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1922 — March 24, Sopris No. 2 Coal Mine Gas Explosion, Sopris, Colorado                 —     17

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-21-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–17  Cole. “Western Coal Mining Disasters 1800-2000 (cont.).” History of MSHA, slide 40.

–17  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC. Mining Disasters.

–17  US Bureau of Mines. Report on Explosion at Sopris #2 Mine, Sopris, Colorado, March 24, 1922.

–17  United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States. Sopris 1922.

Narrative Information

 United States Bureau of Mines: “General Statement

“At about 3:40 P.M. March 24, 1922, there occurred an explosion in the Sopris #2 Mine of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, near Trinidad, Colorado, and 17 lives were lost. The day shift of about 125 miners and 50 day men were supposed to come off at 3:30 P.M., and all but eight of the day shift had reached the surface, some of them only a fraction of a minute before the accident, one or two men being slightly injured near the manway portal, and four bodies were found near the air shaft only a few hundred feet from the mouth of the mine. By using the system of checking men into and out of the mine, it was soon established that 18 men were missing, one of these appearing later on as he had failed to go into the mine after having taken his check…. [p. 1.]

 

United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States. Sopris 1922:

“The Deceased:

  • Adamo, Pete, 33
  • Ameteis, Francesco, 23
  • Bertetto, Antonio, 22
  • Bonato, Guiseppe, 64
  • Caudillo, Miguel, 28
  • Covi, Max, 44
  • Del Dosso, Pete, 24
  • Maglia, Felix, 24
  • Marlo, Joe, 33
  • Musial, Pete, 36
  • Peashka, Rudolph, 36
  • Romero, Charles, 45
  • Romero, Robert E, 18
  • Savio, Pete L, 25
  • Serrano, Odilan, 47
  • Valenchich, Frank, 32
  • Valenchich, Matt, 28”             [Source: Colorado Mine Fatalities.]

Sources

 

Cole, Jesse P. (MSHA District 4 Manager). “History of MSHA,” Leadership Intensive Course Mine Safety and Health Administration. No date. 48 slides. Accessed 1-11-2009 at:  http://www.usmra.com/repository/category/mining/modified_History_of_MSHA.ppt#256,1

 

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Safety and Health Research..  Mining Disasters (Incidents with 5 or more Fatalities). NIOSH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2-26-2013 update. Accessed at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/disall.htm

and http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/content/allminingdisasters.html

 

United States Bureau of Mines (D. Harrington). Report on Explosion at Sopris #2 Mine, Sopris, Colorado, March 24, 1922. Accessed 4-21-2025 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/sopris_1922.pdf

 

United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States. “Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, Sopris Mine Explosion, Sopris, Las Animas County, Colorado, March 24, 1922, No. Killed – 17.” Accessed 4-21-2025 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/sopris_news_only.htm

 

 

 

 

 

1922 — Mar 24-Apr 24, Septic Sore Throat Epidemic; contaminated milk, Portland OR–22

–22  Benson and Sears.[1] “A Milk-Borne Epidemic of Septic Sore Throat in Portland Oregon.”

Date of onset   Date of Death             Gender           Age

  1. March 24 March 25                     Male                  2
  2. March 25 March 27                     Male                  1
  3. March 24 March 29                     Female             86
  4. March 24 March 30                     Male                66
  5. March 24 March 30                     Male                59
  6. March 24 March 31                     Female             79
  7. March 25 March 31                     Female               8
  8. March 25 March 31                     Male                18 months
  9. March 25 March 31                     Male                11 months
  10. March 24 March 31                     Male                34
  11. March 25 April 1                         Male                10 months
  12. March 26 April 1                         Male                  8
  13. Not noted April 1                         Female             52
  14. March 27 April 2                         Male                27
  15. Not noted April 2                         Female             66
  16. Not noted April 5                         Female             40
  17. March 27 April 5                         Female             35
  18. March 24 April 8                         Male                  2
  19. Not noted April 8                         Male                72
  20. March 29 April 12                       Male                47
  21. March 26 April 12                       Male                  1
  22. March 26 April 24                       Female             52

–22  Flynn. “Deadliest Outbreaks: Oregon’s 1922 Raw Mild Epidemic.” Food Safety News.

 

Narrative Information

 

Benson and Sears: “The epidemic here reported, which includes 487 cases of septic sore throat, with twenty-two deaths, occurred almost exclusively among the customers of a single raw-mild dairy. All but one of the patients who died had drunk this milk. Prompt detection of the cause of the epidemic and equally prompt control of the milk supply by heating were made possible by complete cooperation between the clinicians, the city health bureau and the dairy management, and resulted in checking further extension of the epidemic within twenty-four hours after the suspicion of a milk-borne epidemic was first brought to the attention of the health bureau, March 27, 1922.

History of the Outbreak

 

“A child, aged 2 years, died, March 25, 1922, with the clinical picture of sore throat and acute encephalitis. Other cases occurred in various parts of the west side of Portland on this day and the next two days, all evidently referable to the milk of a single dairy. Several cases appeared in a forty-bed hospital and many in a home for girls, but it was asserted that the latter institution obtained its milk from a different source — a certain pasteurizing dairy. The city health bureau authorized us to undertake an investigation, and on the morning of March 28, it was easily determined that the girls’ home, the hospital referred to above and a predominance of the cases in homes owed their infection to a single raw-milk dairy. On our recommendation, the health bureau at once ordered heating of all the milk of this dairy by whatever method would be feasible, and placed two employes of the bureau in charge op operations at the dairy. Within twenty-four hours after this plan was put in operation, the incidence of new cases of septic sore throat declined to such an extent that the very few which appeared could be ascribed to contact infection….

Conditions at the Dairy

 

“….We learned that cows having diseased udders were kept in their regular stalls along with healthy cows, and in some instances only the diseased quarter was excluded from the milking. This condition, together with the fact that milkers did not always handle the same shift of cows, but sometimes exchanged shifts, would make it possible for a milker to include milk which should be discarded….

Cultures of Milk Samples

 

“….Cow 51 had a consolidation of the left front quarter of the udder. The dairyman insisted that the milk of this animal had not been included in the whole milk for two weeks. Examination of the milks from separate quarters showed all of normal gross appearance except that from the left front quarter, which sample appeared grayish and mucinous. On standing twenty-four hours this milk settled out differently from that of the other quarters…The lower half of the milk column consisted of yellowish, creamy pus, containing numerous pus cells and many streptococci in chairs. Cultures revealed 10,000,000 hemolytic streptococci per cubic centimeter in the milk from this quarter, a few in the left rear quarter, and none in the other two quarters…this cow, whose milk gave a pure growth of hemolytic streptococcus of human origin, was the probable source of the epidemic, perhaps from being milked into the heard milk unknown to the operator of the dairy. We learned afterward that this cow, which had a markedly increased temperature, had been kept in the same row of stalls as other cows which were furnishing milk….

 

“Cow 21 had had no increase of temperature reported, and had been milked in with the herd previous to the onset of the epidemic. Culture of her milk gave an abundant growth of hemolytic streptococci, which…was of the bovine type. It was considered advisable to kill this cow also. Necropsy showed a purulent infiltration of the udder…

 

“The milk samples from four other cows yielded hemolytic streptococci in small numbers….

 

“From the data…it will be seen that the culture from the diseased quarter of Cow 51 is the only culture isolated from the entire herd which seems to resemble in essential qualities the organism found in the human cases of septic sore throat….

 

Cultures From the Dairy Employees

 

“The one hemolytic streptococcus culture isolated from the dairy employees was from the throat of a milker who had large, red, inflamed tonsils, and who had complained of a mild sore throat. This culture could not be distinguished in any way from those isolated from the patients with sore throat and from the diseased quarter of Cow 51….

 

Statistics of the Epidemic

 

“….The dairy supplied 300 families, including 1,200 individuals; one hospital containing thirty-five patients and thirty-four attendants and help, a total of sixty-nine; a girls’ home containing 104 adults, and a small grocery depot which kept no milk book, but which supplied an indefinite small number of customers. At least 1,400 persons were using the milk and cream.

 

“The total number of cases of septic sore throat arising on this milk route during the week from March 24 to March 31 is computed at 487. Of these, 166 were severe, i.e., either had serious complications or gave trouble from protracted sepsis; 321 were listed as moderate or mild cases. Twenty-three cases, with three deaths, occurred among sixty-nine users of the milk in the hospital; forty-five cases, without fatalities, among 104 users in the girls’ home. The remainder of the cases were in private homes. Four known cases arose among those who obtained this milk through the small grocery agency. Several persons who were not customers of the dairy became infected by drinking the milk in the homes of regular customers, and two deaths are included in this category….

Summary

 

“It is evident from the data obtained that this epidemic, with 487 cases and twenty-two deaths, was caused by the drinking of raw milk from one dairy, which had been rated as one of the best in the city.

 

“Similar strains of hemolytic streptococcus were obtained in almost pure culture from the inflamed udder of a cow of the heard, from one miler’s throat, and from the throats of numerous septic sore throat patients and contacts. All theses strains were shown to be of the human type.

 

“It is probable that the milker in question infected the udder of the cow, producing purulent mastitis; that, on one or more occasions, this cow was milked in with the heard, and that the massed infection thus produces resulted in the epidemic…”

 

Sources

 

Benson, R. L. and H. J. Sears. “A Milk-Borne Epidemic of Septic Sore Throat in Portland Oregon.” Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 80, 6-2-1923, pp. 1608-1612. Accessed 4-9-2018 at: https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/5039/mscr_1_Milk-borne_epidemic_of_septic_sore_throat.pdf?sequence=4

 

Flynn, Dan. “Deadliest Outbreaks: Oregon’s 1922 Raw Mild Epidemic.” Food Safety News, 12-14-2011. Accessed 4-9-2018 at: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/12/portlands-best-raw-milk-dairy-killed-22-in-1922/#.Wsucrpch2nK

 

[1] University of Oregon School of Medicine.(Flynn)

1922 — March 14, Tornadoes (6), AR (8 deaths), LA (4 deaths), MS (1 death)              —     14

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-21-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–14  Grazulis.  Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, pp. 493 and 777.

            –01  Lincoln County, AR.                              02:00   F2

            –01  Desha County, AR.                                03:30   F2

            –01  White County, AR.                                06:00   F2

            –04  West Baton Rouge, LA                          07:20   F3

            –06  Jefferson, Lonoke counties, AR            14:00   F3

            –01  Itawamba County, MS                           14:30   F2

Newspaper
March 16: “(Arkansas Gazette.)

“The storm or series of storms which occurred in various sections of Arkansas early yesterday morning apparently were connected with a great cyclonic area which late Monday and early yesterday extended over a large part of the South, from Oklahoma and Texas as far east as Alabama, and occasionally developed violent tornadoes, resulting in the death or injury of scores of persons and a property damage of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

“Including the eight reported killed in Arkansas, a total of 24 are known to be dead….

 

“The storm struck Louisiana from the southwest, and near Baton Rouge four were killed and 20 injured when the tornado dipped to the earth and wrecked everything in its path.

 

“In Corinth, Miss., a total of 25 persons were injured, five of them so seriously that they may die, when their homes were demolished. It is reported that in Corinth alone 150 houses were destroyed…” (Daily Times, Harrison AR. “Storms Cause Loss of Life.” 3-16-1922, p. 5.)

 

Sources

 

Daily Times, Harrison AR. “Storms Cause Loss of Life.” 3-16-1922, p. 5. Accessed 4-21-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/harrison-daily-times-mar-15-1922-p-5/

 

Grazulis, Thomas P. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VE: Environmental Films, 1993, 1,326 pages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1922 — March 13, Tornadoes (2), Gowan (11 deaths) and Sulphur Springs (3), OK    —     14

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-21-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–14  Daily Ardmoreite, OK. 3-15-1922, p. 1.

            –11  Gowen

            —  3  Sulphur Springs

–13  Grazulis.  Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, pp. 410 and 777.

15:55  3k [killed]        40inj  150y  4m  F3  Murray [county]

18:15  10k                   50inj  300y  2m  F2  Latimer [county]          

–11  Gowen. Daily Ardmoreite, OK. “Loss at Gowen…Eleven Killed.” 3-15-1922, p. 1.[1]

–11  Gowen. Muskogee Times-Democrat, OK. “Tornado Kills Ten at Gowan…” 3-14-1922, p.1.[2]

—  3  Sulphur Springs. Daily Ardmoreite, OK. “Sulphur Death List…Three…” 3-15-1922, p. 1.

Newspaper

March 14, Times-Democrat Special: “Hartshorne, Okla., March 14. – Eleven persons are known to be dead, three others are believed to be fatally injured, more than a score sustained less serious hurts and from 60 to 70 houses were destroyed or badly damaged by a tornado that struck Gown, a coal camp, six miles southwest of here, at 6:43 o’clock last night. The dead [11 noted] are:

 

George Glembo;

Rena Glembo, 15 years old; [daughter of George]

Annie Glembo, 13 years old;              “

Mrs. Lucile Leamy;

Mrs. Clifford Wilkerson and baby;

Pete Armandoff;

Mrs. Pete Armandoff;

Matilde Armandoff;

An unidentified Mexican woman and

A Mexican man.

….

“The property damage is estimated at from $75,000 to $100,000.

 

“The storm cut a path a mile and a quarter long and a hundred yards wide.

 

“The Baptist church and the Pentecostal churches were demolished. The Catholic church was moved from its foundation and was badly damaged….” (Muskogee Times-Democrat, OK. “Tornado Kills Ten at Gowan, Okla.; Mining Village Laid Waste by Cyclonic Storm.” 3-14-1922, p. 1.)

 

March 14, Muskogee Times-Democrat, OK: “With two dead and nineteen persons injured, relief workers here believed they have sought out and given aid to all victims of the tornado which struck here at 3:45 o’clock Monday afternoon and blazed a path two blocks wide for seven or eight blocks through the west section of the city. List of Casualties. The dead: [We note in separate lines.]

 

Thomas Watkins, 60, carpenter;

Virgil Hampton, 70, formerly of Ardmore.

….

“Volunteer workers began clearing away the debris at daybreak. Approximately 150 persons are homeless. They are being cared for in other residences on the east side, which escaped the path of the tornado….

 

“The tornado swooped down from the southeast, passing over the eastern portion of the city and dropped into the west side, levelling a path two blocks in width and more than half a mile long. Most of the structures in the twister’s path were dwellings. The courthouse and the Presbyterian church were demolished and the roof of the Methodist church was carried away.

 

“The Sulphur national guard company patrolled the courthouse grounds to protect public records exposed by the wrecking of the building. Continuing a northward course, the tornado lifted as it passed out of the city. It descended again and demolished Carr’s chapel school house, two miles north of here. Three children in the building were slightly injured.” (Muskogee Times-Democrat, OK. “Twister Takes Path Through Sulphur Homes.” 3-14-1922, p. 1.)

 

March 15, Daily Ardmoreite, OK: “(Special to The Ardmoreite)

“Sulphur, Okla. – The death list resulting from the twister which struck this city late Monday has been brought to three with the death of Mrs. C. H. Lequire late Tuesday. Sixteen persons were injured, with more than a score bearing bruises, scratches and cuts…” (Daily Ardmoreite, OK. “Sulphur Death List Grows to Three Tuesday.” 3-15-1922, p. 1.)

 

March 15, Daily Ardmoreite, OK: “M’Alester, Okla. – Death of an unknown Mexican child late Tuesday night brought the death list of the Gowen tornado to eleven, according to Dr. Frank Miller of Hartshorne, member of the Rock Island Coal company’s staff of physicians. Ralph Wilkerson, whose wife and child were killed in the tornado, and who was badly injured, is still at Gowen. His condition will not permit removal to a hospital at Hartshorne.

 

“The remnant of the George Glembo family from the storm are in the hospital at Hartshorne. Mrs. Glembo is in a serious condition. The father and two daughters were killed in the storm. Mrs. Glembo and four younger children were in the hospital…” (Daily Ardmoreite, OK. “Loss at Gowen About $75,000; Eleven Killed.” 3-15-1922, p. 1.)

 

Sources

 

Daily Ardmoreite, OK. “Loss at Gowen About $75,000; Eleven Killed.” 3-15-1922, p. 1. Accessed 4-21-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/ardmore-daily-ardmoreite-mar-15-1922-p-1/

 

Daily Ardmoreite, OK. “Sulphur Death List Grows to Three Tuesday.” 3-15-1922, p. 1. Accessed 4-21-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/ardmore-daily-ardmoreite-mar-15-1922-p-1/

 

Grazulis, Thomas P. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VE: Environmental Films, 1993, 1,326 pages.

 

Muskogee Times-Democrat, OK. “Tornado Kills Ten at Gowan, Okla.; Mining Village Laid Waste by Cyclonic Storm.” 3-14-1922, p. 1. Accessed 4-21-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/muskogee-times-democrat-mar-14-1922-p-1/

 

Muskogee Times-Democrat, OK. “Twister Takes Path Through Sulphur Homes.” 3-14-1922, p. 1. Accessed 4-21-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/muskogee-times-democrat-mar-14-1922-p-1/

 

 

[1] If the previous day’s report of 11 deaths was accurate, then the death of the Mexican child noted here should bring the death toll to 12. Perhaps the previous list was in error?

[2] Eleven deaths noted in article.

1922 — Feb 21, USA Air Service dirigible Roma crash, Hampton Roads Naval Base, VA–34

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-22-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

—  34  Gero. Military Aviation Disasters:  Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 14.

—  34  Nash. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 631

—  34  National Museum of the United States Air Force. “Roma Tragedy.”

—  34  The Bee (Danville, VA).  “Disaster Is Worst In Flying History.”  Feb 23, 1922, p. 3.

Narrative Information

Gero: “State Airship Factory dirigible Roma…[a] semi-rigid airship crashed in flames in the vicinity of Langley Field, where it had been based, killing 34 of the 45 men aboard, most of whom were American military personnel but also including several civilians. All but three of the survivors were injured. Built in Italy and measuring 410ft (125m) in length, the dirigible had been on a test flight and was proceeding at a speed of around 60mph (100kph) when it suddenly assumed a nose-down attitude at an approximate height of 600ft (180m) and plunged to earth. Its crew unable to recover from the uncontrolled descent, the Roma ultimately struck high-tension lines, and contact with their broken leads ignited the hydrogen gas in its envelope. According to the report of an Army investigative board, the accident was most likely precipitated by the flattening of the upper surface of the metal nose cap on the bow of the airship, which caused the nose-down condition. Resistance from the stern stabilizers would have produced overstressing that probably buckled the keel structure, completely disabling the elevator controls….Following this disaster, hydrogen was discarded as the lifting agent in American airships. The US Army also stopped experimenting with dirigibles, which would remain within the sole domain of the Navy.” (Gero. Military Aviation Disasters:  Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 14)

 

National Museum of the United States Air Force. “Roma Tragedy.” —

“In 1920 the Army Air Service purchased a 410-foot long semi-rigid dirigible, the Roma, from Italy. Disassembled and shipped to the United States, the reassembled airship made its first flight in America from Langley Field, Va., on Nov. 15, 1921. Dissatisfied with the Roma’s performance, the Army Air Service replaced its Ansaldo engines with more powerful Liberty engines.

 

“The first flight test with the Roma’s new engines took place on Feb. 21, 1922. With 45 officers, enlisted men and civilians onboard, the Roma flew across Hampton Roads at about 55 mph. While about 600 feet over Norfolk, Va., the control box at the rear of the airship broke and forced the Roma downward. The nose buckled, the disabled airship hit some high-voltage wires, and its hydrogen gas exploded. Thirty-four men died in the crash. Investigators could not determine the cause of the accident, but it was generally thought that the Liberty engines had been too powerful for the Roma.”

 

Newspaper

 

Feb 22: “WASHINGTON, Feb. 22.— The  wreck of the Roma, 410-foot semi-rigid dirigible airship, near Norfolk, Va., this afternoon, was the worst single disaster lo the history of aviation in this country.  “The Roma was the pride of the Army Air Service. Only recently Liberty motors had been installed instead of the original Italian motors, which did not function well when the big semi-rigid made her maiden trip from Langley Field to Washington in December, fighting every foot of the way against adverse weather conditions. The best available information is that the immediate cause of today’s disaster was the failure of the elevator controls, on which the big airship must depend to climb or descend. The nose of the ship at once began to down, and efforts to right here were fruitless….

 

“The loss of the Roma was a great blow to Air Service personnel.  Plans had been made for a series of  long distance flights during the spring and summer to boost the cause of aviation and give lighter-than-air flying training.  Most of the men on board the Roma today were experienced lighter-than-air pilots and mechanics and their loss cannot be repaired….

 

“The gas bag of the Roma contained 1,200.000 cubic feet of hydrogen gas. While much has been published about helium gas which is non-inflammable, very little of it is yet available for use. Recently a small non-rigid naval airship was inflated with helium and made a successful trip from Hampton Roads to Washington and return….Experts of the air service believe the great loss of life would not have occurred if the gas bag had been filled with helium.”  (The Bee (Danville, VA). “Disaster Is Worst In Flying History.”  February 23, 1922, p. 3.)

 

Sources

 

Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. UK and Newbury Park, CA: Patrick Stephens Limited, an imprint of Hayes Publishing, 1999. 

 

Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters from Ancient Times to the Present. New York: Pocket Books, Wallaby, 1977, 792 pages.

 

National Museum of the United States Air Force. “Roma Tragedy.” Accessed 4-22-2025 at: https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196943/roma-tragedy/

 

The Bee, Danville, VA. “Disaster Is Worst In Flying History.”  2-23-1922, p. 3.  Accessed 4-22-2025 at:  https://newspaperarchive.com/danville-bee-feb-23-1922-p-3/

 

 

1922 — Feb 7,  Fire, Lexington Hotel, Richmond, VA                                                 —     12

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 1-27-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–12  AP. “Hotel Man Is Missing.” Progress & Index-Appeal, Petersburg, VA. 2-12-1922, p. 1.

–12  NFPA. “Famous Hotel Fires.”  Quarterly of the NFPA, Vol. 23, No. 3, Jan 1930, p. 310.

–12  NFPA. “Loss of Life in Hotel Fires.”  Quarterly of the NFPA, V23, No. 3, Jan 1930, p. 310.

–12  National Fire Protection Assoc. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003).

Narrative Information

National Fire Protection Association: “Delay in sending alarm was a factor in a fire which cost the lives of twelve persons. Seven were killed by jumping and five were burned to death. Spontaneous ignition of oily rags in painter’s overalls was cause of fire….Unprotected openings permitted the rapid upward sweep of flames.” (NFPA. “Loss of Life…Hotel Fires.” NFPA Quarterly, V23/N3, 1930, pp. 310-311.)

NFPA Quarterly: “A fire which broke out at 4 A.M. cost the lives of twelve people and swept through nearly half a city block… The hotel, which was built over sixty years ago, was of old style brick and wooden joisted construction. It was located among other old hazardous buildings and was recognized as a serious fire menace by the city authorities. An elevator shaft of wood and metal ran up through the center of the build­ing. There were three fire escapes, two of which were of the stairway and balcony type. The third was simply a vertical iron ladder. There were two open stairways from the lobby floor to the second floor, and from this floor to the third and fourth floors there were three open stairways.

“At the time of the fire extensive repairing and painting was being done. The hotel was not closed, however, and guests were in their rooms as usual. The fire apparently started in a small room on the second floor near the elevator shaft. This room was used by the painters, who had left twelve suits of overalls in this room on the night of the fire. It is highly probable that the fire was due to spontaneous ignition in this clothing.

“The fire spread rapidly up the elevator shaft and was blazing through the roof at least twenty-five minutes before the alarm was received. The night clerk on duty was old and infirm and apparently became confused and over­looked both the house fire alarm and the city alarm box on the corner. The first alarm was sent in from a box two blocks away by a messenger boy who saw the fire at a distance.

 

“Two ladder companies had been assigned to respond to a first alarm from the box directly in front of the building because of its well-known hazard, but the box from which the alarm was sent had only one ladder company assigned to it, and the route was down a steep grade not traversed on the route to the box directly in front of the hotel.  The delay involved undoubtedly cost several lives.

 

“The first alarm was received at 4:34 A.M., the second alarm at 4:38 A.M. and a general alarm at 4:55 A.M. The fire blazing through the roof and com­ing out nearly every window on one side. People were jumping from the windows when the firemen arrived. The first company responding to the alarm saw one injured man crawling a half block from the hotel. This com­pany was only two blocks from the fire and was there in less than two minutes after the alarm was sent in. There were twelve lives lost, seven by jumping from the windows, and five by burning. Those that were burned were so badly burned that only the torsos were left; and in two cases the bodies could not be identified. Others that were burned were identified by either their teeth or some article found close to them in the ruins.  All of those losing their lives were men.  Some were apparently burned in their beds.

 

“A number of thrilling rescues and escapes were made. A woman about seventy years old jumped from the third story of the hotel across a fifteen-foot alley to the top of a two-story building and was rescued from there with­out being seriously injured. Others came down water conductors. Some came down ropes the painters had on the side of the building. Many escaped by tying sheets together and sliding down to safety. One man was coming down on a sheet from the third floor when another man caught it and both fell. The firemen caught them in a life net and neither one was seriously hurt. Some jumped from windows when there was a fire escape within three feet of them. The first truck to arrive saved at least thirty persons with its life net and aerial ladder.

 

“It seems probable that the stairs served as flues for the smoke and heat, and were not available. All the stairs did not run from first floor to the top story, but instead two stairs stopped at the second floor where the fire started and it was necessary to walk down a long corridor before reaching the stairs. to the first floor.

 

“The fire spread rapidly, badly damaging seven other buildings. It was finally controlled by the excellent work of the fire department.

 

“A special grand jury investigated this fire and, while holding that no evi­dence was found of criminal violation of the law, declared that there was the safety and lives of guests and employees. They pointed out that the building inspector and the fire prevention board should have had the authority to close the hotel on account of the chaotic conditions due to alterations. The grand jury recommended a new ordinance regulating hotels, with full power given to the fire prevention board to enforce all regulations.”  (NFPA. “Loss of Life in Hotel Fires.” Quarterly of the NFPA, Vol. 23, No. 3, January 1930, pp. 319-321.)

Newspaper

 

Feb 7, Alexandria Gazette, VA: “Richmond, Va., Feb. 7. – Four men were killed and fifteen persons were injured, some seriously, in a fire which started in the Lexington Hotel here early today and which was still burning at 9 o’clock. At least twenty persons are missing, and it is feared that other bodies will be found in the ruins. Three of the dead have been identified. They are:

 

  1. J. Fox, Williamsport, Pa.

Hiram F. Austin, Fincastle, Va.

  1. Johnson, Charlottesville, Va.

 

“The fire is one of the most disastrous which has occurred in the State of Virginia in a score of years. At 9 o’clock firemen were still pouring water into the blazing wreckage in efforts to prevent the fire from spreading to adjoining buildings.

 

“The origin of the fire had not been determined this morning, and police expressed the belief that it would be impossible to learn the cause of the blaze. The first alarm was turned in by a night clerk of the hotel shortly after 4 o’clock. The flames were spreading rapidly when firemen arrived, and men and women who were asleep in the hotel rose terrified from their beds to find the blaze about them.

 

“A. Johnson, one of the identified dead, jumped for a net held by firemen. He missed the net by six feet and was killed instantly. J. H. Webb of Fincastle, Va., threw a mattress to the street and jumped. He also missed, badly injuring both hips.

 

“The hotel was a five-story brick building, located at Twelfth and Main streets, and had 250 rooms. Police estimated the damage at $600,000….

 

“The blaze damaged adjoining buildings, including the Savings Bank of Richmond, the Branch Cavell Company, brokers, and the Co-operative Produce Exchange, located in the rear of the hotel.

 

“The Lexington was one of the last of the old hotels of Richmond, being a four-story structure of old-fashioned design, built in the ’80’s.” (Alexandria Gazette, VA. “4 Dead 20 Lost in Richmond Fire.” 2-7-1922, p. 1.)

 

Feb 8, Alexandria Gazette, VA: “Richmond, Va., Feb. 8. – Six known dead, 30 reported missing or unaccounted for, and 28 known injured was the toll of a fire, which early yesterday started from an undetermined source in the basement f the Lexington Hotel…It swept half a city block before it was checked….The known dead are:

 

Hiram S. Austin, Fincastle, Va.

M.J. Fox, Williamsport, Pa.

C.M. Thomas, Sheriff of Albemarle county, Va.

  1. T. Cox, of Richmond

F.L. Shaw, of Richmond.

T.L. Pierier, of Yonkers, N.Y.

[No mention of A. Johnson; previous edition reported he had jumped to his death.]

 

“The bodies of the last three were still in the ruins last night, according to the police.

 

“The flames quickly cut off all exits in the hotel and the guests, many with clothing in flames, jumped from the windows, some landing in life nets, but others plunging to the pavements….

 

“Seventy-two guests were registered at the hotel when the fire broke out….” (Alexandria Gazette, VA. “Thirty Missing in Lexington Hotel Fire. Six Known to be Dead.” 2-8-1922, p. 1.)

 

Feb. 9, AP: “Richmond, Va., Feb. 9. – Firemen searching the ruins of the Lexington Hotel today found a human head, bringing the number of known dead in the disaster to five. The remainder of the body was found later, and was identified as that of E. J. Bush, of Cincinnati, O. …Twelve persons were still missing or unaccounted for today….” (Associated Press. “Firemen Find Another Body.” Winchester Evening Star, VA, 2-9-1922, p. 4, col. 2.)

 

Feb. 11, AP: “Richmond, Va., Feb. 11 – The death list resulting from the destruction of the Lexington Hotel here by fire Tuesday was increased again today with the recovery of another body. The body, which has not been identified, brought the list of known dead to nine, with six of the hotel’s guests still unaccounted for. Bodies most recently removed from the ruins were found on or near iron beds, giving rise to the police belief that the victims were overcome while in their beds by smoke, and then burned to death.” (Associated Press. “More Bodies Found Today.” Winchester Evening Star, VA, 2-11-1922, p. 1.)

 

Feb. 11, AP: “(By The Associated Press). Richmond, Feb. 11. – Charred rafters and bricks, which once were the Lexington hotel, yielded up four bodies today, three of which have been identified…laborers, who have been delving among the ruins since the hotel was destroyed by fire early Tuesday morning, came upon the body of William H. Kennon, of Gasburg, Brunswick county, Virginia, this morning. Later today a mutilated body was discovered. Tonight two more victims were found and information at the Undertaking parlors is that they are E. O. Taylor, Jr., of Townsville, N.C., and R. Kiesr, of Columbus, Ohio. Tayler is a lumberman and Kieser a traveling salesman. The four bodies recovered today make a total of 12 which have been taken from the ruins. Only one, E. T. Cox, is unaccounted for. Cox was the financial backer of the hotel.” (Associated Press. “Hotel Man Is Missing.” Progress & Index-Appeal, Petersburg, VA. 2-12-1922, p. 1.)

Sources

 

Alexandria Gazette, VA. “4 Dead 20 Lost in Richmond Fire.” 2-7-1922, p. 1. Accessed 1-27-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/alexandria-gazette-feb-07-1922-p-1/

 

Alexandria Gazette, VA. “Thirty Missing in Lexington Hotel Fire. Six Known to be Dead.” 2-8-1922, p. 1. Accessed 1-27-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/alexandria-gazette-feb-08-1922-p-1/

 

Associated Press. “Firemen Find Another Body.” Winchester Evening Star, VA, 2-9-1922, p. 4, col. 2. Accessed 1-27-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/winchester-evening-star-feb-09-1922-p-4/

 

Associated Press. “Hotel Man Is Missing.” Progress & Index-Appeal, Petersburg, VA. 2-12-1922, p. 1. Accessed 1-27-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/progress-and-index-appeal-feb-12-1922-p-9/

 

Associated Press. “More Bodies Found Today.” Winchester Evening Star, VA, 2-11-1922, p. 1. Accessed 1-27-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/winchester-evening-star-feb-11-1922-p-1/

 

National Fire Protection Association. “Famous Hotel Fires.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 23, No. 3, January 1930, p. 310.

 

National Fire Protection Association. “Loss of Life in Hotel Fires.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 23, No. 3, January 1930, pp. 308-328.

 

National Fire Protection Association. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003). (Email attachment to B. W. Blanchard from Jacob Ratliff, NFPA Archivist/Taxonomy Librarian, 7-8-2013.)

 

1922 — Chickenpox, international list #25a, Census Bureau. Mortality Statistics 1922  –141

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 5-4-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–141  U.S. Bureau of the Census. Mortality Statistics 1922 Table II, p. 127.[1]

Narrative Information

CDC: “Chickenpox is a very contagious disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV). It causes a blister-like rash, itching, tiredness, and fever. The rash appears first on the stomach, back and face and can spread over the entire body causing between 250 and 500 itchy blisters. Chickenpox can be serious, especially in babies, adults, and people with weakened immune systems. The best way to prevent chickenpox is to get the chickenpox vaccine.” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Chickenpox (Varicella).” 7-1-2016 update.)

 

Sources

 

Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce. Mortality Statistics 1922. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1925. Accessed 5-4-2025 at:

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsushistorical/mortstatsh_1922.pdf

 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Chickenpox (Varicella).” 7-1-2016 update. Accessed 11-26-2018 at: https://www.cdc.gov/chickenpox/about/index.html

 

 

[1] “…based on transcripts of death certificates received from the registration area for deaths, which, in 1922, had an estimated population of 93,514,035, or 85.4 per cent of the total estimated population of the United States and the Territory of Hawaii.” “The registration area in 1922 includes 37 States, the District of Columbia, and 13 cities in nonregistration States. Nonregistration states included Alabama, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia.

1922 — Jan 28, Knickerbocker Theater Roof Collapse, Snow Weight, Washington, DC–   98

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-22-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–120  Walker, John. Disasters. Chicago: Follett Publishing Co., 1973.[1]

–108  Decatur Daily Review (IL). “108 Dead; 133 Hurt In Theater Collapse,” Jan 30, 1922, 1.[2]

–108  History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, Jan 29, 1922. “Theater Collapses in DC.”[3]

—  98  Fishbein, Gershon. “A Winter’s Tale of Tragedy.” Washington Post, 1-22-2009.

—  98  NWSFO Balt/Wash, The Greatest Storms of…Century…Greater Wash-Balt Reg.  2005

—  98  NWS FO, Philadelphia/Mount Holly. “Historical Weather Facts…,”  Oct 17, 2005.

—  98  Samenow. “The Knickerbocker Snowstorm…D.C.’s deadliest disaster.” WP, 1-28-2013.

—  98  Watson. “The ‘Knickerbocker Storm’ of Jan 1922.” Sterling Reporter, V1, Is. 4, 2002/03.

—  97  National Fire Protect. Assoc. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003).[4]

—  97  Oneonta Daily Star, NY. “Washington Honors Dead.” 2-1-1922, p. 1.

—  95  New York Times. “Theatre Wreck Inquiries Started; Senate Will Act.” 1-31-1922.

Narrative Information

Fishbein: “…Washington will have a somber anniversary Wednesday.  Jan. 28 marks the date of one of the city’s worst disasters, which occurred during one of its worst blizzards, 87 years ago.

 

“In 1922, the flat roof of the ornate, 1,700-seat Knickerbocker Theater at 18th Street and Columbia Road NW collapsed under the weight of more than two feet of snow, killing 98 people and injuring 133.

 

“The blizzard, which had begun a day earlier, is known as the Knickerbocker Storm because of the disaster, and it remains the snowstorm by which all others in this area are measured.

 

“According to witnesses, nobody heard a thing before the crash.  The audience was absorbed in a silent movie adaptation of Broadway showman George M. Cohan’s comedy, “Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford.”  Suddenly, a roar and crash filled the theater. The roof had caved in. The balcony was crushed first, and then the orchestra.  “With a roar, mighty as the crack of dawn, the massive roof of the theater broke loose from its steel moorings and crushed down on the heads of those in the balcony,” The Washington Post’s John Jay Daly reported in the following morning’s edition. “Under the weight of the falling roof, the balcony gave way. Most of the audience was terrorized. It was as sudden as turning off an electric light.”….”  (Fishbein, Gershon. “A Winter’s Tale of Tragedy.” Washington Post, 1-22-2009.)

 

History.com:  A blizzard forms in the Carolinas on January 26 and moves into the greater Washington DC metropolitan area on the 27th.  “For two days, snow blanketed the nation’s capital, resulting in accumulations of more than two feet. The large amount of snow crippled transportation in Washington and shut down the government.

 

“By Saturday night, things were beginning to return to normal, and some 300 people attended a movie at Knickerbocker Theatre, at the corner of 18th Street and Columbia Road. In the middle of the film, the accumulated snow on the theater’s roof collapsed the building and tons of steel and concrete fell down on top of the theatergoers. One hundred and eight people were killed, including five in a single family. Another 133 were hospitalized. Rescuers worked through the night to pull out the injured from beneath the rubble.

 

“President Warren Harding issued his personal condolences to the families of the victims, which included a former congressman. A subsequent investigation by Army engineers blamed poor construction materials for the collapse.”  (History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, Jan 29, 1922. “Theater Collapses in DC.”)

 

NWSFO Balt/Wash: “Named after the Knickerbocker Theater in Washington, DC, which collapses on January 28 during the storm due to weight of snow on flat roof, killing 98 and injuring 133.  An estimated 22,400 square miles of Northeast U.S. affected by heavy snow (up to 36 inches) from this Atlantic cyclone; drifts as high as 16 feet.

 

“Exactly 150 years after the “Washington and Jefferson Storm” which dropped 3 feet of snow on the region, came the deepest snow of this century to the greater Washington and Baltimore region. The snow came on the heels of a cold spell. High temperatures did not climb above freezing from the 24 through the 28th… Snow began at 4:30 p.m. on the 27th and continued until just past midnight on the morning of the 29th. A record 21 inches fell in a 24 hour period on the 28th. The heavy band of snow stretched across Richmond (19 inches), Washington, DC (28 inches), and Baltimore (25 inches) immobilizing the region. Strong north to northeast winds accompanied the storm drifting snow into deep banks. Roads were blocked. Main highways were the first to open in 2 to 4 days.

 

“On the evening of the 28th, the weight of the snow became too much for the Knickerbocker Theater on 18th Street and Columbia in Northwest Washington, DC. The horrible scene was described in the Washington Post on January 29th and 30th and was reprinted in the Post on January 19, 1996 following another big snow. They described it as “the greatest disaster in Washington’s History”. The theater was cramped with an estimated 900 movie goers. The roof of the theater collapsed taking the balcony down with it and crushing 98 people below to death and injuring another 158. People were pulled from the rubble for hours and bodies were pulled out for days.”  (National Weather Service, Weather Forecast Office Baltimore/Washington, The Greatest Storms of…Century…Greater Wash-Balt Region.  2005)

 

Samenow: “On this date in 1922, 28 inches of snow piled up in Washington, D.C., an amount never since surpassed from a single storm. The weight of the snow caused the roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre – located in Adams Morgan – to collapse, killing 98 people and injuring 133.  Capital Weather Gang’s Kevin Ambrose recently completed a book on the catastrophe: The Knickerbocker Snowstorm (Images of America), released January 14 (this year). The photo-documentary tells the story of the tragic storm, from the meteorology to the human toll.  What follows is a question and answer with Ambrose about the storm and the book effort….

 

“JS: You mention none of the families of the victims were paid a cent as litigation failed despite flaws in the Knickerbocker Theatre roof design. Did victims or their families receive any charitable assistance in the wake of the disaster?


“KA: The victims were primarily assisted by family and friends….

 

“JS: Did the disaster at the Knickerbocker motivate any changes to DC’s building codes?

 

“KA:  The building codes were updated to include the use of steel I-beams and better supports for the roofs. The Knickerbocker Theatre was built rather hastily and with sloppy construction. The steel roof beams were only laid on top of the theater’s brick walls, in some instances, they were only put 4 inches into the walls. With the roof weighed down with snow, the beams easily broke free from the walls and the roof fell as one large, flat surface: a worst case scenario for the moviegoers below….” (Samenow, Jason. “The Knickerbocker Snowstorm: Inside insights on D.C.’s deadliest disaster.” Washington Post, 1-28-2013.)

 

Watson: “Exactly 150 years after the “Washington and Jefferson Storm” which dropped 3 feet of snow on the region, came the deepest snow of the 20th century to the greater Washington and Baltimore region. The snow came on the heels of a cold spell. High temperatures did not climb above freezing from the 24th through the 28th of January 1922 and the low temperature dipped to 11 [degrees] F on the 26th. Snow began at 4:30 p.m. on the 27th and continued until just past midnight on the morning of the 29th. A record 21 inches fell in a 24 hour period on the 28th. The heavy band of snow stretched across Richmond (19 inches), Washington, DC (28 inches), and Baltimore (25 inches) immobilizing the region. Strong north to northeast winds accompanied the storm drifting snow into deep banks. Roads were blocked. Main highways were the first to open in 2 to 4 days.

 

“On the evening of the 28th, the weight of the snow became too much for the Knickerbocker Theater on 18th Street and Columbia in Northwest Washington, DC. The horrible scene was described in the Washington Post on January 29th and 30th and was reprinted in the Post on January 19, 1996 following another big snow. They described it as “the greatest disaster in Washington’s History”. The theater was crammed with an estimated 900 movie goers. The roof of the theater collapsed taking the balcony down with it. Ninety-eight people crushed to death and another 158 were injured. A small boy squeezed into small holes between crumbled cement slabs to give those injured and trapped pain pills. From this disaster, the storm became known as the ‘Knickerbocker Storm’.”  (Watson.  “The ‘Knickerbocker Storm’ of Jan 1922.” Sterling Reporter, Vol. 1, Issue 4, 2002/2003.)

 

Contemporary Newspaper Articles, Chronological:

 

Jan 30: “Washington Jan 30.– With a total of 108 dead and 133 injured removed from the ruins of the Knickerbocker motion picture theater up to an early hour today, the rescuers were still struggling with the heavy wreckage left when the snow-laden roof of the structure collapsed during the showing of a comedy feature bill on Saturday night.  Brigadier General Bandholtz, commandant of federal troops in the district, in personal charge of the rescue work, said it might be another 21 hours before it could be definitely said there were no more dead or injured in the wreckage of twisted steel and concrete which yet remained to be cleared away of the mass that was hurled down without warning on the pleasure-seeking hundred below.

 

“It was believed however, that the section now being explored would yield few additions to the list of  dead and injured, it being near the rear and under the part of the balcony which held up when the front of it crashed down to the theater pit under the impact of the falling roof.  A party of rescuers early today had been struggling for hours to release from the part of the wreckage now being overturned one man believed yet to be alive although imprisoned under the mass for nearly 36 hours.  The great weight of the steel beams and concrete which crashed with the roof have, in many instances made the rescue of victims harrowingly slow and tedious….

 

“A three-fold investigation of the cause and circumstances of the fall of the theater roof was in prospect today.  In addition to an exhaustive inquiry ordered by the board of commissioners of the district and another to be started immediately by the grand jury.  Senator Capper of Kansas a member of the District of Columbia committee announced that as soon as the Senate convened he would introduce a resolution calling for an investigation of the tragedy.  The senator said he had received reports that the building code of the district had been violated in more than one instance in the rush of  building owing to the great increase in the population here after the declaration of war….”  (Decatur Daily Review (IL).  “108 Dead; 133 Hurt In Theater Collapse,” Jan 30, 1922, 1)

 

Jan 30: “Washington Jan 30—The board of directors of the Crandall company owners of the Knickerbocker theater, last night issued the following statement:

 

We are stunned by this catastrophe.  The Knickerbocker was the prize of our circuit constructed at no limit of cost before the war when the best material and engineering brains were secured to make this house a model of theater architecture and construction. The theater was subjected to and passed every municipal and governmental inspection and test.  We cannot find words to express the depth of sympathy we feel for those bereaved by this appalling catastrophe.  We would infinitely rather have abandoned all our enterprises than that a single life should have been lost or any individual maimed or injured.

 

(Decatur Daily Review (IL).  “Theater Directors Make Statement, Jan 30, 1922, p.1.) 

 

Jan 30:  “Washington, Jan 30 (AP). – Sleeping peacefully beneath the debris in the wrecked Knickerbocker theater two little girls aged about four and six were found early Sunday by rescuers, 10 hours after the playhouse roof had fallen in. Apparently neither of the children was badly hurt. They were taken to a hospital without identification…Four hours earlier a five year old girl was found unhurt, seated between the bodies of two women.  Her life evidently had been saved by her falling between the seats and the protection given her by the bodies of the two women who were killed beside her.” (Decatur Daily Review (IL).  “Children Sleep Under Debris.”  Jan 30, 1922, p.1. 

 

Jan 30: “Washington  Jan 30. (AP). – President Harding issued the following statement late Sunday on the Knickerbocker theater disaster:

 

“I have experienced the same astounding shock and the same Inexpressible sorrow which has come to all of Washington and which will be sympathetically felt throughout the land If I knew what to say to soften the sorrow of hundreds who are so suddenly bereaved, if I could say a word to cheer the maimed and suffering, I would gladly do it.  The terrible tragedy, staged in the midst of the great storm, has deeply depressed all of us and left us wondering about the revolving fates “

 

(Decatur Daily Review (IL).  “President Harding Issues Statement,”  Jan 30, 1922, p.1.) 

 

Jan 30:  “Washington, Jan 30. Thorough investigation to determine the responsibility for the Knickerbocker Theatre disaster of Saturday night was promised today by officials of the District Government, leaders in both branches of Congress, the Federal Courts and the Coroner.  Steps were taken during the day looking to at least four investigations.

 

“Resolutions offered in the Senate and House called for sweeping inquiry into the enforcement of building laws in the District.  The one in the Senate, introduced by Senator Capper of the Committee on District of Columbia, characterized as ‘unsatisfactory’ explanations that the heavy burden of snow was the ‘chief cause’ of the collapse of the theatre roof and referred to rumors that contractors and builders, determined to save money, ‘have acted in collusion with inspectors of buildings.’

 

“A official revision of the list of dead in the theatre collapse, as compiled by the Police Department up to 11 o’clock tonight, made their total 95.  This included 94 persons, whose bodies had been taken to undertaking establishments, all having been identified….Miss Mary Forsyth…died at Garfield Hospital today, and this made the total on the police list 95.

 

“The police list is smaller than every newspaper list, but it now seems quite certain that there are duplications or erroneously included names in these un-official lists. The list at one time contained as high as 113 names.  One of the leading newspapers this afternoon carried 107 names, of which 12 could not be verified  in any way, and elimination of these would give a total of 95 names….”  (New York Times. “Theatre Wreck Inquiries Started; Senate Will Act…Police Death List Only 95…” 1-31-1922.)

 

Feb 2:  “Washington, D.C., Feb. 2. – Second Assistant Postmaster General E. H. S. Shaughnessy died here early today, a victim of the Knickerbocker theater disaster.  Shaughnessy made a game fight, but his injuries proved too severe.  Blood transfusions taken from sturdy young soldiers had made him rally for a time, but the fracture of the pelvis was so critical that the sacrifices were in vain.” (Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Shaughnessy Victim of Knickerbocker Horror.” 2-3-1922, p.1)

 

Sources

 

Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Shaughnessy Victim of Knickerbocker Horror.” 2-3-1922, p. 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=136975060&sterm

 

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “108 Dead; 133 Hurt In Theater Collapse,” Jan 30, 1922, p.1.  Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1245857

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL.  “Children Sleep Under Debris,” Jan 30, 1922, p.1.  Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1245857

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “President Harding Issues Statement,”  Jan 30, 1922, p.1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1245857

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Theater Directors Make Statement, January 30, 1922, p.1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1245857

 

Fishbein, Gershon. “A Winter’s Tale of Tragedy.” Washington Post, 1-22-2009. Accessed 3-20-2013 at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/21/AR2009012101298.html

 

History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, January 29, 1922. “Theater Collapses in Washington, D.C.” Accessed 12-06-2008 at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=01/29&categoryId=disaster

 

National Fire Protection Association. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003). (Email attachment to B. W. Blanchard from Jacob Ratliff, NFPA Archivist/Taxonomy Librarian, 7-8-2013.)

 

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Baltimore/Washington. The Greatest Storms of the Century in the Greater Washington-Baltimore Region. Sterling, VA: NOAA, NWS, Dec 28, 2005 update. At: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/lwx/Historic_Events/StormsOfCentury.html

 

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Philadelphia/Mount Holly. “Historical Weather Facts for the Philadelphia/Mt. Holly, NJ Forecast Area.” Mount Holly, NJ: NWS FO, Oct 17, 2005 update. Accessed 1-4-2018 at: https://www.weather.gov/phi/hist_phi

 

New York Times. “Theatre Wreck Inquiries Started; Senate Will Act.” 1-31-1922. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9B06E4D9153AEF33A25752C3A9679C946395D6CF

 

Oneonta Daily Star, NY. “Washington Honors Dead.” 2-1-1922, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=15479120&sterm=knickerbocker

 

Samenow, Jason. “The Knickerbocker Snowstorm: Inside insights on D.C.’s deadliest disaster.” Washington Post, 1-28-2013. Accessed 3-20-2013 at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/the-knickerbocker-snowstorm-inside-insights-on-dcs-deadliest-disaster/2013/01/28/5ce4d940-6961-11e2-af53-7b2b2a7510a8_blog.html

 

Watson, Barbara. “The ‘Knickerbocker Storm’ of Jan 1922.” Sterling Reporter (Newsletter of the National Weather Service’s Baltimore/Washington Forecast Office), Vol. 1 Issue 4, Winter 2002/2003. Accessed at: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/lwx/reporter/winter2002-3.htm

 

 

[1] Not used as high estimate – probably based on an early newspaper report.

[2] Not used as high estimate – early newspaper reports noted a broad range of fatalities – up to about 120.

[3] Not used as high estimate – probably based on an early newspaper report.

[4] Incorrectly notes the date as February 2.

1922 —  Jan 20-Feb 17, wood alcohol poisoning, NJ (26), esp. Hoboken; NYC area (5)–   31

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-22-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

New Jersey     (26)

–12  Hoboken, “last few weeks” as of Jan 28.[1]

––  2  Jan 22. NYT.  “2 Bartenders Die…Wood Alcohol; Hoboken Men…,” 1-23-1922. 

                        –1  Walter Rohde, 30. Taken ill after a trip to Manhattan.[2]

                        –1  Barney Deneky, 32.[3]

            –1  Jan 30. Matthew Cannon at St. Mary’s Hospital.[4]

–1  Feb 1. Emil Wicker, 26, West Street, West Hoboken.[5]

—  4  Jersey City,

–1  Feb 1. Mrs. Mary Bierck, 65 Dales Ave.[6]

–1  Feb 9. Dura Franklin.[7]

–1  Feb 1.  Leo Sackas, 28 James Ave.[8]

–1  Feb 2. William Space, 36, at Jersey City Hospital.[9]

—  4  Newark, Feb 7. Evening World, NY. “4 Die From Poison Gin…” 2-7-1922, p. 13.

            –1  Freeman Brown, No. 133 Broome Street.

–1  Charles Ferguson, No. 45 Prince Street.

            –1  Mrs. Minnie German, No. 163 Broome Street.

            –1  Robert Paterson, No. 144 Baldwin Street.

—  5  Ridgefield Park, Feb 11-17. NYT.  “Lay 5 More Deaths to Wood Alcohol,” Feb 17, 1922.

            –1  John Best, 70.

            –1  Harry Best, 44, son of John Best.

            –1  Samuel Dunlap, boarded in Summit Street.

–1  Sebastian Gerger, 50, Maple Avenue.

–1  Charles Kelly, gate tender at West Shore Railroad crossing.

—  1  Trenton, Jan 21. NYT.  “Home-Brewed Liquor Kills Former Sailor,” Jan 21, 1922.

 

New York       (  5)

–1  West Shore train station at Kingston, Jan 27. Name of C. C. Gregory found in pocket.[10]

–1  Manhattan NY, Jan 23. Thought to be named James Hook.[11]

–1  NYC, Feb 1. Lillian Carroll, 29, No. 450 West 55th St.[12]

–1  NYC, Feb 4. Stanislaus Nioscowsky, No. 555 West 48th [unclear] Street.[13]

–1  NYC, Feb 9. Thomas Henry, contractor living at 640 Broadway.[14]

 

Narrative Information

 

Jan 21: “Wood alcohol and other poisonous concoctions continue to claim victims in the metropolitan district.  In Trenton, N.J., a man died yesterday from alcohol poisoning, and two men were taken to the Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn yesterday afternoon suffering from wood alcohol poisoning.” 

 

Jan 22: “Two Hoboken bartenders died Saturday night in St. Mary’s Hospital, Hoboken, from wood alcohol poisoning, according to reports made yesterday to the Hoboken police. They are the first bartenders in this vicinity to become victims of wood alcohol during the present epidemic of deaths from the deadly poison.  Two weeks ago there were ten deaths in Hoboken and one in Jersey City from wood alcohol poisoning. The police have been unable to find any connection between the deaths Saturday night and those about two weeks ago.

 

“Both bartenders were stricken blind before being removed to the hospital.  One had been ill about four days and the other about two days. Walter Rohde, 30, of 210 Park Avenue, Hoboken, was taken ill on Friday soon after returning from a trip to Manhattan. The presumption is that he obtained the wood alcohol here….”  (NYT.  “2 Bartenders Die…Wood Alcohol; Hoboken Men…,” 23 Jan 1922.)

 

Feb 17:  “Wood alcohol is believed to have caused five deaths in Ridgefield Park, N.J. since last Saturday.  Three deaths have been definitely traced to wood alcohol poisoning and the two others are thought to have been due to the same cause. This would bring the total number of deaths in New Jersey from wood alcohol poisoning since Jan. 10 up to twenty-seven.”  (NYT.  “Lay 5 More Deaths to Wood Alcohol,” Feb 17, 1922.)

 

Sources

 

Catskill Mountain News, Margaretville, NY. “Did Mountain Moonshine Cause This Tragedy?” 2-3-1922, p. 3. Accessed 4-22-2025 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/margaretville-catskill-mountain-news-feb-03-1922-p-3/

 

Evening World, NY. “4 Die From Poison Gin, Three Dying; Saloonist Jailed.” 2-7-1922, p. 13. Accessed 4-22-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-evening-world-feb-07-1922-p-13/

 

Evening World, NYC. “Dead – May Have Been Due To Wood Alcohol.” 2-4-1922,  p. 10. Accessed 4-22-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-evening-world-feb-04-1922-p-10/

 

Evening World, NYC. “Three More Dead, One Dying, From Poisoned Liquor.” 2-2-1922, p. 8. Accessed 4-22-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-evening-world-feb-02-1922-p-8/

 

Evening World, NYC. “Three More Die of Wood Alcohol; 2 Ex-Saloon Men.” 1-23-1922, p. 8. Accessed 4-22-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-evening-world-jan-23-1922-p-8/

 

Evening World, NYC. “Wood Alcohol Kills Negro in Jersey City.” 2-9-1922, p. 20. Accessed 4-22-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-evening-world-feb-09-1922-p-20/

 

New York Herald. “4 Stills Explode, Houses Set Afire.” 2-3-1922, p. 20. Accessed 4-22-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-herald-feb-03-1922-p-15/

 

New York Herald. “Anderson To Help Day Find Chief Aid…Bronx Booze Graft Probe…” 2-10-1922, p. 22. Accessed 4-22-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-herald-feb-10-1922-p-15/

 

New York Herald. “Blinded by Hooch, Sues for $10,000.” 1-28-1922, p. 20. Accessed 4-22-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-herald-jan-28-1922-p-13/

 

New York Herald. “Woman and 2 Men Killed by Alcohol. Death Toll Now 15 From Poisonings in Hoboken and Jersey City.” 2-2-1922, p. 5. Accessed 4-22-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-herald-feb-02-1922-p-5/

 

New York Times. “2 Bartenders Die of Wood Alcohol; Hoboken Men are First of Their Class to Succumb to Latest Epidemic,” Jan 23, 1922. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F70A10FA3A541B7A93C1AB178AD85F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Home-Brewed Liquor Kills Former Sailor,” Jan 21, 1922.  Accessed at:  http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F20716FD3A541B7A93C3AB178AD85F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Lay 5 More Deaths to Wood Alcohol,” 2-17-1922. Accessed at:  http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FA0C16F935541B7A93C5A81789D85F468285F9

 

 

[1] New York Herald. “Blinded by Hooch, Sues for $10,000.” 1-28-1922, p. 20.

[2] Evening World, NYC. “Three More Die of Wood Alcohol; 2 Ex-Saloon Men.” 1-23-1922, p. 8.

[3] Evening World, NYC. “Three More Die of Wood Alcohol; 2 Ex-Saloon Men.” 1-23-1922, p. 8.

[4] New York Herald. “4 Stills Explode, Houses Set Afire.” 2-3-1922, p. 20.

[5] Evening World, NYC. “Three More Die of Wood Alcohol; 2 Ex-Saloon Men.” 1-23-1922, p. 8.

[6] New York Herald. “Woman and 2 Men Killed by Alcohol. Death Toll Now 15…” 2-2-1922, p. 5.

[7] Evening World, NYC. “Wood Alcohol Kills Negro in Jersey City.” 2-9-1922, p. 20.

[8] New York Herald. “Woman and 2 Men Killed by Alcohol. Death Toll Now 15…” 2-2-1922, p. 5.

[9] Evening World, NYC. “Three More Dead, One Dying, From Poisoned Liquor.” 2-2-1922, p. 8.

[10] Catskill Mountain News, Margaretville, NY. “Did Mountain Moonshine Cause This Tragedy?” 2-3-1922, p. 3.

[11] Evening World, NYC. “Three More Die of Wood Alcohol; 2 Ex-Saloon Men.” 1-23-1922, p. 8.

[12] Evening World, NYC. “Three More Die of Wood Alcohol; 2 Ex-Saloon Men.” 1-23-1922, p. 8.

[13] Evening World, NYC. “Dead – May Have Been Due To Wood Alcohol.” 2-4-1922,  p. 10. “Bottle which had contained wood alcohol, the surgeon said, lay beside him.”

[14] New York Herald. “Anderson To Help Day Find Chief Aid…Bronx Booze Graft Probe…” 2-10-1922, p. 22.

1922 – Jan 7-11, Wood Alcohol Poisoning, NJ, especially Hoboken, NJ          — 10-11

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-24-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

New Jersey

–11  Evening World, NYC. “103 Killed in U.S. Since Jan. 1 by Poisoned Liquor.” 1-12-1922, 3.[1]

–10  NYT.  “Four More Deaths From Wood Alcohol,” Jan 12, 1922.

—  8  Evening World, NY. “Eight Dead in Jersey From Poison Rum.” 1-10-1922, p. 1.

—  6  Hoboken,  Jan 10.  NYT.  “Seven Die in Jersey From Bootleg Rum,” Jan 11, 1922.

—  3        “          Jan 11.  NYT.  “Four More Deaths From Wood Alcohol,” Jan 12, 1922.

—  1  Jersey City, Jan 7.  NYT.  “Seven Die in Jersey From Bootleg Rum,” Jan 11, 1922.  

New York, Westchester County.

—   1  Tuckahoe, Jan 11.  NYT.  “Four More Deaths From Wood Alcohol,” Jan 12, 1922.

Narrative Information

 Jan 10: “With the total deaths from wood alcohol poisoning in Jersey City and Hoboken now numbering eight, the police of the latter city at noon today arrested a man and his wife operating, it is alleged, a large, complete still. Capt. Garick and Acting Detective Christie led the Hoboken  raiders. Their prisoners are Peter De Waele, thirty-seven, and his wife, Olga, forty, whom they arrested on the second floor of No. 307 Second Street. The raiders allege they found a whiskey distilling plant consisting of six washtubs, two milk cans, a ten-gallon still, twelve quart bottles of a colorless liquor, three small bottles of coloring and a proof tester.

….

“On Saturday [Jan 7] a man said to have been James Sheehy, a longshoreman, died in Jersey City. He also is believed to have bought the fatal drink in Hoboken.

 

“Mrs. Emile Lang, the wife of the proprietor of Lang’s Restaurant, at No. 326 River Street [Hoboken], telephoned for an ambulance, saying two of their boarders were seriously ill. Paul Smith, thirty-four, and Rudolph Eberle, thirty-four, steamship firemen, were rushed to St. Mary’s Hospital, where they later died.

 

“No sooner had Smith and Eberle been taken to their wards than another call came from Mrs. Langt. Her husband, forty-two, was also dying. He died shortly after reaching the hospital.

 

“A few minutes later a call came from the International Lodging House, No. 129 Washington Street, where Henry Offen, forty-nine, also was suffering from wood alcohol poisoning and died a few minutes after reaching St. Mary’s

 

“Then came a call from [unclear] Park Avenue, where William [unclear] a Delaware and Lackawanna Railroad waterman was in such a dangerous condition he could not be moved. He died in a few minutes from the same causes….” (Evening World, NY. “Eight Dead in Jersey From Poison Rum.” 1-10-1922, pp. 1-2.)

 

Jan 11: “Wood alcohol poisoning caused the death of six men in Hoboken yesterday and one in Jersey City Saturday. A man arrested on suspicion of having sold the poisonous liquor arrived in Hoboken with his wife about a month ago from Detroit, about the time wood alcohol is said to have killed several persons in that city. The Hoboken victims were: Emil Lange, saloonkeeper, 326 River Street; Rudolph Eberle, and Paul Schmidt, boarders with Lange; Henry Offen, boarder in the International Lodging House, 129 Washington Street; William Bergen, 108 Park Avenue; Edward Dean, 107 Garden Street. The Jersey City victim was James Sheehy, a longshoreman.

 

“Dr. Charles Hoskins, County Physician, said last night that the autopsies showed that wood alcohol had caused the deaths of Schmidt, Eberle and Lange….” ” (NYT.  “Seven Die in Jersey From Bootleg Rum,” Jan 11, 1922.)

 

Jan 12:  “Three more deaths from wood alcohol poisoning were reported yesterday from Hoboken, Making a total of ten in New Jersey since Saturday [Jan 7], all supposed to have obtained the deadly poison from the same source, which, the Hoboken police assert, was the steamer Sarcoxie of the Cosmopolitan Line, which sailed from Hoboken Saturday for South American ports.

 

“In addition, a death from wood alcohol poisoning was reported from Tuckahoe, N.Y., and a man was picked up on the street here [NYC] last night and sent to Bellevue Hospital for treatment for wood alcohol poisoning.

 

“Two of the additional deaths in Hoboken were Carl Freund, 45 years old, a native of Germany, and Frank Sandhop, 54, also a native of Germany, both longshoremen. The police were called at noon yesterday to 716 First Street, Hoboken, where Freund lived. An ambulance hurried the man to St. Mary’s Hospital, where he died at 1:25 o’clock. Dr. Stites said that death was due to alcoholic poisoning, probably wood alcohol.

 

“Sandhop was found dead at his home at 220 Park Avenue, Hoboken…Dr. Goss of St. Mary’s Hospital said Sandhop had been dead from ten to twelve hours. He thought his death was due to alcoholic poisoning.

 

“Henry Hoffman, 42, married, living at 119 Park Avenue, Hoboken, was taken ill at his home yesterday and Dr. Goff of St. Mary’s Hospital was summoned. Hoffman died while the doctor was at his home. Dr. Goff pronounced death due to alcoholic poisoning. Hoffman was janitor of the Star of Israel Synagogue. His wife said she did not know where he got the liquor….

 

“Chief of Police Hayes of Hoboken said that investigation showed that the wood alcohol, which caused the deaths, had been put on board the steamer Sarcoxie from a West Shore Railroad lighter on Friday.

 

“James Sheehy of 513 Jersey Avenue, Jersey City, who died Saturday from wood alcohol poisoning, was employed on the steamer Sarcoxie on Friday as a longshoreman. The police say the Eugene Lange, a nephew of Emile Lange, the saloonkeeper who died Tuesday from wood alcohol poisoning, told them that his uncle bought the alcohol from Sheehy, who delivered it in a water bottle.  The bottle was filled up aboard the steamer, it was said, and then brought ashore and emptied in containers in the saloon.  Persons at work on the river front told the police that the drums containing the liquor were plainly marked ‘wood alcohol’….

 

“C. M. Moretta, 45 years old, was found dead in a barn at Tuckahoe yesterday. Coroner Edward Fitzgerald of Westchester County said that the victim had evidently taken wood alcohol.

….

“Peter Hehyt and Mrs. Marie DeWaelle were held in $3,500 bail each yesterday on a charge of manufacturing liquor at 207 Second Street….”  (NYT. “Four More Deaths From Wood Alcohol,” Jan 12, 1922.)

 

Jan 23:  “…Two weeks ago there were ten deaths in Hoboken and one in Jersey City from wood alcohol poisoning.  The police have been unable to find any connection between the deaths Saturday night and those about two weeks ago.”  (NYT. “2 Bartenders Die…Wood Alcohol; Hoboken Men…,” 23 Jan 1922.)

 

Recap of Named Fatalities

 

Hoboken (9):              William Bergen

Edward Dean [or Dehn]

Rudolph Eberle

Carl Freund

Emile [or Emil] Lang [or Lange]

Henry Offen [or Hoffman]

Frank Sandhop

Paul Schmidt [or Smith]

Wiliam______

 

Jersey City (1):          James Sheehy

 

Tuckahoe, NY:          C. M. Moretta

 

Sources

 

Evening World, NYC. “103 Killed in U.S. Since Jan. 1 by Poisoned Liquor.” 1-12-1922, p. 3. Accessed 4-24-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-evening-world-jan-12-1922-p-3/

 

Evening World, NY. “Eight Dead in Jersey From Poison Rum.” 1-10-1922, pp. 1-2. Accessed 4-24-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-evening-world-jan-10-1922-p-1/

 

New York Times. “Four More Deaths From Wood Alcohol,” 1-12-1922. Accessed at:  http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FB0A12FE355B11728DDDAB0994D9405B828EF1D3

 

New York Times. “Seven Die in Jersey From Bootleg Rum.” 1-11-1922.  Accessed at:  http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F50711F73F551A738DDDA80994D9405B828EF1D3

 

 

[1] “Thus far eleven persons have died of wood alcohol poison in Hoboken and Jersey City…”

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