Evening Star Newspaper, June 8, 1930, Page 84

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. &, 7JUNE 8 1930. ord Theater CollaRSe Death and Destruction in Which Employes of Government Were Victims Still Remem- bered Here as Great Disaster of 1893. Negligence Never Placed by Courts. Statements by Some of Those Who Worked T here at Time. | 'BY JOHN CLAGETT PROCTOR. UNE 9. 1893, was indeed a sad day in Washington, for at 9:30 o'clock in the morning of that day the lives of a score of Federal employes of the Record and Pension Office of the War Department were snuffed out without a moment’s warning and ever so many more injured, some permanently crippled for life and others died later. It was the second disaster in which the old Ford Theater Building has figured—the first when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, and the other just 37 years ago tomorrow. The latter was directly caused by repairs being made at the time. There are many families in Washington which, particularly for personal reasons, will never forget this fatal June day when father or brother or husband, as the case may be, left home that morning full of life and vigor, and with everything to be happy for—never to re- turn. Never again to see the dear ones at home; never more affectionately to embrace those whom life held most dear to them. 'Tis sad even to recall this appalling disaster, and yet, of the many who drank that day of life’s bitter cup it may well be said: “Memory the only friend that grief can call its own.” How well the writer remembers this disaster. It seems but yesterday. The students of the National University Law School had just re- ceived their diplomas at the Academy of Music three days before, where the address was de- livered to the graduates by Benjamin Butter- worth of Ohio, and where the music was fur- nished for the occasion by the Marine Band under the direction of F. Fanciulli, who suc- ceeded John Philip Sousa. Three of our boys went down with the crash. A. L. Ames of Jowa, the first on the list to receive his diploma, died soon after the collapse. The writer saw his body at the undertaker’s and there met his son, a young man of about 18, for Ames was one of the older members of the class. Quiet, painstaking, dignified, he was liked by all, and his death proved a shock to those who had met nightly with him in class for two years, preparing for a greater life’s work. They took him back to his home in Iowa, and buried him among his people. Charles F. Hathaway, a prince of a fellow and president of the class, was severely hurt and was a long time recouperating, though he never thercafter seemed to be fully restored to health. HEN it occurred to the writer, a few months ' ago, to tell the readers of The Star some- thing of this awful disaster, he had his old classmates foremost in mind, and just about this time happened a strange freak of tele- pathy, for he received a beautiful letter from one of the boys who received his diploma at the Academy of Music in 1893 and who a few days later found himself being rescued by fire- men from the ruins of the old Ford’s Theater Building. He had not seen or heard from this fellow student since leaving school. It was strange that he should think of me, particu- larly at this time, when my mind was on the catastrophe in which he acted a part, and stranger still, as you shall see, for it was almost the final word the writer received from him. Here is his letter: “1525 Oak St. NW., ‘Washington, D. C., February 10, 1930. “My Dear Mr. Proctor: “I have too long delayed to write you con- gratulations of your articles in The Star, I clip and save them all. “My work in the War Department relates very largely to Army history, and I find your researches of value to me. “Your recent article on Lincoln, issue of February 9, wherein you set forth in detail the President’s connection with the case of Wil- liam Scott, sentenced by general ocourt-mar- tial to be shot for sleeping on post, is of much interest to me because, in my work, I have had occasion to answer inquiries on the subject in the last several years. “The official records, of course, afford no such details, and it is my purpose to file your article with the Scott case, so that these de- tails shall be preserved among the official records. * * * - “Possibly you will recall me when I say that 1 was a member of the class of the National Law School that graduated at the Lincoln Academy in 1893, of which you were & mem- ber, the picture of which class you put in The Star several months ago. My recollections of you are very pleasant. K “Very truly yours, “R. C. EDMONDSON.” Knowing, as stated, that Mr. Edmondson was in the Ford's Theater disaster, the thought occurred that this was an ideal time to get his version of just what happened on that occa- sion, and so, in thanking him for his kind in- terest and generous praise, he was asked to tell for publication what he remembered of this most unfortunate affair. . MR EDMONDSON responded most willingly and frecely, and coming from a survivor of this great tragedy, what he has to say can- not help but prove interesting. Here are his _Temarks in part: “#* & = A]l my newspaper clippings of that period are lost. Not a single old fellow clerk in that building with me at the time do I even rarely see. I do not even have one advantage you have—access to The Star files. “But I have a good recollection of the gen- eral affair. No one that day in the building could see far beyond him for the cloud of dust flooding for some time, caused partly by mortar dust and brick dust. Parts of two floors fell in upon the first floor, and maybe part of the last fell also. All floors were built of arched bricks, the arches apparently each three or four feet wide and running patallel, all the brick work continuous and joined. I happened to observe that form of construction that same day—to my surprise. The principle of the arch was thus used on a very extended scale. At short intervals, if any, these arches were aided by pillars of iron. “That brick construction for floors was one of the causes of so much havoc. The main foundation for many or all pillars was in the basement. That was where the underpinning had been neglected by a certain subcontractor, not by Mr. Dant, the main contractor. So, when the foundation had been undermined by that fellow (who, to save cost, had failed to ‘shore up’) the part of the superstructure above not in some other way supported fell ‘like a house of cards’ By the phrase ‘in some other way supported.’ I refer to a sup- port not certainly known to me, because I do not recollect whether around the ‘well’ in center (both second and third floors) there were any iron pillars to help to stabilize. “However, it is evident that the floors every- where were in contact with the four walls; the parts alongside wall remained secure—did not fall. In some parts that state of stability extended from wall even to the ‘well’ For example, that was the condition of the third floor, northeast corner, where my desk stood near the ‘well’ Third floor did not fall then, nor the part of it due east of the ‘well'—near alley. “Manifestly, but for that condition of sta- bility at some places—floors probably fastened to walls—all parts of sall floors would have gone down, and every man been precipitated into the inferno below. As it was, you know, the majority of the inmates were not hurt. “LADDER.S—»tAIl ladders—were quickly run up to the second and third floors by the Fire Department. The men on those floors escaped, I think, by those ladders to the alley at the east. It seems to me that all on my floor (third) made their exit on ladders on alley side—east end, rear of building, that same alley through which Booth fled the night he shot President Lincoln. o “My impression is that on my fibor (third) at front or west at Tenth street end, there was no ledge (no part of floor) left near the wall as at other places, and I think all the clerks on the third floor who did not go down with the wreck escaped by the alley way. I am pretty sure all of the front, Tenth street end of third floor, fell in, and that our floor chief, - tirred Capital The disaster at the old Ford's Theater—Removing the bodies from the ruins. Albert G. Mount, whose desk was at the center front, near Tenth street wall, went down and was crippled, but not killed. “For myself, after a momentary scare, I was as eool as a cucumber. I wrapped up all my desk belongings, and with them deliberately descended the long ladder. “I do not recall seeing the movements of a single other man at the time or of speaking with any at the time. It seems to me that I was one of the last to get out. I then walked (through the alley to F) around to the corner of Tenth and F (where the bar room was) and observed. I saw men partly hurt being hauled away in ambulances. I heard rumors that I do not recall. I soon left for my rooming place, and this is the sum of my knowledge. I was not hurt. “You will recall, Mr. Proctor, that the col- lapse came probably before 10 o'clock a.m. of June 9, 1893. It was soon after the clerks had settled down to work. “Evidently a part of the foundation had been gradually sinking for some hours before the collapse, possibly as long as 17 hours or more. In that time, I reason it, every unsupportable part above had been gradually giving away. The point came when the solidity of the ‘ex- cellent building’ was no longer a safeguard, and so, suddenly, you know the rest.” Poor Edmondston! Little did the writer think that he would pass away before his recol- lections of that awful disaster could be used. Still holding down his old or a similar position under the War Department, he was taken ill Scene in old Ford’s Theater following the disaster, which claimed a toll of 22 killed and over 100 wounded. at his desk on March 23, last, and soon becam# unconscious. He was removed to the Emer- gency Hospital and died the same day. Whe knows but what his death, too, might be trace= able to the calamity of June, 1893. Amn a lapse of nearly two score years, it may not be possible for one vividly te tell in detail all that happened or took place upon an occasion of this kind, for, as time goes on, the tendency seems to be to forget many of the essentials and, sometimes, the most interesting parts of the incident recalled. Fortunately, the congressional investigation that soon followed brought out the facts, to & great extent, and the, newspapers at the time carried many columns of well written matten giving the most thrilling and interesting details, With its large corps of alert and efficient re= porters, naturally The Star was not behind the other local dailies in giving a full account eof the calamity, and its description of -the terrible - disaster and the awful scenes that followed— given on the evening of the day of its occure rence—may at least be repeated again in part, It sald: “®* * ¢ Tis horror will never be told. Its suddenness was almost the chief horror. In a moment, in the twinkling ¢’ an_eye, there was a change, and men who came to the scene of their daily toil this morning will never return alive. Women who kissed their loved ones this morning, as they separated, will have but the cold, bruised faces to kiss this afternoon. Oh, the awful horror of it! “It was between 9:30 and 10 o'clock this morning that the floors of the old Ford's Thee ater Building, on Tenth street, occupied by the records and pension division of the Surgeon General’s Office, fell in as though they had , been the cards of a card house. On each floor there were scores of men at work. Without warning they were carried down as by an awful - cataract. The floor was made up of iron girders, hardly strong enough to support the walls, but heavy enough, heaven knows, to stamp out human lives; of bricks that were held together by plaster long since dried out: of wooden beams that had been in place too long. There was no escape from such a flood. “It could not afford to provide a safe builde ing for its faithful employes, but herded them together in a building whose unsound condition was notorious. Again and again have the columns of the press been filled with the story, of the rotten walls. The reporter who wite nessed it has on several occasions told the story, of smaller accidents i that death trap which s!‘;owed clearly that it was me place for men to stay. “A MAN escaped from that building this morning because two years ago he realized that sooner or later the building would fall. He mapped out a plan of escape that he would follow when the looked-for catastrophe occurred. While at his desk this morning, he saw the ceiling above him crack and give, and he rushed for the door by which he had rea~ soned out that escape would b: the most feas- ible wherr the fall came. He made his way to