The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-01-30
FEDERAL PROBE
 OF CAPITAL FIRE
 TO BEGIN AT ONCE
tContinued from Page one)

tragedies which fill Washington's hos pita1s today, and they serve only in adequately to give a general picture of the worst catastrophe the National Capitol ever witnessed and one of the worst theatre disasters in history.
 The scene around the wrecked thea Ire today at sunrise resembled noth- ing so much as shell shattered cathe- dral in some town of northern trance.
 The walls remained, but inside them wreckage and splinters of steel, tim Der and concrete were piled high in an intricate mass. It may be that this wreckage contains still other bodies, but the searchers- expressed the be- lief that all had been removed at any rate the work was halted. It will be gone over again. However In all prob ability.
 Tales of heroism and unnitigated personal sacrifice came in the wake of the tragedy today.
 Outstanding among the heroes was Albert G. BuehIer, who gave his life that others might live. He was dis covered by rescuers pined down by steel girders, but called to rescurers that he was not very badIy hurt ana asked that they concentrate their er- forts in getting at the more seriously injured whose cries he heard around him. The rescurers needed ms pIea' but when he was removed rom me tangled mass of debris an hour later if was too late to save him lie dleo in the arms of those who u1teo nm from from the WTeCkag6 ana HIS DOoy was conveyed to the temporary nor que across the street. Ten George- town College students, living at tne S. A. E. fraternity house nearby vol urteered their bodies for blood trans fusion to save the life of Miss Caro- line Jrshaw, niece of Representative UOsEaw of Georgia, who had one 100, cut off and the other so badly mansleo that if may have to be aInputaleG-
 Lieut.. Colonel Taylor, U. 5. A., bleeding from leg wounds. found that he could stand upon them and rose from his stretcher as they were apout to carry him away and insisted upon tearing away with his bare hands the plaster and tangled wire ske1ns that covered the body Of his daughter "ho was rescued alive.
 six year old red headed boy. whose name was not learned. on be- ing removed from the ruins, argued botly against being carried away ana insisted that he be permitted to re- main until his twin sister had been rescued also. The rescuers, guided by the boys directions found ~the sister, who was only slightly hurt
 Three priests penetrated the runs heedless of warnings and remained on duty to administer the last rites or the church to the dying.
 The office of the City Building In spector has been charged by Cuno Rudolph, president of the Board of District Commissioners, with con. ducting the investigation in behalf of the city. Before this probe was ordered instructions were issued through the Building Inspection de- partment for the closing of all thea tres having cantilever roofs similar to that which crashed down upon 300 persons in the Knickerbocker theatre. No theatres were permitted to open their doors today until all snow had been removed from the roofs and the condition of the building passed upon by building inspectors.
 Pending the result of the city's i'm T@1o NIn IC CoII Ioy~ the engineering commissioner. and other officials declined to discuss the probable causes of the terrible dis aster, although it was generally con ceded that any inquiry would show that the great accumulation of snow on the roof was largely responsible for tearing it away from the walls of the theatre.
 Construction experts and architects probably will be called before the Federal grand jury to testify with re- gard to the ability of the Cantilever roof of the Knickerbocker theatre to stand up under the snow which rested upon it Saturday night The grand jury's inquiry will begin immediately under the direction of District Attor- ney Payton Gordon.
 Officials of the coroner's office have been engaged in a preliminary i'm vestigation of the accident since Sat urday night, and a jury was expected to be called today to conduct a formal inquiry. which may be extend ed to review of the work of the dis trict building inspection department.
 Declaring that reports had come to him that the building code of the dis trict had been frequently violated during the war when many buildings were rushed to completion. Senator Capper announced that the investiga- ton which he would propose would involve a sweeping inquiry into the construction of not only the Knicker- booker theatre but of all the large buildings put up ~fnce early in 1917.
 Congressman Harkley of Kentucky whose son was injured in the crash. is also understood to be planning to institute an investigation by a special commission of the House.
 John P. Healey. District Building Inspector, who said today that the Knickerbocker theatre was erected en- tire1y in accordance with the city's building code pointed out the steel girders of the roof were not anchored to the wai.s of the buildings as the us' al custtr but that this was fortu- nate because it prevented the walls from falling inward when the roof gave way.
 The Knickerbocker was erected five years ago. Mirris Hacker was building inspector at the time and Healy was his first assistant.
 Frank L. Wagner, a resident of WaShfne ton was the contractor in charge of the construction of the wrecked theatre.
 Officials of the building department pointed out that much of the evidence of how the roof caved in was destroyed tkr push the removal of the wreckage in getting to the bodies of hundreds of dead and injured.
 | The interior of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, just around the corner from the ruined theatre, pre- scented a gruesome sight this morning after the last mutilated body had been removed to the city morgue or under taking rooms. Throughout a ghastly Saturday night and all of terrible Sunday. the church was literally a chamber of horrors. The dead, row on row, filed one side of the church, on the other side, shirt-sleeved and perspiring physicians worked unceas- ingly over the grotesQue, blanket covered Jumps, held by blood-stained stretchers. One look usually sufficed to tell whether the stretchers held dead or living things. If dead, the sstrntnhars IuR,Aa eyannr.all1r ed