Evening star., 1950-01-01

trIct Residents
it was an event almost too horrible
to describe and one he will never
forget. When he first learned Of
the accident he hurried to the
scene and was able to get q
direct wire to The Star and in
this way beat the other papers
to it.
1t was a night Of thrills to Mr..
Fisk who was accompanied by
Officer jeremiah F Sullivan, then
a bicycle policeman, as they
passed from body to body, laid
out in rows on the ground, in
their efforts to identify the dead
and wounded.
Knickerbocker Disaster
OF course. Washington had suf-
fered other calamities besides the
Terra Gotta wreck. the greatest Of
all. no doubt, being the Knicker-
booker Theater disaster of jan
uary %, 1922, in which 90 persons
were killed and $50 injured.
This disaster was, indeed, Of
stupendous proportions, and be-
gan in a heavy snow storm about
noon on January 81. 1922. It con-
tinued to snow hard throughout
the 9th and we'll into the 28th
of that month. until there was
26 inches of snow on the ground.
The Government Departments
closed early to permit the en-
ployes to seek some way to get
home. 1t was the worst blizzard
of it's kind since the storm of Feb
ruary II, 1899, when the Weather
Bureau recorded a temperature
of is degrees below zero, the cold
est weather recorded in Washing
ton.
But on this occasion, 50 great
was the fall of snow that the roof
of the Knickerbocker Theater, at
the corner of Eighteenth street
and Columbia road, caved in about
8 pm, resulting in one Of the
worst disasters experienced by the
people Of this city.
A vivid description OF the actual
scene is given by Mrs. Gold, In
which she said:
II heard a whistling sound as
of the whizz of a bullet in the air.
Then the roof of the theater
opened and it came down with
with such a splitting crash that
I will never forget it. The whole
world seemed to fall on me. Un-
consciousness enveloped me
around and when I came to the
screams of the injured seemed to
ring to heaven. All around me
were people trying to wriggle out
of the debris. Suddenly. I heard
footsteps over by head and I
shouted and shouted and shouted.
They opened a piece of the con-
crete covering and put down a
long tube full of brandy. I drank
while the plaster pillar resting on
the side of my face hurt me dread
fully. The rescuers kept trying to
get me, and finally got me out"
Tales of Heroism
The remarkable composure Of
many of the injured while impris-
oned under the debris is attested
to. on all sides. The cheerfulness
of the victims in many instances
broke down the stoicism of strong
men among the rescuers. Ex-
amples of heroism were many.
Women and girls, pinned down
from the waist with tons Of wreck
age would thank in low tones the
hysterical men who fought against
overwhelming odds to get them
free. One girl given a drink Of
water blew a kiss back to rescuer
and young boys smiled their
thanks to the men who carried
them to waiting ambulances..
This same spirit is attested by
Frank Sheehan, of 1926 Calvert
street N.W..> former over
seas veteran who happened to be
passing the theater when the
crash occurred.
Mr.. Sheehan said: IT instantly
realized that great many people
must be caught in the ruins and,
going to the rear of the theater, I
got under some wreckage where I
heard women screaming. I man
aged to get four out without much
difficulty. Another one, a very
beautiful girl, had both legs pinned
under a steel girder. She exhibited
little fear and asked me to get help.
The roof was still sinking. I saw
the faces of some eight or 10
persons, white and cold. Some
were conscious, though hysterical.
I ran for help. When returned,
the opening through which had
been working was closed and I do
not know what had become of the
people I had seen."
Another Georgetown student,
Harold H. Levy. Of 1872 California
street, although injured, worked
until early next morning rescu-
ing others. He told of being
stunned for a few seconds and
then reused by the groans Of
others more vitally hurt around
him. II looked up the aisle stairs
he said, land saw ahead Of me a
ray of light and crawled toward
it, and then crawled back to tell
the other boys who had come with
me. We tore open the plaster and
then found we were outside on tho
edge Of the roof. Then we went
back and rescued q family OF
three and extricated several men
pinned under the chairs and plas-
ter. One man. who begged me To
release him, I shall never forget.
He was pinned down by an IRON
girder and 1t was impossible to
remove him. 50
The firemen arrived and threw