The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-11-04
THE FLOOR
COLLAPSED
And 200 Men Were Piled
In One Mass on the
Floor Below at the
Western Hotel.

the Jeffries-Sharkey fight in tn
second story of the Western Hote
at Fourth and Orange streets, las
night about II o'clock the floor col
lapsed and a number of men wer,
injured. Fortunately no one wa.
killed and it is a mystery how som,
men escaped death. The injured
are:
/ William Potter, leg broken
bruised.
| Detective Bernard ]. McVey
head lacerated. bruised about body
| Edward Holland, burned, cut and
bruised.
John Horner. cut and bruised.
| Alfred II. Edward, bruised and
legs sprained.
| William Rank. legs confused.
| John II. Curran. legs injured.
John F. Sweeney, hands cut.
John McGowan. legs hurt and
bruised about the body.
Frank Bacon, cut about head and
bruised.
James Callahan, ankle sprained.
Joseph Graham, both ankles con-
fused.
William Lukens. legs bruised.
William Kelley, legs bruised.
A number of others received slight
injuries but their names could not
be obtained Edward krause, pro-
prietor of the hotel, had made ar
rangements for receiving the re-
turns and had a wire put in. In
the second story Of the hotel he had
special room fitted up and there it
was that the crowd of men assem-
blcd. The fight had reached the
eleventh round and L. G.. Nye was
receiving message when the floor
gave way and the people fell to the
floor below. The people had been
given no warning and when the
floor went down with a sudden crash
the widest confusion followed. In
addition to the confusion caused by
the collapse of the floor a stove and
lamp that had been in the room fell
to the lower floor. The report of
the collapse of the floor sounded like
an explosion and large crowd
gathered. Taking in the situation
some of those who escaped without
injury ran to the police station and
others sent in an alarm of fire.
Proprietor Krause headed res
cuing party that went to work to
rescue the men from their perilous
condition.
As the floor went down and the
men were piled in mass. Edward
Holland was pinned beneath the
stove. The door was open at the
and he closed it thereby preventing
spread of the fire. The rescuing
party did not take long to get all
the people from the stable which is
situated beneath the room.
Detective McVey was near the
operator when the floor collapsed.
In falling he was pinned beneath
the timbers. As he lay pinioned
the lamp that had fallen, fell on his
legs and the detective was unable
to eXtricate himself.
At the beginning of the affair
word was despatched for the Phoe-
nix ambulance and for cabs to take
care OF the wounded and to convey
them to their home.
DR.. James II. Morgan accompa-
MED the ambulance and gave aid to
several OF the bruised, while others
OF the crowd lent assistance to a
prominent physician, who had hap
pencd to be nearby when the affair
occurred. While the demand for
ambulance service was not so great
as was expected, the wagon was
there: There also were cabs for
the disposal OF the wounded.
William Potter. of Twenty-fourth
and Market streets, is perhaps the
most seriously injured of any of the
victims. His leg was broken, and
he was otherwise hurt. He was
taken to Il side room of the hotel un-
til he could be examined by the
physicians, and it was learned that
the leg was fractured. He was car
ried out by his friends and was
taken to his home in the Phoenix
ambulance.
Joseph Graham, who was taken
to the Delaware Hospital, had both
his ankles hurt. At first it was
thought they were broken, but a
careful examination showed they
were only bruised and confused
Alfred r. Edwards. a cigar man
ufacturer, was in a painful condi-
ton as the result of his hurts. His |
legs and body were battered by the |
shock of falling, and he could not |
stand.
The most unpleasant predicament !
of any of the victims was probably |
that Of Edward Holland of East |
Fourth street, He was pinned to the
floor by red hot stove. and was
burned and bruised. With Holland
was John Horner and William
Lukens also was hurt by the stove.
S face was burned,
William Lukens had his leg hurt
by the stove. He was caught by
ono end nf II and his tro,,cara v.nr., |