The Red Cloud chief., 1878-01-10

rerribie Calamity IN New Yssk.
4 Candy YarsSry D3oWs ~ and

4 IeSrIoee VA1ooIty ID NeW 1~SS.
A CANDY Y.~ssry Dsews ~ and
o." : .s. = q: S:s:: r''''-
On the evening 81 D~c. ?orh. an eX-
plosion followed by fire occurred in the
great candy factory Of Gr--nf-ld a son.
No. IS. Barclay street. New York. The
boiler. which MAS under the ak
on Barclay street, burst. tearing away
the entire front of the building and
scattering the ruins in all directions
A large number Of girls. Of all ages.
were employed q, the time in the build
ing.
The wall fell within q few minutes
after the explosion. The building. five
stories high. fell into the stree, Fifty
six wounded and one dead were report
ed at Chambers street hospital ut Gas
O'Clock. A number were also sent To
Bellevue and other hospitals. II is es-
timated that the wounded will reach
l25. About fifty escaped by the Col
lege Place entrance and . small num-
Der got out through the sky lights.
walked over the roofs and got down the
sky lights Of other buildings. The
bO~Ok-keeper. who Was on the Barclay
street side Of the building. was blown
through the window to the street and
badly cut on the head. Several jump
ed from the second story and escaped
with slight injuries, the fall being brok-
en- by policemen and citizens on the
sidewalk below. The parties employed
in the factory were principally young
girls and boys from 8 to Dyears. Ow-
ing to the approach Of the holidays.
double force was employed. one work
ing the day and the other the night.
The number in the building at the
time of the disaster is variously esti-
mated 1T from 100 to 800. Some Of the
girls had their hair burned entirely of
their heads. The greatest sacrifice Of
life was among the young girls. many
of whom from 8 to Is years. were en-
ployed in selling. asserting and picking
candies. On the first floor. over the
boiler, which was situated in the base
ment Of the rear Of the Barclay street
wing of the building. and not under the
sidewalk as first reported. none are
known to have escaped.
The building occupied BY Major &
Knapp. engravers. on the opposite side
Of College Place. caught on fire from
the sparks. but the fame. were eStin-
guished with but trifling damage. The
total loss is probably s25O.OO. The
news of the explosion spread over the
city very rapidly. and the widest ru-
mors and great excitement prevailed.
Large crowds hurried from all quarters
to the scene. but the police kept the
crowd several blocks away from the
place. Many persons having children
or relatives working in the factory, as
evening wore on. and they had +" re-
turned home. sought the scene Of the
disaster, and the hospitals and police
stations. in search Of the missing ones.
Mr.. X. Kleinn. Of So Leonard street.
states that he was in the building about
ten minutes before the explosion and
there were a great many persons there
at the time; he passed in front Of the
building two minutes after the esplo-
sion and saw on most of the floors, a.
the front wall had fallen. a great many
boys and girls rushing about in IN sS-
cited and confused manner but they
became Obscured To the view BY the
smoke and flames in a few seconds.
There seems to have been no possibility
of their getting N alive.
The fire vas one Of the quickest ever
seen. In less than three minutes the
flames had assembled completely To the
roof. Peter Staudmiller gives a vivid
description of the affair. He is en-
ployed with Rodgers & Co.. and was
within forty feet Of the doorway when
the explosion occurred. 1t seemed to
throw up the whole sidewalk. and the
front of the building fell to the street.
There was . two-hOrse truck Of the Del
aware & Lackawanna Express Compa-
ny passing and the wall fell on the
horses, and the driver said he believed
there were nearly 200 persons occupied
in the building 1t the time. There
were not more than . dozen girls en-
ployed on the ground floor. most Of the
bows and 1irls heinz enpaCpd ON the