Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1922-02-02
NEARLY 100 DEAD
IN MOVIE DISASTER
Bodies Of go Victims Removed
From Washington Theatre.
NEARLY ALL IDENTIFIED
Over 100 Others Were Injured When
snow-Laden Roof Collapsed During
Storm.

oHoW-GaacH no0h SSiePscu 1utfhS
Storm.
Washington. Ninety persons are
known to have lost their lives
In the collapse of the snow-laden roof
of the Knickerbocker Motion Picture
Theatre. Rescue workers, fighting a
desperate battle through dark and
daylight had recovered that number
More than 100 others are known to
have been injured.
OF the dead, IS had been identified.
The large majority of the victims, both
killed and injured, were residents of
this city, although many came recently
from other places. Without regard to-
their own risk, soldiers, marines, sail
ors, police, firemen and citizen volun-
teers fought their way beneath the
wreckage over practically the whole
floor space of the auditorium.
The exact number in the theatre
when the steel and concrete span of
the roof buckled and fell under its
three-foot load of snow, probably
never will be known. The stories
of perhaps a hundred who got out I'M
injured have been reported These
account for a few more than 500 in
the audience that was roaring in
laughter at a filmed comedy when the
roof fell on themrlike a blanket, earry-
ing down the front of the wide balcony
in its crash.
Normally the theatre has had every
a. ,.tkx .Ix1
1000 was its capacity. The same I'M
precedented snowfall which brought
death to the vcnturesome few Kept the
many at home. Street car traffic had
been abandoned and streets and side
walks were all but impossible.
There has been no time as yet for
official inquiry as to the cause of the
close. however, that the entire mass
of steel held concrete that formed the
roo& had come down. The crash swept
the supports out from under the bal
cony, apparently, and this hinged down
at an angle of As degrees, adding to
Z the tangled mass of wreckage on the
floor
the sky a moment after the first hiss
ing sound of the breaking roof gave
warning above the music of the or
chestra There is only one survivor
thus far who has told of having heard
that warning and seen the first pow
derry handful CT snow sift down over
the head of the orchestra leader in
time to make his escape. From his
seat, well forward on the main floor,
great blast of air, expelled as the roof
came down, hurled him out through
the doorway to safety.
Most of the bodies were recovered
from the floor of the pit beneath the
wreckage of the balcony, or from the
front of the balcony itself. Following
the rule of motion picture audiences,
and with an almost empty house to
pick from, those on the main floor had
grouped themselves in the rows Of
seats just below the front Of the bal
cOny They were back far enough to
see we'll and the front and bacE rows
were a1m0st empty.
At the point they had chosen, the
danger proved to be Just double. Few
OF those seated there could hare e.
capped. Even ifs thet falling concrete
slabs and steel-work Of the roof miss
Cd thenh the solid mass Of the halconx
front came doNn1Qp - 4Fyt 9npck-
age with crushing weigh a. :x1lo Sae6si-
ans brass sraaA that aaaEnA4 the bal
eony front lay spread 0wsxT1ha.x neckS
aee Of the roof, Is feet below. when
rescu3ra reached the. scepe, .y.s. -,
Those farther baSk On <A0 ns9in 1oos
probably al escaped. The beams that
Supported the back end Of the balcony
did nekslatssa tAejxse astekzea tAxzSEzais
The wide sweep Of seats they support
"a tilted down until the wreckage be-
low took thesweight on the front end.
then stood covering the back rows Of
the main flooF like a tent.
Many Of those behind scrambled up
the steel slope ct the. fallen balcony to
safety, although many were struck
down in the first blow when the. roof
came in. Some were hurled down into
the pif wreckages when the balcony
front fell, and e, ~ some of these es-
caped, with bruises There is no, record,
however, Of any survivor among those
in the foremost balcony seats. =
-Four OF the fye members Of the
family Of Oscar G. Kanston, of Chi
cago, lost their lives, in the disaster.
Kanston, VINO came here recently s.
connection with some tensraTse .s.,s'l
10. lie bureau Of valuatio IT.