The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1912-08-21
MISS TH|STLETHWA|TE HURT
WHEN THE STAND COLLAPS ED
She Was the Only Resident of This City Injured by Col
lapse of Stand at Marshall Notification Meeting
Believed Some Of Injured People Will Die

ed. AS the center of the stand sank
from the sight of those in front, men
and women turned and fed toward
Pennsylvania street.
One little section of the stand in the
northwest corner stood for a single
second after the remainder of the plat
form had gone down. Then it col
lapsed.
1t was at least a quarter of min
ute before a sound broke across the
scores of men and women caught in
the debris. Then women screamed
and men shouted. There was, how
ever, a noticeable lack of the intense
excitement among the onlookers that
usually goes with such an accident.
A firewagon came speeding up Yer
mont street and the uniformed fire
men surged into the mass among the
! fallen boards.
AS the stand sank it was noticed
that no one who was on it shouted or
screamed. With a regular, sinking
motion, the big platform collapsed
from the middle outward, and it was
several seconds apparently, before the
entire structure had reached the pave
ment. Then confusion reigned for a
time, but there still was lack of
| loud noise or much disorder From
everywhere men rushed toward the
wrecked platform.
+ Many on the speakers stand leaped
down into the wreckage and began
the fight to save those caught be-
meath the boards. The uninjured who
had gone down in the crash Olsen,
tangled themselves, and many of them
turned Immediately to the work OF
rescue. Still others fed from the
scene as if death were pursuing them
Others in the outer crowd joined these
and University Square soon was filled
A moving picture man, with his ma
! chine set at the edge of the speakers
stand, trained his lenses on the scene
in the street until the ambulances had
left none of the injured in the spin
tered mass on the pavement
| Policemen formed a Gordon about
the wrecked platform and ropes We're
stretched before the injured all had
been taken from the debris. Then the
gongs of ambulances made a riot OF
noise in all the approaches to the
place and as fast as the ambulances
reached the scene they were loaded
with the injured and started out across
the city to the hospitals, hotels ant
private dwellings. The Indiana Demo
cratic Club was converted into tenn
porary hospital, and practically every
room was filled with 1.-THE injured
stretched out across the rugs and the
beds in the upper rooms. The plant
of the Bobbs-Merrill Company, also
was opened to the injured and many
were cared for there.
Meanwhile the speakers on the plat
form were attempting to keep dowr
the excitement in the crowd. Judge
Parker turned around from viewins
the chaos directly at his feet and an
nounced to the crowd that the wore
had gone out that no one was serious
ly injured.
Speakers Stand Safe.
The sinking of the platform, had il
not been gradual as it was. would
those on it. The portion of the stand
next the speakers platform did mo-
give way, the ends of the board beins
wrenched, but still holding to the
speakers stand. The speakers stand
bearing the members of the notiica
ton committee, the principals in the
days festivities and party of friend:
of Mrs. Marshall. besides many othel
prominent persons, did not even sway
when the stand behind it crumpled vi
as if an earthquake had opened hols
in the ground under it.
Governor Marshall Immediately af
ter the work of extricating the injured
from the debris of the broken timber!
had begun, said that he was certain
there were no serious injuries.
II went through the collapse of ;
stand with 500 people on it myself.
he said, land there was no one hur
badly"