New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-12-22
EXPLORING THE RUINS.
SCENTS At TIE PLACE or THE DISASTER YES
TERpAY.

was centre of anxious interest TO great numbers OF
peope Yesterday The expectation tha' the search OF
the ruins would reveal charred corpses caused
the progress OF the work TO be watched with close
attention but with dread. The debris OF the fallen
buildings which choked Barclay-st was removed dur
ING Thursday night At ten minutes OF o'clock yes
terday morning the body of William II. Bradley Of No
Il5 Eckforl-st, Brooklyn. Z. D., was found TIE re-
minis were identified by card which was in his pocket
An hour later. the body Of newsboy, william behpet''
age thirteen Of Jersey City HEIGHTS was taken out His
features were recognizable Both these bodies were on
the sidewalk. Bradley's remains were removed 10 the
Norguc aud those Bennett sent to his sisters
residence. at No. 81 Westinghouse
About o'clock daylight struggling along
through steam and smoke, over blackened walls anu
hesrs OF stones. broken iron columns. corn.ccs'
and crumhlnc bricks and mortar. About the same
time came the owners OF the adjacent dam
aged premises These est Disguised look over
their broken windows, smoked cracked walls, ana
shattered scnboards and then they talked about in
surances. Not window pane was whole, ana the
walls looked If they had been battered by engines
Of war Bricks, pieces Of stone. small timhers and
huge splncrs h1stled from the COrniccs and fire e.
capes OF the buildings opposite the Greenfield estab-
hsbnep, Apparcbtly shower OF missiles had delueed
the uuucv fronts across the way. M0ntany cS sgbOaid
iusf opp site, punctured with sticks Ihcpatiotho OF
ms iron frc-csc1pe looked Ike au umbrella blown
inside ont Ralyng their sal sncn In force the Tople
could not possibly have access TO them Comm s'loncs
OF various Sorts policemen and their friends hrcmen,
engines labOrrrs IN the ruins, add % the oOnihlou
All the interest and all the crowd centred IN BarcaysI
Wonder continually EXPRESSED that so few in
oures were made forthe missing. Sad scenes had been
expected but the wife Of Engineer HerzhacheT. who said
she could find her husband in any OF thc hospitals
and persons asking tiiings Of girl named Josephine
Shepherd the only who sought lost friends at
the place If the disaster.
About o'clo p. ~, Nelson Greenfield arrived, and
sad that he could account for an bis employees except
engineer Herzbacbcr and Josephine shepheId lie
had seen or heard from a tho others, To asserted.
THE CAUSE or THE EXPLOSION
The orian ~ the ire by was believed
to he the explosion OF Tho boilers IN the vaults under the
pavement of the candy factory, until about ii O'clock
when rubbish enough had been removed from the side
walk to allow the man-hole TO be opened Then 1t
was noticed that the paving stones were not
displaced II began, th.n, to be asked If
the boilers coud have exploded and blown
up the front Of the store and yet have le't The
sidewalk intact. one or two persons remembered hat
they had rushed out Of the alng building, and had not
alghted iu the vaults, bur the sidewalk The doubt
became a rtainty when James II. Monroe OF Hook and
ladder No TO- DESCRIBED into the vault with an
engineer IN the employment Of the firm that had
built the boilers Instead Of twisted brass aud IRON and
muiiacd engineer, they found three feet of water on
the floor but the boilers in good condition. TIE kco
lamps TNaI IrNtl te NHtill Nt sun ii 't
the machinery and TOOLS IN order There was moi
even trace ~ the engineer large part OF tire water
was then pumped out and fIT her investigation CON
himed the first observations.
The cause Of the explosion now mystery. n The
boilers did not bYst. what dd2 Nelson Greenfield in
sisted there was no other Her in the building The DIS
coverv ~ the uunlured boilers gave rise - much CON
mcnt ana many theories. Tho argument which was
urged AGAINST the opinion That there WAS on
explosion OF steam rested on the fact proved
by many eyewitness. that fame was
almost Simultaneous with the crash. This, 10 was
argued in'ioat an explosion OF something of an 10
nammable nature Some persons Of cXpprEce n regard
10 explosions suggested that the various statements
pointed % an xoson in one Of the upper stories OF tie
building ana that .quenty the steam IN the base
mont bad nothing 10 do with &c.
Free Commissioner John j. German spoke Of the exist
ence q a large brick fu, extending from the furnace
under The IN the part OF the hulne TO the
chimney u the lie was Of the opinion that al ac-
cmuaton of gas from the furnace had taken place 10
the iuc. which had exploded, CAUSING the damage. II
was asserted concerning the fue-th0uCh denied by Nl
son Greenfed-tha It had patent trap arrangement for
increasing the draft which. If closed might assist
cumuaiIou Of dangerous rsses. Mr Greenfield con-
hdeut that the fue was OF simple construction.
Mr.. Greenfield recently, fro reasons Of economy,
ceased using gas the establishment and it lighted
by kerosene Of which there several barrels in the
building Some persons believed that the kerosene had
caused the trouble Kerosene if Of inferior quality
ia known TO DE highly explosive Other people
serted that III the preparation Of some kinds Of
confectionery, substances were empioYed which
might explode The manufacturers however,
denied this In OF the upper stories Of the factory
was very large copper boiling kettle one suggestion
poipted TO this kettle and the idea advanced that It's
contents had exploded. Another theory that
tie nrm was using .steam-chest for super
heated steam, which, it was ass rted, is
ployed IN the preparation Of candy OF certain
kinds aud that the pressure this chest bad proved
too great for It's strength. sun another theory that
a gas pipe had burst. Gas had not been used in the
building for over month, but The pipes remained
Nitro-glycerne or dynamite was suggested, but
there seemed TO be no facts to show that
these explosive materials could possibly have
been in TIE vicinity. 1t was certain that,
Immediately after the explosion, flames filed
the building. 1t said that the flames miehl
have been from the ied kerosene from broken lamps
TIE MANAGEMENT AT THE FIRE
AIuch ulain comment was INDUCED in. 10y Observers
who were present during the day, upon the management
OF the aborers digging for the possible dead.
The digging was spasmOiic and appar nuy without
method until late IN the day Iu the morning $50 OF
200 men continually marched the hin OF the ruins
and dOwn again, now l0stling and incommOdng
each other. and now entirely Withdrawing IN order
that the hremen might try to tear down walls
that did not fall or threaten to fan. II they
had tumfled they would not have hurt the men at
work apparently. AtnOOn, while Il was still Deiievedtai
large number Of the dead yet TO be removed all
the workmeu had hours intermssion. This was 10
allow the men % get diner The Fire Commissioners
said There seemed 10 be reason why digging might
not have been continued during that hour by fresh
crowds Of whom stood fan away eager for the oppor
family 10 earn even twelve cents hour There wac
second intermssiOn from 10 g p. PTesident KING
semed particularly anxious TO know II the newspapers
would sustain him in yenturDg 70 order men ~ dig for