The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-24

the other side of the fence"
 The fence of which Foreman Baze- more speaks. is eight feet high, and | twenty-five feet from the line of the storehousb foundations.
 Structure n Complete Wreck. \ The scene at the warehouse after the collapse was one of almost complete | destruction. The huge structure. two l hundred and forty feet long, was a | complete wreck. A small section. of l perhaps thirty feet, on the west end | of the building, remained standing. held in place by heavy props which | had been placed there earlier in the | day when the first warnings of the weakness of the structure were receiv- | ed. The roof and second story had sunk flat upon the piles of meal and | bran sacks on the first floor. Cotton seed huils had burst through the sides and roof Of the building. and had 1 spread outward. covering the ground to | depth of several feet Tor a consider | able distance from the ruins. In it's | fall. the building had caught one of | the guy wires of the tall smokes of the power house some distance away, bending theghuge funnel in the middle, ard drawing it's top to the earth Everywhere were to be seen loose pieces of timber, broken and sharpen | ed. and the loose hulls of the cotton seed. scattered over the ground in the vicinity of the wreck. The- brick foundations were the only portion of the building which remained in- tact. Cause of the Collapse. The direct cause of the collapse of the storehouse. as has been stated. was the great weight on the second floor The contents of tho building. prior to its destruction, consisted of cotton seed hulls. 1900 sacks of meal and 500 sacks of bran. The meal and bran were piled on the ground floor, their com- bined weight aggregating only about eighty-three tons The weight in the structure was thus unevenly distrib- uted. It was top-heavy.
 Hours before the final crash came, the owners and the men at work about the building were warned of the inn pending danger. About II o'clock in the morning those in the building heard threatening creaks and noticed a slight bulge in the walls. Examination made 1t apparent that the building was in peril, and the force of men working in it were ordered out Of the structure
 Steps were at once taken to strength en the weakening structure, and to pre- went, if possible, the destruction which came later. General Manager George H. Walker of the Cotton oil Company was called from his office to the ground and under his personal direction and that of R. F. Bazemore. superintendent of the mill, forces of men were set to work reinforcing the building, and strengthening the weakening walls The west end. which appeared to be in the weakest condition, was strongly prop ped with scantllng and heavy pieces of timber. Other points where the dan ger seemed most imminent were sup T0rtad tr inc 4puna Tnuunar Evar fnnu reinforced. however. the structure was not sufficiently strong to hold the enor- nous weight on the second floor, and heroic measures were resorted to. It was decided that to relieve the walls of the upper part of the building, the pillars supporting the upper story should be pulled from underneath. aI- lowing this floor to drop upon, the bran and meal piled on the first floor.
 Tried to Stay Collapse.
 A large force of men was set to work, and by means of a strong cable and steam engine, the central pillar was successfully removed. This seemed temporarily to relieve the building to a certain degree. The center of the uper floor sagged until 1t nearly touched upon the piled sacks beneath. It was thought that if another pillar could be removed, the walls of the building "cuAh DS ACifNNCV OE q O4h part OL liiS weight, and the danger would be passed.
 It was while negotiating the removal of this second pillar that the walls gave way. <Bulging suddenly outward. the shell of the building collapsed, drop ping the second story and the roof down upon the the first floor. with only the section, at the west end of the building remaining upright. and that in a condi- tion of threatening weakness.
 At the time of the crash. a switch en- zine was removing a short train of oil tank cars from the plant switch out upon the main line of the Western Railroad of Alabama which runs close to the storehouse. The two rear cars of this train were caught in the fall, and held stationary, although not forced from the track, and, 1t is thought, not damaged. They were however. which extended over the track and ten feet beyond.
 No One Was Injured.
 Of the seventy-five men at work around the building at the time of It's collapse, not a man was injured, even to the extent of a scratch. MT. F. Bazemore. a brother of the superin- tendent of the mill. switchman nam ed Smith, and a negro were all be- tween Cne IdlllnI building ana the pow CT house when the crash came. Baze- more escaped. half blinded by the dust by clearing a high board fence. Smith crawled under a flat car standing on another track. Emerging from the other side, he arose just in time to see the tall smoke stack topping in his direction. He immediately sought ref uge under the car again until this sec ond danger was passed. The negro was not certain how he managed to avoid the flying timbers. The other | workmen were not as close to the | walls as these three, and escaped more l easily. 1
 The building which was destroyed | was a frame structure erected two | years ago. It had a length of 1.-two | hundred and forty feet. When 1t was built large quantity of lumber ship | ped here from Selma, which had pre- 1 viously been used in building at the | plant of the company at that place. ] was used in the new structure Man ager Walker, however, stated posi- lively last night that the collapse of | the building is In no way to be attrib- Ited to this fact An examination of | the ruins after the fall of the build | Ing showed that the tlmbers were uni | formly sound.
 Crushed by Weight.
 Tt was simply d case of an over | loaded second story said the officials | last night, without any weight as d | on the first floor. A large amount of cotton seed hulls l which we had not been able to dispose | of had been conveyed over there from | the mill, and they crushed the walls | iown%