The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1885-05-06
COLLAPSE OF A BROOKLYN BUILD
ING FULL OF PEOPLE.
Fire Lends Hand to Horror, and An
other Holocaust Is Recorded.
Thirty Work Girls Crushed and Roasted
Frantic Friends ON the Ground. but
Unable to Help the Unfortu-
mates Heartrending
Scenes and In
cidents.


volume of smoke rolled up, showing that the
building had taken fire. Hundreds of people
men, women and girls--were at work at
the various branches of business carried
on in the building, which covers consider
able ground, having three wings, and which
extends through from Atlantic avenue
State street As soon as the crash wa
heard of the falling roof hundreds of thos
employed in the building fed or endeavore
to make their way out by every avenue of
escape which they were familiar with, and
some who were last to reach the street ap-
peared with begrimed faces and blood
streaming from wounds they received from
falling timbers.
The excitement in the neighborhood be-
came very great, and in a short time the
wives of the men who were known to be
working in the building and the parents OF
the girls who were employed there blocked
the streets and wrung their hands and wept
Three alarms of fire were sent out, and the
services of a large number of the police force
had to be called into requisition to keep the
crowd of people out of the way of.danger.
1t was reported at first that about 100 girls
who were employed in the Milo Hynes but
ton works which was on the top floor where
the roof fell in, were killed, but there are
other reports that most of the girls made
their escape by climbing on the roofs of the
adjoining tenement houses.
The building was occupied by twenty
small manufacturers, and there were about
500 men and women employed therein. 1t
was five stories high, and erected twenty
seven years ago, the woodwork burning like
finder When the fremen arrived they
found many of the young women
at the windows, screaming wildly for
help Their retreat had leen cut
off, and the flremen quickly ran up the lad
ders; but the girls were hemmed in and
many fell back into the flames before help
could reach them. The infammable char
acter of the building hindered the efforts of
the fremen. 1t was ascertained that the
engineer Of the factory, Daniel j.
Lowry, was one Of the vic
Tins He was killed by the falling of
the west wall of the middle wing on Atlantic
avenue The cause Of the fire was the over.
turning OF the boilers of a soap factory on
the second floor The west wall of the mid
die wing on Atlantic avenue had settled;
workmen were screwing it up with jacks;
the middle jack had been screwed up too
high, and it was lowered, when the whole
weight of the wall came upon the two jacks
at the end and fell with a crash.
Policeman Mccormick, of the Third sub.
precinct, heard that the building had fallen.
He ran thither Immediately and found that
the boilers of the soap factory has capsized
and that the building was on fire. The fire.
men injured were Bernard Stock and Mich
ael F. Grogan, of engine No. 4, who were
carried to the Long Island hospital; Patrick
Docharty, of hook and ladder No. 8, and
Fireman Hanley. Their hurts were al
scalp-wounds, caused by the falling brick.
Among the employees known to be injured
are: Henry Maurer, scalp wound and frac
ture Of the leg; Mrs Henrietta Haas, wife
of a shoemaker in an ad joining building, re
ported to have died on the way to the hos
pital; Miss Emma Haas, her daughter, SO
verely hurt
Two unknown women were pulled from
beneath the burning timbers by the chief o
the fire department. Mr.. Nevins, and pu
into the shoe store.
When the wall that was lacked up fell, {
number of men were at work. They havt
not been seen since Rosa Partridge, al
employe of Milo Hynes, is among the miss
ing. Edwin Butler was seen by mis- brother
c. W. Butler, to jump from the second >tor,
into the ruins He has not been seen since
Four of the men employed by the H L
Judd manufacturing company are ais
missing Two women were taken from tn
second floor by the firemen, who had raiset
ladders to the State street buildings
Chief Nevins said: al believe that Their
| . So. L..
there may be more"
The loss is estimated at $500 900. The in
surance is unknown. The building wa
owned by Nathan Gushing, OF Boston.
FURTHER PARTICULARS.
The falling ard burned building was OF
cupied on the first floor by George Whitta
ker, nlachinist; Peter Watson, carpenter
The second floor was occupied by William
= Durel, metal spinner; William Danils, paini
mill; the Catlin lamp-works; Frank w
) Ritner, machinist; George A. Young
/ paint machinery, and William c. Bellam
borax soap manufacturer The third floor wa
used by H. j. Judd, maker Of rollers for wiz
. dow shades; Benjamin A. Moore, calciminel
Boyle & McCurtis, shirt manufacturer!
On the fourth floor was the f. Germai
a. Bosnian, manufacturers. The fifth foe
was occupied by Milo Hines, button maker
A total of $50 persons were in the buildin
!, at the time, and when it settled after tn
breaking of the jack pin, a terrible pam
ensued, which was increased when the fiamt
broke out.
q In the employ of Milo Hines were som
fifty girls. These rushed to the windows an
| shouted wildly for help, and it we
with the utmost difficulty that the
were persuaded from throwing themselvt
. headlong into the street below. The fir,
men worked heroically and were assisted b
many citizens in their work of rescue
!, means of ladders near by. All the impri
oned occupants were brought securely to I'll
= ground, but several, more frightened tina
/, the rest jumped or threw themselves I'M
the street before they could be reached
n these were all badly hurt and were pickle
up and sent off to the hospital in ambulance
:. summoned by the police. 1t is estimate
that some twenty people were thus injure
'' The settling of the building and breakin
out of the fire was SO sudden that no tin
o the place were soul narrowing, and Il
70 ponce were kept pusy IN resTalns reiatlF
and friends of persons believed to have 10
r, their lives from breaking through the lin
and impeding the work of the fr
: men. Scores Of people assailed t.
/. officers with fearful entreaties
be allowed to pass through t
4 line, but the officials were obdurated al
= refused to allow any one to pass but {
doctors, the ambulance corps ans the iii
n men.
e There is great danger from the the star
" ing walls, and the firemen have to be We
r. causioris. Three of them have already falle
II The buildings are totally destroyed a
the loss IN property will aggregate $3.50, u
Three bodies have been taken out a
were burned beyond recognition
y RUSSIA GETS ALL SHE WANTS mo-
:, The Above Seems To BE the Result OF &
Recent War Talk.
y LONDON, May a. The Standard Mond
: morning, commenting on the turn alta
,r have taken regarding the Anglo Russ