The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1909-01-06


In Chicago It would not have been
skyscraper. for II was only seven
stories high, but II lowered far above
every building in the city. II was
built by Hickson w Bond on the cor
ner Of Platte avenue and T street, a
locality which only year ago had
been an almost valueless suburb.
given over to corn and potato patches.
But a real western boom had since in
spired the town. The building was
finished early In October, with a great
flourish of trumpets from the city
press. proud of its new skyscraper.
Il was constructed. as usual, of steel
girders covered with a thin shell Of
masonry. and was handsomely fitted
I'D with marble and mosaic. with cleo
trio elevators. and mail chutes. and
complicated heating apparatus. II
was almost filled with tenants as soon
as its Offices we're opened for rent
The Central National bank established
itself upon the ground floor, and. at
the prevailing rates Of rent, Bond
forsaw a golden harvest.
An went very well for a time Bonds
rents began to come In, and he was
elected member Of the board Of
trade. Then. no one'seemed to know
how. a report began to 80 about that
the Platte building was unsafe.
Late in The afternoon Of the 18th
of December. several Of the occn-
rants or he upper floors OF the Platte
building noticed a faint tremor of
the framework as II from the Jar Of
heaty traffic outside lt was extreme
ly slight. however. and at FIVE or six
O'Clock almost every one left the build
ing without having given the phenom-
non a moments thought.
Several business men returned to
the building after dinner that evening,
10 deal with the unusual work Incl
dental 10 the end Of the year. These
when they arrived found the watch
man OF the bank in animated conver-
sation with two policemen In the outer
hall
The whole building was vibrating
with a jarring tremor. There was moth
ing 10 account for the disturbance, and
none Of the neighboring buildings ap-
peared TO be affected IN the least.
There was no heavy traffic on the
street at that hour. and there was no
wind.
Gradually the oscillation Of the
building became greater. It wavered
exactly as a bridge does at the pass
age of heavy train. The news had
spread rapidly through the city and a
mob of a thousand persons very soon
filled the street Among these were
most Of the tenants Of the Platte
building Offices. but few dared to 60
inside
Presently some one raised the cry
that the building was rocking. and the
crowd. which now extended for sev
eral blocks. surged wildly back. It vas
true. Almost, imperceptibly, but Ger
tainly. the dark top Of the skyscrapei
was swaying against the starry sky
The swaying motion increased, but
very gradually, while the humminl
note Of its vibrations rose to a SOUND
Of tremendous volume Gently ant
| slowly to and fro it rocked, and g
shade further at each oscillation. II
a few minutes the shell Of masonry
and stucco began to peel of and fall
in Jumps at first, and afterwards il
great sheets. The whole immens,
crowd fell silent, and there was NJ
more noise or shouting. The magni
tude and mystery of the event over
awed them.
Just inside the fire lines stood T9ond
his hands clenched in his coat pock
cts, impotently peering from under hi
hat brim at his tottering fortunes
They were all locked up in that un
stable frame of steel So far as an!
theory Of the catastrophe was con
cerned. his mind was blank. Only HI
felt convinced that an enemy had don,
this, and, being western bred, he wa
not disheartened-only wrathful an,
perplexed
All that night the fremen and pc
lice swarmed helplessly about the tot
tering building Bond had offered
thousand, then FIVE thousand dollars
for a successful scheme for steadyinl
it. All street cars were stopped with
in four blocks. They sounded tn,
earth in the neighborhood and found !
solid. Men were even sent into th,
sewers with delicate instruments t
detect any subterranean trembling. bu
none could be observed. All the dis
turbance was localized in the building
When the gray dawn came up owe
the prairie the skyscraper was still
standing though it swayed now lik
flagstaff in high wind, and 1t wa
very evident that its collapse was a
hand All the glass was broken iron
the windows, a great part of the ma
sonry had fallen and it looked lik
the gutted ruins from a fire. AS /
reeled from side to side with terrifi
rush and swing the creak of the draw
ing rivets could be heard through tn,
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