Morning journal and courier., 1885-04-14
A CRASH oF BUILDINGS.
Eight Houses In Course Of Con- struct1on Fall-Sixty Or More Work men In The Buildings And a Num- Der Or Them Injured.

l Eight Houses Nm Course Of Con-
 struct1on FalI-Sixty Or More work- 1 men In The Buildings And a Mum. Der Or Them Injured.
 NEW YORK, April 13.-The eight build tngs which fel in Sixty second street this after l noon were situated between Tenth and E1sv- enth avenues the south side of the street. They were we'll on toward completion and men were at work both inside and on the roofs. The houses were intended for tene- ments. About o'clock the easternmost wall sagged and the supporting timbers broke with loud crash. The sixty or more men who were scattered around the buildings had no time to even attempt escape, as in what seemed hardly five seconds the whole struc ture had fallen in and was mass of ruins. Shrieks and grC ans at once arose from the imprisoned workmen. A fire alarm brought to the spot the fremen who at once began to extricate the workmen. A call was also sent out which brought every ambulance in the city to the vicinity The Pau1ist priests from the Sixty-ninth street seminary also hurried to the scene and were quickly at work minis tering to the wounded and dying men as they were brought out. Great crowds of people assembled, but cordon of police kept space clear for the work of the rescu- CTS. The women and children of the families of some of the men employed in the build cries and lamentations added to the painfulness of the scene. The first of the injured to be taken out were the follow ing: Thomas King, back injured; John Mo Ammany, thigh broken and badly injured internally; John Schust, severe internal in 4os- ToI-, Laverty, scalp wound; -- Flynn, scalp wound. These were taken to the Roosevelt hospital in Fifty-ninth street. Volunteers were called for to aid the fremen in remov- ing the debris and soon 8 large force was at work stimulated in their exertions by the heartrending groans and calls for help which came from withing the mass. It seemed hardly possible that all of the many could have escaped death, but it was several hours before the true state of facts could be discovered. By o'clock four men had been taken out all more or less injured. As fast as they were reached they were placed in ambulances and conveyed to some of the var ious hospitals whose ambulances were in attendance.
 One of the men, George Saverbeer, was able to converse at the hospital. He said he was working on the top floor. Before going to work this morning he noticed that the foundation of the building was cracked ill
 
 but he did not think thers was any danger. About 3 o'clock while he was put ting window frame on the top floor the building suddenly gave way to the southward and he fell over against the wall. A beam fell on his back and he was carried down with the floor unable to make effort to save himself.
 Charles Buddennuck, of 306 Broadway, furnished the material to the contractors for the masonic and brick work of the build ings He said this afternoon: ''The build ings were begun in December. They were built on side hill at an average cost of $15, ,OO0. They were to be finished June and to be used as tenement houses. A few weeks ago we received notice from the building department that certain altera- tions would have to be made in the founda- tions. We were about doing this when the accident happened. The frost got into the mortar and caused two of the walls in the center of the block to bulge, and as the buildings were on the side of the hill, it pulled the entire block down. It is not true that the mortar was bad. Any mortar will be affected by rain running down the side of wall and making 1t soft. During the win ter rain water settled in the cellars and in jured the foundations. This was because the street has no sewer."
 The following persons were rescued from the debris: Thomas King, a roofer of 506 Forty-sixth street, hands and arms terribly shattered; John MeMervy, roofer, 345 East Sixty-frst street, fracture of leg and thigh; Joseph Trainor, 555 West Twenty-eighth street, severe bruises about the body; Jacob Schack, carpenter of same address, confusion of side. John Laverty, 337 East Thirty ninth street; Thom- as Flynn, 239 East Eightisth street; George Sourbier, of Astoria; Henry Brandt, $50 West Seventeenth street. Robert Broderick, Fourth avenue and Eighty-fourth street, and Jobn Dexter of East Seventy second street sustained slight injuries and left for home. At 9:30 Louis Walters, framer, of 1855 Ridge street was ta- ken from the ruins in a dying condition and conveyed to the Roose- welt hospital At 10 o'clock large force of men were still searching the ruins and it is feared that at least three of the workmen have been killed. Charles Boss, the boss bricklayer under whose supervision the buildings were erected, was arrested and held to await an investigation.
 Charles Boss, the foreman bricklayer, ar rested tonight, said at the station house that loam or mud was used instead of sand in mixing the mortar and that some of the bricks furnished by Buddenseck, the con- trac or, were so soft that they could easily be broken in two in one's hands. Sudden seek left the scene soon after the buildings fell and was seen to enter a carriage and drive eastward Crowds of excited workmen made fruitless search for him during the night and the po- lice have been looking for him in all parts of the city. He has not appeared at his resi- dence and it is believed that he has taken some out of town train to escape the wrath of the friends of the victims of his dishones- ty.
 Coroner Martin visited Roosevelt hospital tonight and took the stat .ments of four of the wounded men. From information gath cred from the wounded men it is quite eer- tain that at least six men are still missing and it is equally probable that several of those taken from the ruins will die.
 Up to 1:30 a. m. no dead bodies had been recovered from the ruins. Five men are re- ported missing A gang of men are still at