The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-05-23
GOING TO DANCE MET DEATH
CROWDED ELETATORI IN 4 PITTS
 BURG BUILDING DROPS.
Contained UnIucky Number ofThirteen Passengers-One Man and Three Women Killed and Six IDjured- Cable Snapped as the Cage Was De- scending From the Sixth FlOoI.

gGcndtng From the Sixth FlOoIs
 Pittsburg, May 22-One man and three women were killed and six injur- ed tonight at 1928 Fifth avenue, in building occupied by dancing acade- my The cause of the fatalities was the snapping of the elevator ropes allowing the cage to drop fifty feet.
 The dead are so badly mashed that Identification has been impossible up to midnight. The only one whose name may be correct is Catherine Curtin. On her body was found railroad ticket with the name on it. Among the injur- ed are:
 Harry Lipson, aged p, bruised all over body and hurt internally.
 Miss Kate Flanigan. 2, bruised all over the body and suffering from shock.
 Albert Myers, 20, fractured leg.
 Mrs. Lulu Postilewaite, scalp wound, and body badly bruised.
 A bancuet and ball was being held in the building by the Pennsylvania Electro Mechanical institute and every available portion of the fifth and sixth floors were crowded by members ot the institute and their friends. At about 10 o'clock the elevator with load of thirteen passengers started for the ban quet room on the sixth floor. When that 1luor was reached it was found that every place was crowded and the pass engers decided to go to the fifth floor where the dancing was in progress. When below the sixth floor the steel cable snapped with a resounding crash that was heard blocks away the cage dropped with its load of human freight.
 It smashed through the floor above the cellar of the building and was stopped by a braced post of wood three feet be- low the first floor. In this inaccessible position the passengers were jammed under broken tinlbers and twisted steel, yet none may have been killed had not the heavy iron balance weights weigh ing over ton come crashing down upon them. Miraculously all but four were able to scramble out. The others were pinioned under the heavy weight. Four were smashed almost beyond recogni- ton. *,
 Albert Meyers was held a prisoner fey more than an hour. While firernen ed volunteer rescuers were preparing rig gings to lift the machine so as. to be accessible he lay pinioned under the wreckage. Whiskey and water were passed to him with words of encourage ment. A fireman endangered his life by dropping into the mass of wreckage and holding the injured mans head.
 Heavens. it was hot down there" was the brave mans first words, spoken while being carried from his prison to a hospital ambulance.
 When the accident occurred more than 400 men, women and children were on the dancing floor. As the elevator struck the bottom cloud of dust blew in to the room from the open elevator door. Quickly Harry Gilson closed the entrance and cried Take your partners for a two step." Scores of policemen were present and ordered all persons in the building to remain quiet. In this way the people were all allowed to pass from the building by relays, avoiding a panic that might have resulted in many ! more fatalities.
 The opinion prevails that the elevator was overcrowded and Superintendent of Police John McTighe ordered the arrest of Professor L. N. Giles, mechanical engineer and instructor of the Pennsyl- vania Electro Mechanical institute, who at the time of the accident was running 1 the elevator. It is alleged that he al- 1 lowed the elevator to be overcrowded and that he had no experience in run ming an elevator and was partly respon- sible for the accident,