, 1885-04-14
BURIED ALIVE.
Eight Tenement Houses Fall
To the Ground.
Twenty WOrkmen Buried in
the Ruins.
Five Men Killed by Falling
Bricks.
BURIED ALIVE.
g Houses Collapse.

story houses in Sixty-second street. neal
Tenth avenue, fell in this afternoon, bury
ing men employed there. Many Of the
workmen arc believed to be killed, and
the cries of the injured are heard beneath
the debris imploring help.
LATER--Up to 4:30 p. m. ten persons
have been taken from the ruins. They
were seriously, but not fatally injured, and
were removed to a hospital: Gangs of
men are at work on the debris, as it is
feared many others of the workmen are
still buried in the ruins. The buildings
were erected last winter. and were re-
ported by the building department as I'M
safe. Workmen were engaged in repair
ing the defects in the houses at the time
the accident occurred. No mortar was
used in the construction of the buildings,
the bricks being held in place by sand.
ANOTHER ACCOUNT.
New York, April 13.-Eight FIVE
story tenements on the south side ofWest
Sixty-secoDd street, between Tenth and
Eleventh venues that had recently been
put under roof, fell this afternoon while
efforts were being made to brace them up,
that the yielding foundations might be
made secure. The wreck was complete;
not a stick remained standing, not a tim
Der remained whole in the entire row.
Two hundred men were at work in or
about the buildings at the time, at least
thirteen of whom were injured, but none
fatally. 1t was said soon after the acci-
dent occurred that twenty persons were
buried in the ruins, but up to a late hour
nobody has been found. The most super
fetal examination of the debris showed
the cause of the disaster to be wretched
workmanship and poor material. The
mortar contained little or no sand, but
loan, or mud, instead, and was wholly
unfit for use. This, and the fact that the
building had been erected during the cold
weather, of wet and frozen bricks, were
directly the cause of the collapse.
The builder. Charles A. Buddensick.
who was responsible, left the neighbor-
hood in a carriage Immediately after the
disaster and drove to his residence. Where
he went from there nobody could learn.
The police who arrested the master brick
layer, Charles Frank. could not find the
builder. Buddensick has been for wears
in trouble with the authorities on account
of the skin buildings he has put up.
The evidence given BY Frank and Charles
Swager. bricklavers. is very damaging to
Buddensiek. The erection of the build
ING has been goinp on since last Novem-
Der during all the cold weather. The
fourth story walls showed weakness in the
sudden thaw before the fifth story was
reached and had to be taken down. The
workmen were forbidden to carry home
scraps of timber left by the carpenters.
These were to be used in filling in the
walls to save bricks. which were m
times nut in by the armful. When a
good thaw set in the walls began
to weaken and steps were taken to
brace them up from both ends so they
would stick together until the roofs could
be put on and the end walls rebuilt. The
wall stood thus for a week or two without.
so far as could be learned, exciting the
curiosity of the building department. The
heavy rain of Yesterday morning com
pleted the work begun blythe thaw. This
morning it was seen the three houses at
the west end were in imminent danger of
falling. The foundation had bulgcd
noticeably and the walls were shaky.
Builder Burddensick attention was called
to the matter. He set men to work to
fix up the walls and foundation. -Four
stone masons and eighteen carpenters
were at work on this when the crash
came. There were r~oofen. painters.
fathers and plumbers. numbering perhaps
thirty at work about the premises at the
| time. Fifty men had been laid off Ms
some of the material had not arrived.
| About 3.l5 n. IN. n shout of warning went
up that brought pale faces to many win
dows. The end building forward on
Eleventh avenue was seen to totter and
then fall with a thunderous noise.
Both foundation walls had fallen out.
and the bodv of the bouse denrived Of
its sunnort fell To the cellar. The build
ing adjoining it. having nothing to lear
unon. fell next. then the whole row fol
lowed like a line of card houses. A con