The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-03-22
KILLED IN CHURCH
Old Brooklyn House Of Worship COL
Ispses During Funeral Services
LARGE CROWD ON SECOND FLOOR

R~aised-Alarms Bring Three Engines
and Many Ambulances-Church Is the
Fleet Street Methodist-Edifce, Over
Fifty Years of Age.
New York City.-Eleven persons. all
negroes, were killed, and several times
ihat number were injured when a part
If the floor Of Brooklyn's old Fleet
Street Church, now the African Meth
,dist Episcopal Zion Church, collapsed
ander the overheavy burden of a null
:itude that had gathered to witness the
funeral services for Sidney l.. Painter,
/ popular band leader. Little less than
| miraculous was the escape Of those in
volved in the disaster from the still
greater horror of q fire among the
:uins. The panic that ensued was
wild. Women and children were
rampled under foot and furnished a
majority of the victims.
The church is 4 two-story frame
structure, gabled, but without steeple
Or bell tower. 1t stands at the small
triangular area formed by the junction
Of Fleet street with Hudson avenue, a
short block from Myrtle avenue. That
is right in the heart Of the largest negro
district of Brooklyn. Built ffty-six
years ago to meet the needs Of white
Worshippers, the famous structure
passed into the hands Of a negro con-
gregation about twenty years ago. 1t
Is one Of the oldest buildings in the
neighborhood and is fimsy in it's con-
struction.
The church has a ffty-foot front n
is about 100 feet deep. The ground
floor forms one large room, used by
the ~Sunday-school classes and other or
CARNATIONS within the church. From a
small hallway two narrow stairs lead
to right and left up to the church
proper, the floor Of which is about
fifteen feet above ground. The stairs
have a narrow landing half way up,
and then turn on themselves. The
space between them forms a kind of
| alcove, open toward the church, but
| with separate flooring. This fact saved
many lives.
Two aisles ran from the front to the
rear Of the church, with three columns
of benches, twenty-five in each, stand
ing very close together. There must be
seating room for something like 800
people in the c~hurch-or there was,
for there only remained a gaping
boil" in the fooor, some thirty by thirty
feet in size. On each of the long walls
there are FIVE windows opening upon
narrow alleys separating the church
from the adjoining buildings. The floor
consisted of one-inch planks resting
on crossbeams only three inches thick.
These again rested on two string
beams a foot thick that ran from one
end Of the building to the other, each
one Of them having for extra support
two iron columns only three inches in
diameter. The crash was caused by
the swapping Of n Of the stringers as
if it had been glass.
Only last November the church was
condemned by the Building Depart
ment as utterly unsafe. A plea by
the pastor, the Rev. F. NJ. Jacobs, in
Guiding the declaration that 1t would
be impossible for the congregation to
find a new place Of worship on short
notice, led to a temporary suspension
of the condemnation on the condition
that no large gatherings should be per-
mitted.
Seeing that the crush on the floor
was growing worse every minute the
pastor at last called out to Policeman
McCree at the door to help him clear
the aisles., His request was, either not
heard or disregarded. Mr.. jacobs then
left the pulpit and made his way
through the crowd in the eastern aisle,
trying to persuade them to take seats.
Just then Undertaken Harris entered
the church at the head Of a number of
assistants, who were carrying wfeaths
and other floral offerings. Their effort
to reach the altar along the western
aisle caused an additional crowding on
the other side of the church, bringing
two-thirds of those in the room togeth-
er on a narrow part Of the floor. This
was too much for the beams, which
were rotten with age.
An ominous cracking was heard, but
only a few needed it. Then small
clouds Of dust began to rise above the
heads Of the people. Somebody yelled
"Fire!w The panic was started. Be
fore more than half a dozen people
were able to get out a loud crash came.
The floor occupied by the centre and
left columns Of benches went down,
dragging the people along.
From out Of that pile Of debris and
struggling humanity rose shrieks. Men
and women were clinging. for life to
the benches that leaned, funnel shape,
from the edges Of those parts of the
floor that hadnot collapsed and crashed
down into the room below. Others
who had not been dragged down broke
the windows and leaped to the ground
outside.
The gas went out when the crash
came, leaving everything in pitch-black
darkness. This averted the danger OF
fire, but increased the panic.
When the crash was heard, followed
by the screaming Of those hurt, a gen,
eral cry of ''Fire!" was raised, and
nearly everybody turned and ran.
Three engines and two trucks re
sponded to a fire alarm.
Every hospital in Brooklyn sent am
balances. In clearing away the debris
it was found that eleven had beeI
killed outright and many more were
Injured.