{"id":1108,"date":"2013-12-27T05:01:28","date_gmt":"2013-12-27T05:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=1108"},"modified":"2015-01-09T15:45:18","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T20:45:18","slug":"plane-crashes-into-the-doomed-exhibition-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/12\/27\/plane-crashes-into-the-doomed-exhibition-building\/","title":{"rendered":"Plane crashes into the doomed Exhibition Building"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

People walking near the Point around noon on a busy Saturday heard a screeching sound, then looked up into the thick fog covering the city and saw the wispy image of a biplane twirling downward in a death spiral. Pedestrians scattered. Automobiles \u201cdarted like water bugs\u201d as drivers sought safety, one newspaper reported. Moments later came a tremendous crash of breaking glass and then the tinkling noise of shards falling to the earth.<\/p>\n

Soon another form emerged from the foggy sky. Dangling from a white circle of silk was a 27-year-old pilot wearing fur boots, a leather aviator cap and goggles. His doomed plane had plowed into the aging Exhibition Building.<\/p>\n

And that, too, is where the pilot\u2019s journey ended. Melvin Garlow\u2019s parachute became snagged on the cornice of the crumbling structure. He was left hanging a few feet from the street.<\/p>\n

After releasing himself from his chute, Garlow dropped to the earth and promptly helped police gather letters and packages from the wreckage of the plane. It was Garlow\u2019s job to deliver the mail, so he then reported to the post office. Clearly this young man possessed an admirable work ethic.<\/p>\n

Garlow explained that he\u2019d lost control of the aircraft while searching for a landmark in the heavy fog, which he called \u201cbad stuff.\u201d Before jumping from the cockpit, he aimed his aircraft toward the Allegheny River and away from the crowded business district.<\/p>\n

Only one injury was reported. A railroad employee working near the crash site received minor cuts when hit by falling debris.<\/p>\n

Nobody lost any sleep over damage to the Exhibition Building. It was just another scar added to a massive, rotting corpse of steel and glass that had become an eyesore along the Allegheny River.<\/p>\n

In an earlier time, however, the Exhibition Building was a gem. Tousands of people each year swarmed to the castle-like structure and paid a quarter to attend annual exhibitions. Visitors viewed marvels of the machine age, sampled Heinz pickles, rode roller coasters and listened to the music of world-renowned symphonies. In an age that predated movies, crowds were entertained by \u201cspectacles\u201d in which models, actors and special effects were employed to re-create historic events like the Rough Riders\u2019 charge of San Juan Hill and the sinking of the Titanic.<\/p>\n

Attendance dwindled after the beginning of World War I, however, and following the 1916 season, the exhibition closed for good. The City of Pittsburgh took possession of the property in 1919 and once-gleaming jewel of the Point began its inglorious career as a maintenance shed.<\/p>\n

Garlow\u2019s misadventure is just another footnote in the story of a fascinating structure whose last remnants were leveled in 1951 to make way for Point State Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Only one injury was reported. A railroad employee working near the crash site received minor cuts when hit by falling debris.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesPlane crashes into the doomed Exhibition Building<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[948],"tags":[975,1025,1224,1046],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/tumblr_my4ck40Ta01rr5swxo2_r1_1280.jpg?fit=937%2C936&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1304,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/10\/14\/home-of-the-carnegie-international-exhibition\/","url_meta":{"origin":1108,"position":0},"title":"Home of the Carnegie International Exhibition","date":"October 14, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"It all began in 1889 when real estate heiress Mary Schenley donated nearly 300 acres of land to Pittsburgh for the park that bears her name.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/tumblr_muivzyXYhV1rr5swxo4_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C887&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":72,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/11\/14\/the-construction-of-chatham-center-the-city-within-a-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":1108,"position":1},"title":"The construction of Chatham Center, the city within a city","date":"November 14, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Once upon a time, Chatham Center was predicted to be the start of an Oakland-Downtown connection.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Chatham-Center-5.jpg?fit=1200%2C941&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7506,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2017\/04\/26\/the-fort-pitt-blockhouse-lodge-and-aunt-mollie\/","url_meta":{"origin":1108,"position":2},"title":"The Fort Pitt Blockhouse Lodge and Aunt Mollie","date":"April 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"For decades a narrow home stood guard over the famous redoubt.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/BlockhouseLodge004.jpg?fit=1200%2C782&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6263,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2015\/12\/30\/glorious-implosions-on-the-north-side\/","url_meta":{"origin":1108,"position":3},"title":"Glorious implosions on the North Side","date":"December 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Douglas Loiseaux described implosions \u201cas not just pure science, but probably an art form.\u201d","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/5YS00KLS.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5357,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2015\/05\/20\/the-roar-of-the-fire-was-like-thunder-and-on-the-flight-deck-and-hangar-decks-were-the-dead\/","url_meta":{"origin":1108,"position":4},"title":"“On the flight deck and hangar decks were the dead”","date":"May 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The massive aircraft carrier USS Franklin burned on the open sea and listed dangerously to starboard. 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