The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-05-06


| was burned while / was sleeping on the third
/ floor. was awakened by shouts in the street.
and got do En The stairs just in time to save
roastlngs. There was nothing in or about the
| place to check fire-no hose nor extinguisher,
| and no fre-escaper
/ The excitement around the scene Of the con-
Migration was intense, and there were thou
SAND anxious people looking for missing relatives
and friends who were employed in the building
What human life was lost will never be
| known until the fremen have thoroughly
searched the ruins, but there seems to be little
doubt on all sides that considerable number
| have pershed
/ Fire Commissioner Polon was present, and
the insurance men were at work estimating
their losses This is the third time that fire
mas occurred in these premises. The buildings
stand upon the site of the old glass house,
/ which was burned some years ago.
Mr.. Lowry, the engineer of the building, who
made periodical visits to the various floors was
on the third floor at the time of the crash, and
/ ran TO the roof to see what was the matter.
| That was the last seen of him.
! Foreman Regan, of engine No. 4, occupied a
cot in the accident ward in the hospital, with his
head bandanged. His body is much bruised and
| at o'clock the surgeons had not made close
examination into his injuries. He could not
move his left leg, and it is believed both of his
| arms are broken He was running through an
| archway when it collapsed and the brickwork
and masonry fell on him. His head was abraded
seriously. Regan was able to converse, and
/
| Milo Hine, who occupied the top floor for the
| manufacture OF buttons, made this statement:
| ''At 8 o'clock / was in my room directing the
work of my employees of whom there were forty,
| mostly women. The first we heard of the acci
| dent was when we heard crash, and this was
followed by part of the flooring giving way. In
one of the corners of my room was ladder lead
ing to the roof, and al! the employees made a
rush for it. There was a panic among the
women for time. and two or three tainted. but
| the men succeeded in restoring order, and then,
| in single file, the employees climbed the ladder
and gained the roof. The girls marched out in
good order, gained the roof of the adjoining
| building, and reached the street by descending
/ the fire escapes"
WHAT rs KNOWN OF THE BUILDING.
| Inspector McKellar said that he would leave
to the fire commissioners the work Of arranging
for the searching of the ruins.
| While talking fireman ran out and saluting
the chief, said 1--WE have just found the body
of the engineer, Lowry; the man is all mashed
up" The body presented ghastly appearance;
the features were discolored and distorted; the
wounds on the head and body bore evidence to
| the fact that the unfortunate mans death must
| have been almost instantaneous. The sturdy
chief OF the fire department. as the body was
| taken away, again gave expression to his indig-
nation, and said: From the accounts given me
here and there, by persons employed in
|
certain there are several bodies under the ruins.
| The work of searching the ruins will be begun
| towards night 1t will take some time to cool
off the wreck, although we are flooding it now.
| One thing is certain-that is, there is no chance
| of there being anyone beneath those bricks who
is alive. Everything there is beyond human
| suffering"
Deputy Building Commissioner Acker and
Inspector Long said that they found no record
in the department in relation to the building.
Inspector Long said, however, that about
two years ago, at the request of
one Of the tenants. he made an ex,
that some Of the girders had settled A ten
| ant manufacturer, who did not want his name
known, had called the attention Of the depart
ment to tothelmatter because the floor in his part
his machDiery plumb. Inspector Long went
| down there, and found that, while the settling
| was an old one there immediate danger.
! The settlement was all the way from top to
| bottom He ordered the giIders to be raised,
and the agent of the property promised to have
the work done. Whether or not it was ever
done, the inspector did not know In
1883, in consequence OF complaint, he
ordered the agent to attach fre-escapes
to the premises, and this was done
Inspector Long admitted that he had not in
spected the building since. In regard to the fire
to-day, he and Deputy Acker supposed some in
competent mechanics were raising the girders,
| the columns having been removed when the lever
slipped, and the floors Fell in. The furnaces of
the manufacturers on the upper stories then
dropped, and set the place on fire. Deputy
| Acker was careful to explain that this supposi-
tion was based on what they had heard this
morning
| The insurance on the property destroyed is
about 5000, ,000 while the damage will aggregate
$3.50, ,000 The following is the insurance Of some
of the occupants: A. b. Judd 81 Co., $4,000; j.
"a, 200; Baker & Monroe, $l5, 900; William burst,
$4 600. The remainder Of the insurance will ag-
gregate 800 900, the principal companies affected
being the Etna, Williamsburg City, Niagara,
Royal and Lancashire
At $3.50 p. NJ. thirty of the employees of the
Board of City Works arrived on the scene. and
were Immediately set at work by Commissioner
Poillon to look for the missing
KILLED. INJURED AND MISSING.
The names Of the killed, injured and missing
are:
Unknown man, charred beyond recognition
supposed to be DAVID j. Lowry, engineer in the
button factory
Unknown man, horribly burned and no poss-
bility of identification
Trunk Of o person, not known whether male
or female. The fire had burned away all the
outer coatings, leaving the vital organs exposed.
while the limbs were gone, and only trunk and
feshless skull remained.
Inquiries have been made for the following,
who are supposed to be in the ruins:
BERLINa, CONRAD jr., aged 20;
BUTLER EDWARD, aged 22 o. New York;
CLARK VIM, aged 40; residence unknown;
DEUsE, HENRY, aged 56 of New York;
EGGS, FRITZ, aged 81 residence unknown
HAFFNER, HENRY, aged 40, of l95 Graham
avenues
JOHNSON, -; residence unknown;
Lowry, DANIEL j., aged so, of So Atlantic
avenue;
MATHS, ADoLPu, aged 26 of 372 Hicks street;
McGRATH, JOHN N, aged l8, of PA Bond
street;
MOORE, BENJAMIN, aged 80 Of No 752 Madi-
son street,
Gus, , boy in tin-shop; residence un-
known;
PFAFF, JAMES; residence unknown;
PETERS, JOHN; residence unknown;
FEELEY, MAMIE, of 139 Bergen street;
FLINToN, ROSIE, Warren street, near Hoyt;
LIZ. Aara-r L.