The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1879-09-06

unIll Lne last OF the NlcllInS WAS
found, which was at 8 O'Clock this
morning. At that hour the two boys,
Gussie and frankie Bell, aged respect
ivelysixand four years, were discovered
dead. They had been in bed, and when
found their arms entwined each other.
They were covered deep with dust.
Words are powerless to properly speak
of the sadness of the scent or the agony
of the frenzied mother. On such an
occasion silence only is holy.
Considering the number Of persons
who were in the ruins and the COM
pleteness of the destruction, it is mirac-
ulous that even twelve escaped with
their lives. As fast as the injured
were recovered they were taken to the
Inter Ocean hotel where Mr.. Caswell
and his son Charles rendered all the aid
in their power, and did much to make
the sufferers comfortable. Drs. Crook,
Corey and Graham were on hand to
render medical assistance. 1t was
found necessary to administer opiates
in many cases to alleviate pain and al
lay excitement.
The buildings are two Of a block of
three constructed by Halleck Brothers
and O'Connor, in 1875, for Messrs.
Hellman, Bresnahan, and Leibey Sc
Nichols. The east partition wall of
the latter's building is intact. but
should be supported at once. Mr..
Bresnahen owned the one occupied by
himself, and Nj. Fulton, one of the
directors of the First national bank,
owned the other. They are a total loss,
and, of course, no insurance can be re-
covered.
All the personal property in the
buildings is also destroyed. Mr.. War
ren's loss is the heaviest, as he had a
large number of pianos in his store
room. His damage is probably So, 900.
MI. Bresnahen had a large quantity Of
fresh meat and vegetables in his store
room. The household effects up stairs,
belonging to Mrs. v. Bell, Mrs. Nc
Kay and others is inextricably mixed
up with the debris. The total loss by
the accident will probably not fall far
short of $4,000.
As to the aus of the accident,
theories differ. Some say that the
buildings were poorly constructed in
the first place, and gave way of their
own weight. Others think that the
weight Of the pianos caused the center
wall to bulge and fall. At all events
the foundation walls were not built so
as to sustain the superstructures. I'm
til an examination is made by archi-
tects, nothing definite can be known of
the cause Of 'the falling.
REMARKABLE ESCAPES.
In the meat market were Mayor
Bresnahen and his nephew, Mr.. Smith.
The rumbling noise gave them alarm
and they reached the street just as the
crash came.
A number of young folks were prac-
ticing at singing in the music store
adjoining, among whom were Mr..
and Mrs. Bell, Miss Zehner and
Messrs. Buechner, Roberts and c.
Wasserman. They rushed for the
Of course, upon feeling the
building settle, and all escaped.
Mitchell Reagan and John Ryan &C.
cupied adjacent rooms in Mr.. Bresna-
hens building on the rear of the second
floor. The fall carried them down
among the ruins, and as they were in
bed they were SO cushioned that the
timbers did not hurt them 81
much as they might otherwise. BY dint
of superhuman strength they manageable
the timbers that held them and
crawled out. No sooner had they es.
capped than the splinters took fire. Had
they failed to extricate themselves the
fire and water would undoubtedly have
ended their earthly existence.
Mr.. G. $. Williamson, a compositor
in the LEADER office, boarded with
Mrs. Bell, and had only walked from
the dining room over the music store to
his room over E. p. Shows Office when
the building fell.
Peter Mckay and his wife had just
retired for the night, and at the first
noise Mr. Mckay sat upright in bed
thinking it was a massive whirlwind,
and was just about getting up to go to
the window, but before he could get out
of bed they both went down, and as
they were descending he remembered
his wife clinging to him and saying
''pray Pete, pray" and he in telling
of it afterwards said, ''boys didn't
prayP that's all | / did more solid, sin.
cere praying in those two minutes than
l did in the last ten years." When
they got through to the cellar be had
his arm around his wife, and seeing an
aperture through the debris he pulled
himself through and dragged his wife
after him. When he got into the open
air, and his head became a little steady,
so that he could recognize the position
of things, he picked his wife up in hi:
arms and walked across in his night
clothes to the hotel. He then borrowed
a pair of Nj. Caswell's trousers and
put a belt around himself and started
back to assist in rescuing others.
INCIDENTS OF THE ACCIDENT.
Mr.. w. Nesmith, the engineer, who
was in the room with Mr.. Pickett,
forced his way up through the mountain
Of rubbish, and escaped unhurt.