The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-11-17
TWO TENEMENTS
Tumble Down, Burying Tenants
in the Ruins.

NEW YORK, November 9.-Early this
morning the thTee-stOry tenement,
corner of Fifth avenue and Grand
street, fell in, burying the occupants in
the ruins. The fire department, up TO
8 O'clock, with the assistance of citi-
Zens, eXtricated five victims, two dead
and the others seriously injured.
The building was three-stOTy brick
| structure with an attic, owned by
| o Brien, who kept liquor saloon on
| the ground floor. Two years. ago he put
up the extension without strengthen
| ing the foundation, and this proved too
much weight for the under structure.
| Up to II O'Clock five dead bodies We're
| taken from the ruins. They were Mrs.
Rudolph and two others whose names
could not be learned. The houses were
old, built of bricks, three stories high
This afternoon the firemen rescued
Mrs. Hill. She was severely Lruised
and was suffering from the shock. The
bodies of John Thompson, negro, thirty
five years of age, and Frank and Chester
Hill, two children, are added to those
already found. 1t is believed that more
dead will be brought to light, as the
excavation proceeds. The police have
driven the tenants out of the adjoining
house, which has been injured and is
very shaky. From the platform of the
elevated railroad station, corner of South
Fifth avenue and Grand street, a scene
of utter confusion below was presented.
Bricks, timbers, broken boards and
smashed household goods, mingled with
broken baskets and bottles from the sa-
loon, and with the torn and sOiled gar
ments of the tenants. The largest force
of tiremen that could be put to work in
the ruins could make but slow progress
on account of the need of working eau
tiOusly and the difficulty of dislOdging
twisted laths and timbers. Eight or ten
tiremen engaged in clearing away the
ruins from the place where Mrs. Hill
and her two children were imprisoned
worked energetically to get them out
alive. About eleven the debris which
partly covered her face was removed,
but II was found she was closely pin
iOned by two beams which fell across
her legs. Water and stimulents were
furnished her and her face was covered
with a veil, which was kept wet with
water, that the dust might not choke
her. She was perfectly self-pOssessed,
and lay without murmuring or grOan-
ing while the tiremen carefully worked
about her. She made inquiries
for her children, one three years old, the
other one year old. The body of the
youngest child was discovered shortly
before twelve lying close beside its
mother. The little ones face was
covered with dust and mortar, and death
resulted from suffOcatiOn. A brother of
Mrs. Hill said she might have escaped,
as she was near the rear window, but
she ran into the bedroom to save the
children. Her escape from death was
almost miraculous, as the beams
of the floor above her were not
more than nine or ten inches from
her face. At one O'Clock Mrs. Hill was
removed from the ruins and it was dis
covered that she had been seriously in
jured about the legs and the lower part
of the body. The work of recovering
the body of the other child was imme-
diately begun. number of firemen
were also at work on the rear of the
lot where 90 Grand street stood, to re-
cover the body of German. He was
customer of the beer saloon in the base
ment, and went into the yard, where he
was caught by the falling walls. He
lived for an hour or two, as some men
who were working to rescue him talked
with him, but he died before the ruins
covering him could be removed.