Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-08

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al adjoining building and lives to tell the story.
Dozens OF others were not so fortunate.
within two hours wounded and broken men
had been carried out by the score. For some
time not dead body was found. 1t was
thought that possibly more might have escaped.
The hope was groundless. Buried beneath tons
and tons Of brick and mortar were other bodies,
and, as the debris began to be cleared away, it
was realized that the deeper the searchers got
the more awful the catastrophe would prove
% be.
Lives Crushed Out
'~They were right in this surmise, Men were
found in whom life had been crushed out and
I'm whom much of the resemblance to humanity
had been destroyed. Faces were driven in
Faces were pounded into jelly. Arms and
legs were broken one would break match
~stem. There is gruesome work for the coroner
Of the District.
ION the three floors of the building used
BY the pension records division, upward of half
o thousand men were at work. Without q sign
OF warning, the third floor of the building gave
way and fell with deafening crash. The men
on the floor went through with it. The Sec
ond floor offered no resistance and the two
went through to the basement, filling it up to
the level of the ground with an inextricable
mass. In that mass were men. Some of them
came forth alive. No man came out unin-
jured. -"
"A man jumped from second-story window
He struck upon his head upon the sidewalk
and was instantly killed 1t was Col George
M. Arnold. the well known G. A. r. man.
"Another man was more fortunate. He
jumped from a window and landed on
awning of the store next door. He was unhurt
There were many miraculous escapes.
'sOne of the first to reach the outside of the
demolished building was Mr. r. H. Gillian. He
was taken to Evans drug store street.
&C. e. Mclaughlin and C. w. Hathaway
were brought to the same place. The latter
was badly cut.
"Mr C. A Hooper was carried out by the
spectators. Capt. C. A. Krause had his head
badly cut.
ksONE Of the clerks who was saved states
that, in round numbers, there ATS
persons employed in the building and about 125
went down with the floors or were Immediately
beneath the floors.
''Mr william F. Funk of the firm of Funk
GE Funk, contractors and builders was one Of
the first on the scene. To Star reporter he
said that he thought the wreck was by the
faulty manner in which the work of under
pinning seemed to have been conducted"
At the coroners inquest some of the clerks
spoke freely in giving their opinion as to who
was to blame for the falling in of the floors of
the building and summary action is said to
mony rejecting upon their superior officers.
Writing q year later regarding this a cor
respondent, signing himself Citizen said in
The Star:
o statement read from the Secretary of
War that employee should be molested by
reason Of evidence given on that occasion, yet
the fact remains that within a few months
every witness who had expressed himself freely
IN his testimony, against his superior ofhcer,
WAS discharged for alleged INSTRUMENTATION or
1nefaciency.
81 MANY of those who were discharged, prior
b their testimony, had records as flrst-claSs
clerks. majority of those against the awards
30 whom this protest has been made dared 20
state on oath (under the promise Of protection
OF the Secretary of War; or upon the streets
what they believed to be the truth, and what
almost every eognizant Of the fact be-
heved to be true in regard to the Fords The
alter disaster.
q THAT the desire for revenge should follow
the victims to the grave is appalling"
: Standing out beyond all criticism the
work done by the citizens relief committee, the
chief members of which included such sterling
citizens John w. Douglas. who had just
ceased to be Commissioner of the District of
Columbia: John B. Larner, S. w. Woodward,
Charles J. Bell. T. A. Lambert B. H. Warner,
John Joy Edison and o. G. Staples, ably as
sisted by Miss Anita Hendrick and Miss Ida
Farnum. OF the men mentioned all are be-
Heved to be dead now except Mr.. Larner and
Mr. Edison and both are quite active still This
committee collected in all. $50, 373 of which
$3.139.53 expended for funerals, S8,87918
for emergency cases and S23 IT'S 10 for weekly
allowances. Less than 81 900 went for commit
tee expenses, not dollar of this amount
going to any member of the committee
Coming so soon after the Johnstown flood,
for the sufferers from which $50 900 was raised
here the amount collected for the relief work
in connection with the Fords Theater disaster
can be taken a demonstration of the