Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-04-30

Scene Which Recalls the COIu
Storage Warehouse Fire at the
Chicago Worlds Fair-As n Result
of the Accident Several ssSide
shows Were Put Under the Ban
PARIS, April 29.-An accident with
in the exposition grounds caused the
death of five persons and injured many
this afternoon. A temporary bridge,
unable to withstand the Sunday
crowd, broke. 1t is now known that
six persons were killed and about forty
others injured.
The accident threw a pail owe the
happiness of an immense throng who
had profited by the magnificent wealth
er to visit the exposition. To-day was
probably the record attendance. Not
merely the interior or the grounds,
but the precincts also, were crowded,
and the oncou was particularly
great along the Avenue de Suffron,
which forms the northern boundary
of the grounds.
Here is situated a big side show, the
celestial globe. A foot bridge on
which the finishing touches were put
to-day, crosses the Avenue de Suffron,
connecting the side show with the
exposition. 1t was constructed of
wood, with a stucco facade and with
a plaster-made tower at each end.
Strangely enough, the bridge had
been condemned early this morning as
unsafe by the exposition. The people
therefore were not allowed to go upon
the structure, and in this way a dis
aster more terrible than occurred was
prevented.
A crowd was passing along the ave-
nue., and some hundred or more per-
sons were walking beneath the bridge,
when suddenly an ominous crash was
heard. Before those underneath could
turn aside the structure fell with a
fearful crash, burying nearly fifty.
A shout of horror rose from the spec
tators, mingled with the cries of the
victims. For a moment nothing could
be distinguished but a cloud of dust
and plaster. A scene II the greatest
excitement and confusion followed.
But this was only for a few seconds.
Almost Immediately the crowd at
tackled the debris in an effort to re-
lease those lying beneath.
The workmen within the grounds
who had witnessed the accident, the
policemen and the republican guards,
together with quite a number of SOL
diers, joined in the rescue work. The
promenadeTs forgot their Sunday at
tire and covered themselves with dirt
and CRIME in tearing away the rubbish
with their hands. Wooden beams and
poles were brought from the half fin
ished building nearby and were used
as levers to raise the fallen mass.
The victims first recovered were
mostly only the injured, the dead being
found later beneath the center of the
structure. Messengers were dispatched
to bring firemen and sappers with their
equipments and the first body was
found after a quarter hours frantic
labor. 1t was that of a little girl about
counn xyaorc old ur1ocA. hAol x-a1 L-.-;
bly, crushed. Victim after victim was
brought to light until a row of six
mutilated corpses had been placed up
on the sidewalk and nearly forty other
persons, some badly and others less
seriously injured, had been carried in
ambulances or driven to the hospitals.
A family composed of father, mother
and two girls narrowly escaped de-
struction. The parents who happened
to be a little ahead had gone under
the bridge, the children following just
at the moment of the collapse. The
parents were killed but the children
sprang back and escaped with a few
scratches. A cyclist had his wheel
smashed but himself escaped unhurt.
The dead are three men, two women
and one child.
The weighty plaster towers seem to
have been responsible for the fall of
the structure. Commissioner General
Picard and other officials of the ex-
position arrived shortly after the acct
dent and superintendent the work of
relief. President Loubet sent an officer
OF his household for information.
Several soldiers were among the in
jured and many of their comrades
were foremost in giving assistance.
The disaster was the leading topic
of discussion in the cafes and at the
other Paris resorts this evening and
strong criticism was levelled against
the exhibition authorities for allowing
an unfinished structure to jeopardize
the lives of citizens, fears being ex-
pressed that the incomplete state of the
works within the exposition grounds
themselves might lead to a similar ac-
cident.
1t might be said, however, that the
exposition authorities are not respon-
sible for the defective construction of
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