The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1884-02-02
APPALLING CALAMITY.
Alliance the Scene of Il Terrible
Explosion,
Fearful Loss Of klIe and Destruction Of
PrOperty-The Deadly Gasoline
Does the Work,

| utalINGllOu Ol wv HNuuhllHo tNlHVb
known aa the Orr Block, together with
the Miller buildlng--a reo'atOry brick
slruclure-On the west side OF u, and
two frame buildings, two stories IN
height, on the east side But this was
~ nothing compared with the dreadful
| loss Of lite, no ibas than seven human
beings being hurled into eternity with
out q moments warming Immediately
after the explosion occurred the air
was filled with Il huge cloud OF dust and
smoke, aud TO add 10 the horror Of the
scene, great tongues Of dame began
leHplng up from the huge pile OF debris
which Oiled the street nnd the space
lately occupied by tho destroyed build
ings, greatly endangerlng the surr0un'
ding buildings aud threatening NJ one
lime general COnlllgratlOn. The lire
department was called out, ANA 10 was
not long In responding. The llrtmen
worked with o will but II was some
time before they had the flames under
control, All this time the scene Of dis
aster was surrounded by u vast thTOng
of people, worked up TO the highest
pitch OF pXtlJpment All sorts OF ru-
mOrs an TO theeXtent OF the disaster and
the number OF killed began lying about
among them. Everybody seemed entire
ly bereft OF sense, When the flames
which enyel0ped the wreck had III q
manner been put out, search was begun
for the bodies OF persons that were
known 10 have been In the
buildings when the explosion took
place. The first Of these that was
eXtricated from The ruins was that OF u
child OF Mrs. Frank Evans, that was
burnt 10 a crisp, aud presented a terri
bic sight. There were taken out one
after the other, all presenting tho same
appearance, six other bodies, the last
being found about nine o'clock, These,
seven In number, are all that have been
found up 70 the hour of going TO press,
and II IL generally believed they com.
plete the uumbcr Of killed, The list OF
killed Is as follows; Frank NJ. Orr, El-
mer Orr, his sou, aged 81, Mrs, Homer
Highland, daughter Of the former, aud
her young child; Mrs, Frank Evans and
her two young children, aged respective
ly two years. ,and four months, III addition
10 these the following were injured,
some OF them quite seriously. Robert
Joyce, Jerry Miller, Frank Evans, Ej,
Fries, -- Baker Maggie Miller, OF ALI
ance; Charles II. Hayden, Baltimore, Md.
aud John Carey, Albany NJ Y, The two
latter were members Of Dupre2 Il Bene.
diets minstrel company, that was billed
10 appear at the Opera llOuao In Alll'
ance last evening, out tho engagement
was cancelled IN consequence OF the
terrible calamity. These two gentlemen
are pretty badly injured, Que Of them,
Mr. Carey, was making some purchases
In the store Of Mr., Orr at the time Of the
explosion, and he was hurled through
one Of the plate glass windows with
such force az 10 seud him clear across
the street. This was prOyldentlal for
him ~ II carried him beyond the reach
Of the falling walls, under which he
would most certainly have been crushed,
The other, Mr.. Hayden, was walking
along the opposite side Of the street from
the Orr block when the explosion 90.
CURED, and he was struck on the head
aud knocked 10 the pavement insensihle,
where he was afterwards picked up,
After hb was removed To the Arlington
House a piece Of heavy plate glass was
found 10 have penetrated HIS thigh,
which was extracted with some din.
Guilty. leaving Il very bad wound. II
proved t0 be about three Inches long,
One inch wide. and something near "a
half inch In thickness. The Injuries Of
both men are very serious, Carey being
considerably cut about the head 0nd
arms, besides sustaining severe Internal
injuries. Several employees Of Mr. Orr
were In and about the store No the time
of the explosion, bat they all escaped
any serious injury although some
OF them had TO crawl from un.
der the huge mass Of fallen Debris of
the ruined building. The escape OF Mr.
Frnk Evans from death was something
miraculous, lie was Ia the third story
Of the Orr Block with hls wife and
children ana went down with them
when the building fell On reaching
the bottom he found that he was almost
unhurt. He had some difficulty IN ex.
Treating himself from the debris, but
with the help Of some men who came to
his assistance lnHlly managed 10 do no.
His injuries ConHisJ Of few slight |
bruises. The scene immediately follow.
Ing the disaster was enough 10 appll |
the stOutest heart People rushed hither
and thlther, wild with excitement
Amid the cracking OF tho flames could |
be heard the cries Tor help OF those i'm.
prisOned beneath the burning wreck |
Homer Highland, whose wife ana child |
perlshed, was almost frantic, IN wns
Frank Evans, who also lost his wifoand
two children.
A DEMOCRAT reporter went over 10 Al. |
lance on the O.l5 train lust night aud
visited the scene Of the disaslOr. The |
sight that met his gaze beggars dc. |
scriptlon. Where but lately stood a |
handsome business edince, was found Il |
shapeless mass Of smoking, unsightly |
ruins. For the space Of an entire block |
around this, the fronts Of buildings |
were completely shattered, while the |
streets was filled with piles Of rubbish.
Windows and doors were completely
and the sidewalks and |
streets were thiekly strewn with broken
fragments OF glass, tho loss In this
direction alone amounting TO thousands
OF dollars. That part OF town looked ~
though IL had experienced terrible
shock OF earthquake, II was sad
sight. Some idea Of tho force OF the ex.
plOslon may be CLEANED from the fact
that u team Of horses standing In front
OF the Orr Block, was blown entirely
ncross tho street
The cause OF the explosion as stated
10 the DEMOCRAT representative by one
claiming 10 be cognlzlnt OF the facts,
was as follows The little child Of Mrs.
Highland was playing about the
store OF her grandfather, Mr..
Orr, and turned on the splgot Of u
barrel containing gasoline, causing n
large quantity OF the lIquld torun about
The floor before II was discovered, This
Mr., Orr started 10 mop up, but had hard.
Iy begun, when the yapor, which
arises from gasoline, coming In
contact some way or another with
light, ignited and caused the explosion.
The dead bodies OF those taken from the
vynra all huruad havnud pnau,,nt. |