the creates difficulty that the
police We're finally able to drive back the
crowd and give the fremen and unin-
Jured Workmen a chance to secure the in
jured.
ina more men were not killed and in
Jured was almost a miracle. Fully ffty
men We're at work in the space covered
by the arches as they fell. A number of
the men fell into small excavations, of
which there are many in the ground be-
meath the steel works, and although some
We're battered uD by the tumble these
We're saved from the great mass Of steel
that crashed down over them. Several
OF them were standing under the arches
when they commenced to fall and. run
ming to the sidewalks by great good for
tune happened to stand in the space left
from the slde walks. Had the arches fall
en- to either side the loss of life must
nave been much heavier, but they fell
true to the south or a line parallel to the
side of the building and none Of them
save the two southern archie fell at all
outside Of the space to be occupied by the
building.
The direct cause of the accident is not
known. One theory which receives some
support is that a shifting of sand beneath
the foundation caused the collapse of the
first arch. which brought all the others TO
VIC 6louiu. a StoTy which cannot De sub
stantlated is that a number of Workmen
were using a pulley on the north arch,
while they were taking down some scat
folding that had been erected around it.
This caused the arch to sway and finally
1T sWayed too far and fell out.
Il cannot say what caused the acct
dent said Superintendent Johnson. Il
could hardly believe my eyes when saw
the results of our weeks of work de-
stroyed in a minute"
The work of rebuilding will commence
at once. n 1t is expected that today's
accident will delay the opening of the
building not over a month. No financial
loss will fail upon the Coliseum
which is erecting the structure. The ONLY
loser will be the Pittsburg Bridge com
pany. The company's loss is estimated
at 5000. The Coliseum will lose indi-
rectly financially through the inability to
arrange for attractions during the com.
ing winter season. The unfinished build
ing occupied the ground on the east side
OF wabash avenue, between Fourteenth
and Sixteenth streets, on which Libby
prison formerly stood. The structure
was 3o4 feet long by 172 feet wide, and
when completed would have been 85 feet
high. 1t was designed for the accommo.
dation of large conventions, expositions.
cireuses. foot ball games and other af-
fairs OF great public attraction.