New-York tribune., 1879-09-15

the large coal and iron firm OF Lewis Auuenictnu-
Co He retired from business at the close OF 1870.
BEFORE coming TO New-York Mr.. Potts lived at
Pottsville. Penn. having been for many years one
OF the largest miners of anthracite coal Ill tha.
State.
BURIED BENEATH FALLING WALLS.
FALLING OBJ A HOUSE IN FOURTEFNTH-sT WHILE IN
PROCESS OF REBUILDiNG-NARRow ESCAPE OF
Five MEN.
The old brown-stone front house No. 10 East
Fonrteenth-st.. occupied by Robert II. McCurny
since 1857, fell down on Saturday. burying four
men in ITS ruins The building had It's eastern party
wall in common with Herman ID. Aldrichs house.
| No \ Both were to be changed into stores pu'
| while Mr. Aldrich's house was torn down TO the
cellar n was desired that the floors IN the McCuru
mansion be kept intact and 10 this end system oi
shoring" and propping by heavy timbers was
adopted to take the place Of the party wall that was
torn down. Ii would have been strong enough, per-
haps had il not been for the storing OF bricks To DO
used in the construction OF the new party wall OH
the weakened floors These bricks were taken from
an old wall running through the centre OF the housc'
and were thus disposed of TO save the labor OF carry
ING them down and up again as required. Under the
greatly increased weight ono side OF the structure
settled and sank, aided probably by weakening OF
the undcrnnings in the cellar where the operations
Of the masons al work laying the foundation for Mr.
Alelrcl's house undermined the basement slIi-lece
The work on Mr.. McCurdy's house was In charge
Of Mct,ulre & Sloan, carpenters, OF West twenty
eighth-st.; ii. b. Weeks ~ Son. masons' ot East
nc-hundred-and-fourth-st and NJ. {. Merritt, ar
chitect of No. .296 Broadway. few minutes be
fore the accident occurred Mr.. Sloan, one of the
caIpepters, noticed that one of the floors had
suuk several inches, and had gone away Ic-
solving TO have the structure strengthened Be
fore hc had time to turn the corner the building icl
The w0rkmen III the McCurdy house had returned
10 their work at half-pasi -. while tho masOns III
the adjoining Aldrich lot were Yet eating ther dln-
ncr John Fisher and John W. Carroll brcklaycrs.
aud Andrew Martin. age nineteen, qn apprentice;
were at work on the new party wall, which had
reached height Of ten feet above the street. Rob
ert Coffee, bOd-caTrier, near by. Near one OF
the entrances of the building was Michael MeCor-
mick, a mason, and IN a rear door stood y. l.;
Weeks, of the firm of masons A workman named
Allen was in the third story. Suddenly creaking
sound and swayns movement OF Inc nf sf|'qie of m
door Allen partly sprang partly was thrown from
the third story to the sidewalk In hls descent
falling stone struck and hurt hlm sIghtly. IPon
the others the four floors with their weight or Drlck
and tnlbers. fell. dense cloud Of white dust en-
the frightened nasons from the Aldrich building.
who had narrowly escaped. were Joined by Michael
Mccormick who limped painfully from the ruins,
bruised, but not seriously hurt. Fourmen remained
buried beneath the heap Of shattered tlmbers ana
masonry -, ~.
Sergeant schwink, with the reserves Of the Fif-
teenth Precinct, entered upon the scene IN a lew
minutes and the fire engines from the district re-
spondcd to an alarm out by the officer on post.
Al the hospitals sent ambulances, ana the street Was
flied with people, whom the police with much
trouble kept from oveT-running the runs. Ihe hre-
men of Hook and Ladder Companies Nos. ana iZ
were put To work, and feeble cries from the depths
of the confused that reached 10 the bottom OF
the cellar weTed their encouraging shouts 10 the
imprisoned men, All were alive. Inspectors McGuin-
ness and Dudley took charge of the search. In an
hour Carroll was found. lie lay win one leg raised
and the other stretched out badly bruised but con-
sc.Ous. AT o'clock John Fisher was taken out
| fr.,u
wedged between each Other. Before tins Martin,
the boy had been found. but 10 free him from the
imbrrs that held him down hIinly was the woIk Ot
nearly three hours. heavy plank held hls head
fast. while another pauk pinned his arms To the
lloor. lie ailvc and answered the encouraging
words of those around hun, who were working with
might and main. When hc was taken ont nj last
il was nearly . O'Clock, and he WIS nearly
exhausted. Coffee, the last OF the four
had been released an hour before. His head
and shoulders were first uncovered. They were
red witt blood, and il was thought that he was
dead. But he, too. had escaped. HIS nod, falling
across him and supporting the mass pressing down
! from above. had saved hnn. His face and arms
were bruised and his thigh appeared 10 be broken.
I Ic was taken to Bellevue Hospital. Carroll, who
lives at No. 500 SecOnd-ave.. was taken 10 Bellevue
also. His arm was broken, and ho was severely
bruised. Martins wounds, at frsi supposed 10 he
more serious. turned out only commissions of shght
! character. lie lives al No. 52s Second-ave he
/ Bellevue surgeons took cate OF Inn also. John
| TsL.,. VII. lives nt Va. 1913 East Seventy fourth
/ ST., was taken to the New-lotk Hospital.
i portion of the wrecked flooring cavcd III while
the hicmon rescuing tie buIl,d men, and pre-
! cpitntcd james Gibney, of Track No. 3, INTO tie
! cellar He was taken 10 the Newly )Tk Hospital.
severely bruised. Thomas Knee was slightly III
! iured bv falling timbcis.
! Last eVcnin. the three men, Carroll, Martin and
Coffee. who were carried 90 Bellevue Hospital, were
lrcoN cling rapidly iICm the ELECTS of Their injuries
| CAROLS left arm was broken above the elbow, and
/ there were some bruises on his face ana neck.
| There were no internal injuries. Martin viii prob
| ably be discharged to-day. lie was bruised some
/ what about the wrist and face Coffee was about
/ the ward Yesterday. feeling well. The contusons
hc received were not severe, aud he not injured
| internally All the men who sent to the New
York Hospital went home after having their wounds
| dressed The physicians regard il remark able
that no one was fatally injured by the falling
tnnLcls aud bricks.