Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1922-01-30
1O8 DEATHS IN WASHINGTON
THEATRE HORROR; 132 HURT;
BUILDING CONTRACTOR BLAMED
List Of Fatalities Doubtless viii Increase Materially as
Many ofthe Injured are in Serious Condition. Three
Investigations to be Started TO Fix Responsibility Hmted
That II Was Huriedy Constructed in War Time.
nv AssoeIated &c q 80, r.venlnx.


Washington, Jan. s0.-with the
death Of MISS Mary Forsythe. of this
city, IN hospital here today the
death list from the Knickerbocker
Theatre disaster OF Saturday nigh,
now numbers 10s. and the roll Of thoye
injured 1872 at noon today. Doubtless
the former list VIII be considerably
augmented as many Of the wounded
are In a dangerous condition. espe-
cially the second assistant postrnas-
ter-general. Edward H. Shaughnessy.
Of Chicago
Rescuers are stili struggling with
The wreckage left when the snow
laden roof went crashing down. carry
ing the theatre with II and orumbiing
Il into q mass Of twisted steel and
masses Of cement.
Brigadier- General Bandholtz. com
mandant Of the Federal TROOPS IN ths
district, in charge Of the rescue work.
said Il might Je another "a hours be-
fore Il could be definitely said thers
were no more dead or injured IN the
wreckage Of twisted steel and concrete
which yet remained to be cleared
away.
Think All Bodies Are Recovered.
II was believed the section now be-
ing explored would yield few addi-
tions TO the awful' list Of dead and In
jured. IT being near the rear and under
the part OF the balcony which held
up when the front crashed down 70
the theatre pit.
A party Of the rescuers early today
had been struggling for hours to re-
lease from the part Of the wreckage
now being overturned one man be-
lieved 10 be alive although impris-
oned under the mass FOR nearly 3s
hours. The great weight Of the steel
beams and concrete which crashed
with the roof have in many intances
made the rescue Of victims harrowingly
slow and tedious.
BY daybreak this morning the
searchers had explored almost every
portion OF the debris-strervn structure
without finding any more bodies. 10
was believed this morning that any
additions TO the dead roll would come
from the list of injured. several OF
whom were In a serious condition.
City In Charge Of Rescue Work.
Colonel Charles Keller. u. s. a.. en-
gineer commissioner OF the District
OF Columbia. took charge of the forces
at the theatre site later today as tho
military gave way 70 the civilian
forces. Marines, rushed to the theatre
few hours after tho crash SATURDAY.
night, were Withdrawn before dawrs
and soldiers from Fort Myer. who had
struggled through miles OF snow Sat-
urday night 70 reach the scene. began
leaving.
All dead and injured had been re-
moved early today from the Christian
Science Church nearby. a large struc-
ture, which for more than IS hours
had served as a clearing house for
victims OF the disaster.
Prominent on injured and Dead Ron.
Edward Fl Shaughnessy. OF Chicago.
second assistant postmaster-geuera
who. with his wife and two children.
were injured in the crash. was de-
scribed today as in serious condi-
ton, with only a fighting chance for
recovery.
Among those prominent on the list
| of dead as IL stood today, was former
| Representative A. J. Barchfield. for
merly OF Pittsburg. and Mrs. Virginia
Farraud. sister OF Minister Banchi. OF
Guatemala.
| No bodies had been taken out OF tho
theatre in the u hours ending at 10
o'clock today, the last body 20 be re-
moved being that OF Doctor James r.
Shea. Washington physician. at 10
o'clock last night.
| Two House Of Representatives pages
were among those killed IL the Knlck-
erbocker Theatre accidenL They were
Laverne Sproul. a nephew OF Repre-
sentative SprouI. of Illinois. and CUT
Ter Latin. Jr.. both OF Chicago. Latin
worked at night as a Knickerbocksr
usher.
Washington Bows In Grief.
The Capital City was bowed in grief
today to learn the full extent OF tho
tragedy with the recovery OF victims
yesterday and last night. This was
the more intensely shared by the rest
| Continued on page s.