Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1875-02-27
The New York Church Disaster.

The New Nork Church Disaster.
I CRTsHFD To DEATH HN FALLING walls
MSS.
A telegrarhi. account was published yes-
Tluay ol terrible disaster i'm New \ ork GA
lhurSday evening, caused by me falling of a
hNe-siorN wall upon the roof ~ -. aadrau' =
NathohC thUfyn. corner oi Duane street p,,a
Sliy nan pia"e. crushing iu the roof 81 that
nuilulne. ~ which large cor gregation was
assembled nj EeSperS. and raus!.e the ,Isa -
1 oi i've persons and tbU wouuding 0I twenty
SIX others
OETDIN oT THF DISASTER
The New York uaper~ of Yesterday corfa d,
particulars oi the frirhtml disaster. IL
setms that in January IRE ocrurrcd next
door 10 st Andrews church. iu the nye-
story building al Jamy~ NJ shaw and lrtrusF
the upper stories tpand through The roof Tho
weather was very cold at the time. ~ Thar
the water froae on the front OF the building as
" was thrown frum the engines. The heat OF
the nrc doubtless inquired the high side brick
walls Oi This building, and the water which
had iIozen and thawcd and frozen again upon
these injured and exposed walls further
weakened Them. The thaw OF the past few
days had also helped 10 reduce the strength
OF The walls. which had been lcIt without
further security than the wea kenei bcamS "a
hold them together. The high wind which
succee ied tho Toiu-sto M oa Thursday even
ing, blowing nom the eastward, eNpended its
tUll force on the westerly wall of the burned
store. and blew portion of "a down uppn the,
rOof of the church. causing the destruction
ana loss OF life IA announced.
~ p KNOW NpT WHAT NAY " Appf-N
The usual services OF the Loutca season
Were I'm progress. tie congregation nuut..r-
ing upwards Of / ,soo persons, the majority be-
ing women aud children. The services were
conducted by Rev. Father Michael tlrrau.
pastor of tlc church. assisted bv Rev. Father
Flynn the assistant pastor, and Father Car
roll. Oi -. Stephens church.
An eyewitness 81 she terrible disaster. who
was lu the church, told Tribune reporter
lhe following story: The church oi 81 An
crews. at huane street aud City Hall place.
was packet with those who had asSem6ie ied 10
listen 10 Lecture by the pastor Of ~ Steph-
ems church. EpDn each side OF the church ran
long galleries. which. as well "a the body of
the building. were denSely crowded The
lecturer began his discourse about So'clork
ana the attention OF the audience was closely
held. Then the gale came up, and my attPn-
lion was taken rom the lecturer by the strong
beating Of the rain against the windows. 4
should think that 10 was about l5 minutes
after when ] heard thump against tte
eastern side OF the building. aS though several
bricks had been thrown against the wall. Il
was sitting IN the northwest corner OF the
building, and knowing that the old walls oT
The large building that had been burned out
a short time since. were standing upon the
eastern side. felt very uneasy. The lecturer
was Just saying thar I'VE can never LOOK for
ward 10 what may happen upon the morrow
when there was
TERRIBLE CRASH
Upon the eastern side OF the bui ding. There
was tearing. cracking, breaking of heavy
fInber~ ana iron WirderS. ana the masonry
began 10 cave and bulge. The whole side OF
the church then fell like an avalanche upon
the gallery urOn the eastern side, dragging
down =" roof after IL. The whole was done
IN an almost incOmprehenSible short time,
but 10 me, a. / looked upon the awful speeta-
Gle, IL seemed an age between the fall OF each
part The gaS-lightS were dragged down and
broken, and thoughts OF rire at once were up
permost in my mind. Those of the cOngregs-
tiOn who were injured were paraiyZed az first
with terror. Their panic took the place II
helpleSSneSS. ana there was general stru--
gle FOR the door. Words are almost made
qUate 20 describe the confusion that followed.
I. -ery body who could was striving 10 get out
of the doors. Those who were weak enough
10 tall were overrun by the crowd that fol-
lowed. over the backs ofpewS. and over fne
heads OF others. young men crowded, crush
ing the more helpless persons. Shrieks.
yells. and groans filled the air. Nobody
thought Of
THF DEAD AND DYING
that Law crushed under the ruins. for each one
was panic-Stricken. striving 10 save himself.
how or frOm what they hardly knew. the
firemen ami police reached the church by $50,
and began al once 10 restore order and render
assistance The wounded were taken 20 the
Park Hospital a. fast as they could he eN-
tricated from the ruins, and the dead were
carried 20 Sweencys Hotel at Chambers and
Chatham streets.
James NJ Shaw. the owner OF The building,
the walls OF which fell on the church. was ar
rested Yesterday and bailed 10 await the
action Of the cOroner's jury, which meets ON
Monday.