The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-08-29
AN ACCIDENT AT THE CAPITOL.
Roof of the Supreme Court Room
COIlapSes, InJuriag Three Men.

Three men were injured ut the Capitol
shortly after noon by being prccipitatrd
with mass Of heavy debris TO the floor
below. from the temporary roof over
I the chamber Of the United States Su-
prvme Court The roof collapsed and the
men had a miraculous escape from death.
The injured men, with three others.
were clearing away pile Of plankiug and
plastering. which threatened disaster.
when the accident occurred The fact
that il was lunch hour and that the work
men in the Supreme Court room proper
had ceased work for the time. prevented
more serious results.
a party OF sightseers, who were Just
about 10 enter the Supreme Court cham
ber under the escort Of Albert Doughertv.
Capitol guide barely escaped being en-
tombed under the falling debris.
Those injured are:
W PoiutdeXter. colored. thirty years old.
Of 1884 Pierce Place. right shoulder disIo-
Gated and bruised about the arms and
back
Dallas Jones coIorcd. forty-one years
old. Of Arlington, Va, hip and back sew
ereIy bruised
r Minor, colored, tweHty-eight years of
age, Of charlottesville Va. right hip
Nl'l --Li-tI- anu lEht trE bruised.
The injured We're taken to the Emcr-
gency Hospital in the hospital ambulance.
None are in a serious condition. and it is
expected that they viii soon be able to
leave the hospital Jones, It was supposed
az the time Of the accident was hurt in
ternally, but it was learned at the hospital
that this was not the case
The Supreme Court room is on the east
~
Just north Of the east entrance to the
building
Extensive alterations to the Capitol
have been in progress for some time.
Richardson * Burgess being the contract
or. in charge Of the work. The Supreme
CcGrt room had been entirely cleaned out
and the original roof had been removed.
and replaced by a temporary one, sup
ported on by Pinch beEms These were
supported by upright scaRoldings, peue-
tratiug the walls of the room. A thin
planlling formed the roof itself.
Daring the forenoon the Iaborers had
been working on the east side Of the
building, clearing out the roof on that
side The pIastering, pianking, beams.
and iron girders had been carried to the
east side, where a large shute is situated,
which is used as means to carry mate
rial 10 the ground. The debris had col
lected faster than it could be disposed
Of by the shute. and was allowed 10 ac-
cumuIate upon the temporary roof over
the Supreme Court Room.
Shortly before noon a boy called the at
tenti0n Of J. r. Faiu. an engineer In the
office OF Assistant Architect Woods, who
was experimenting the work. TO the fact
that one Of the beams supporting the
temporary roof was cracking. The dan
ger Of a collapse was realized by Mr.
Fain. who decided at once TO relieve the
pressure
Taking six lab0rers with him he started
the work Of clearing the roof Of the de-
bris While the men were working the city
clocks struck twelve. and most Of the
workmeu stopped Mr., FaIn determined
90 work through the noon hour I'm the
effort 10 clear away the debris. He warn
% the men not 20 walk on the weak
parts Of the roof. but 10 pull the large
pieces of lumber from the side Of the pile
where the support % the rC.9f was. strong
or, and the weight from above less Most
OF the wcrkmeu observed this direction
but some Of them found il more cOnven-
lent 10 take the beams from the top OF
the pile than 20 pull them out from un-
derneath.
one Of the worHmen, whose name IS
P0intdeXter. is understood 10 have seized
hold OF a huge piece Of lumber from the
pile, and thrown IL down on the Temporal
~ roof The roof Immediately collapsed
without further warning and the three
men were precipitsted below.
Policeman Woerteudyke. Of the Capitol
force, who was on duty AT the door OF
the Supreme Court Immediately notified
Lieut.. Fred. p. Lincoln. in charge Of the
Capitol police. and an ambulance was
summoned The injured men were helped
out Of the mass OF plaster and woodwork.
and it was thought that Jones was most
seriously injured on the arrival OF the
ambulance the men were taken 20 the
Emergency Hospital
Mr. Fain. who was experimenting the
work for the ONCE Of the Architect Of
the Capitol stated that when ne observ-
cd the cracked beam, he had anticipated
the accident, and hoped to prevent it by
promptly having the weight removed. He
expected that a collapse would have brok-
en- through the foor OF the Supreme
Court room, and have done incaIculable
damage 70 the Supreme Court library
which IS located IN the room Immediately
below.
Col. Snow. well-I,n0wu Capitol guide.
had but a moment before the accident.
been standing below the unstable roof
with large party Of strangers. The door
90 the Supreme Court room had just been
opened by Albert DouEherty, guide. who
had with him party, consisting of three
gentlemen, two ladies, and three children.
when the accident occurred. and number
of the party barely escaped being struck
hy falling bricks and timbers. Il Is stated
that one of the gentlemen of this party
al the time was focusing a pocket "koGac"
and snapped the catch az the very moment
of the collapse.