Evening star., 1923-10-16
WILL SEEK To END
MONUMENT PERIL
Fatal Plunge of Mrs. Dora
Raum Brings Prompt Steps
to Obtain Safeguards.

Following the announcement today by
a coroneTs jury that the fatal plunge
down the shaft of the Washington
Monument yesterday afternoon Of q
woman, later identified as Mrs. Dora
Raum, 1901 D street northeast. was
an accident" preparations were being
made by Col c. o. Sheriff., officer in
charge of public buildings and
grounds. to urge upon Congress the
immediate necessity OF providing ad-
ditional faciliti% to safeguard WIS.,
itors to the national shrine
Steel screens designed to preclude
such an accident as that of yesterday
and additional guards as further
precautionary measure will be sought
from Congress at the first oppor-
tunity. Col. Sheriff. announced
Requests Put on.
1t was pointed out that efforts have
been made in the past to obtain suffi-
cient appropriations for the establish
ment Of a more adequate guard sys-
TEN in the giant shaft, but Congress
met the requests with the advice:
Wait until the reclassification of fed
eral employees has been consummated."
Under the recIassification, Col. Sheriff.
said. small increase in salary for
Monument guards would be affected.
A permanent force of repairmen,
numbering two or three. should be
maintained, the official declared The
interior of the Monument REQUIRES
constant renovatiag and repairing,
it was pointed out.
RaiIines Reasonably Safe.
The railings now in the shaft are
substantial and safe, Col. Sheriff. as
serted. unless person deliberately
sibly, in the event of combination of
unforeseen circumstances such as may
have occurred yesterday.
The tragedy was discovered shortly
after i o'clock yesterday afternoon
with the finding Of the mutilated
body ef-the woman on a beam at the
2T0-foot~ level. The body was first
sighted by Walter L. Barker. a pas
senger on the elevator. who had got
ten off and gone TO an upper land
charge OF 2 lone child. later found 70
be the three-year-old son of the dead
woman. When reached by police and
representatives of Col. Sherrill's
office the little boy was crying pite-
ously and was himself bruised and
cut. The boys injuries gave rise to
the theory that the child had slipped
on the steps and that the mother, in
an effort to save her son from plung-
ing down the shaft, lost her balance
and fell.
At first the identity of the woman
could not be learned by Capt McAIor-
riS, assistant to Col. Sheriff., and
Headquarters Detectives Thompson
and Scrivener. who conducted the in
yestigation.
The sole clue was pocketbook
which contained s3.1S and street
car token. The boy. still hysterical,
was taken to the Army Dispensary
for examination, and later was turned
over to Mrs. Olive Ross, in charge OF
the War Departments welfare serv-
ice. Detectives endeavored to quiet
the child and learn his name, but in
spite of such inducements as auto
mobile rides, candy, etc, their ques-
tions received only sobs as answers
The child was later sent to the Chill
dren's Hospital, Mrs. Ross assigning
a special nurse to take care of him.
Husband LIS Prostrnted.
grocer. 1901 d street northeast, be-
came anxious about his wife and son
Markie.
They had left home at IL o'clock in
the morning. Mrs. Raum intending to
purchase some wearing apparel. She
had promised her husband to phone
him at s o'clock. Waiting for two
hours and receiving no call, Raum
became anxious. Learning of the ac-
cident at the Monument, Raum i'm
mediately communicated with police
headquarters, and learned that the
dead woman was his wife.
He took the child home, and DR..
Benjamin Newhouse, 1875 eth street
northwest, a relative of the Raums,
identified the woman. whose body had
required medical attention last night
for his shocked nerves. Mrs. Raum's
body will be taken to Baltimore, her
native city, for burial.
Thomas Isaac, elevator operator IN
the Monument, was taken into Gus
tody by federal officers, and was held
at No. 1 precinct station pending in
vestigation of the possibility of the
lift having caused the womans death.
The operator was released when this
theory was abandoned.
Barker Testiaes.
Testimony at the inquest today
showed conclusively that the woman
had not been struck by the elevator.
as the car was free from blood and
cobwebs beneath 1t were undisturbed.
The mechanism of the elevator was
also Immediately tested, 1t became
order. w. L. Barker, the chief wit
ness of the accident, declared that
he had seen the woman and child
looking out window at the top of
the Monument and said that there
was nothing unusual about the wom-
ans department.
On coming down he did not see the
woman in the elevator, and after they
had descended forty feet he heard
crash. Descending about forty more
feet he saw a child on the landing,
lying on it's back, trying to get up.
At distance of four flights farther
down he had the elevator operator
stop the machine. He returned and
got the child, found Its mothers hat
with 1t, assembled two more flights to
look for the mother, and. not seeing
her nor any one else, returned to the
elevator. After the elevator had de-.
scended about another $50 feet he
saw the woman lying across the
beam.
Barker declared that on reaching
the bottom he wanted to turn the