The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-01-30
CONGRESSMAN GIVES GRAPHIC ACCOUNT OF
 THEATRE COLLAPSE
(ContInued from Parr onel

children and men and women ery- Ing and grooming there.
 "There were only a few Of ms In the balcony. Luckily there weren't more. The balcony gave way aud crashed soon after the ceiling began to fall on those on the lower floor. They were caught tho worse. We in the balcony were more fortunate,
 "I guess there was a lapse Of maybe 20 seconds. hardly more, before the balcony fell. Funny, but it spun around, kind of twist eh, ns It's supports gave way and Vt swung down on those below. It didn't go straight down, just kind of slip sideways and slant ing. l suppose from the weight of the debris that had fallen on us upstairs.
 "AcroSs the aisle from me when the crash came wns little feI- loW--I never saw him aEaln, and | wonder if he Is dcad-vhO laughed and roHred at every es- pecialiy funny part of the film. don't know what became of him or the others in the balcony after we were sbowered with plaster.
 ..I don't know how got out from where | was crouchiur mn der that chunk of plaster that mad Fallen on me. l really believe II weighed all of 800 pounds. And think | noted that plaster with my shoulders. Anyway, crawled out between the seats Co where | saw n small hole in the plaster above. forced myself up through mat hole, wiggliBg and showing. Then crawIed out over the snow and plaster, over the tangled de- bris, to the doors oh sthe EiEh- teenth street side.
 PLASTER FOLLOWED BY
 SNOW AND ROOF
 "As > the ceiling brok.. .h. plaster fell first, in chunks. It was like an ice pond breaking up' The roof didn't give way on one crash. It seemed to break up everywhere. That let in the snow, which came In through the broken places where the ceiling had given wny.
 "ifs queer, but wns con- scious nli the time when wns pinned down under there by that great piece of ceiling. My mind. when I saw the ceiling falling. and afterwards, was JuSt as clear md collected Rs 1t Is now. I knew I was hurt some, but I, didn't know how badly. It seemed that my time had come. l lived n year. l tell you, pinned down between the seats.
 Ut wasn't until I got outside that I noticed blood falling from my Face and hands. got out mHseih. No one helped me. crawied over the broken seats and plaster and snow to the door. On the way I saw a young fellow lying half curIed up. moaning and crying for help. | leaned over to lift him and then everything went black. The next l remem- Der l was nt the door wipinE the blood from my eyes and mouth. l don't know how l got out, | didn't see any other injured ones as I crawIed out. | cnn't remem- Der about that part of it. My only thought then was to get home before should die. My chest pained me, my back seemed broken, my face was dripping with blood. All I wanted to do was tO get home and tell my wife and little girls what had hap pened and how | was hurt. thought I was going to die.o STAGGERED HOME WITHOUT
 oVERCOAT oR HAT
 Representative smithwIck, who lives about q block from the the atre, said he staggered home without overcoat or hat, through the snow drifts. Physicians were summoned mmedIately. They found him suffering from shock, bruises and possibly internal in- iuries.
 Declaring that he regarded his escape Rs miraculous, Representa- tive SmithwIck said that only by chance was he the sole member of his family in the theatre. His wife and daughter, because of the snow storm, refused to ac- company him. and his son was taking law examination at George Washington university.
 "I think it was n miracle that I came out alive" said the Flor ida congressman. "But think of those poor children and men and women who were not so for tuBate. I don't see how any who were under that balcony escaped. If those below could have seen the ceiling breaking they would have had time to rush out through the doors, but I guess they touid not see like we in the balcony. Those underneath us had no chance. I guess, I keep thinking of 1t all the time, that awful roaring and the crashing of the balcony on It's way down to those people below. It was all over in half a minute, I guess, but 1t seemed bOUrs.S