New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-05-06
EADUNDER BLAZING RUINS
COLLAPSE OF A FACTORY IN BROOKLYN

THREE BODIES REcoyEREp--o- -
Eve ot work at 9:15 a. m. YESTERDAY
oo1e" - hnlcing wall OF one Oh Vho u",'0
~ 20 large building in State-ss- W. o'i, -,
sS Columbia place, Brooklyn Wheh 'ne ""''
~. an hulged ont in the middle and came mum
s.s;rg to the ground, dragging down Win u tn0
sonnectinc walls in the rear ana the "aii on In ,"9
onoosite side of the wing. The bunuing was ni'eu
With ,uen and women who sunk WIN tio nooi', =.
eed screaming into the adjoining wings ana ih'o 'N9
In factory in state-st. The stoves set the WOOD
in the wreck ablaze When the freineh ,n i'oi~nos
a. am alarm reached the scene, the fire had sprea"
from the west to the centre wing anu 'nen ~ 'DO
main building and the east wing.
Uben the building fell nearly 400 persons, many
- .heu, oirls were at work in the score or more OF
.bops in the extensive and irregular but
,er;ss Of builaings that filed nearly the whore
hlock. The spread Of the flames was marveliously
,opiu. and while in the centre wing SNORT ou'
frnitless effort was made TO check their progress oy
throwing hand grenades, the Inmates nearly Aii
scampered for their lives. The three wings aDu.eu
on the rear of a number of tenement houses on A'-
1o,t;c-ave. and Columbia place, and the only egress
for the imperilled workpeople was through t"o
narrow covered entrances in Atlantic-ave. ana one
~ Columb,a place. Some fled down stairways'
others crawled down fre-escapes and made their
nav through smoke fire and falling bricks 10 the
narrow entrances in Atlantic-aye and escaped
Others reached the roof and ran along until they
reached the roofs of tenement bonses III hicks-s''
while some who were caught in the nam Dulldihg
in State-st, and could not get out by the Atlahtc-
ave. entrance dropped from the lower windows into
Safest AS the flames swept through the ola
structure the brick walls crumbled and le as tney
were made of pasteboard. The fremen found tne
.nt;re buldinp wrapped in flames. People with
LII. rsrnfn
Through the dense volumes of smoke and whlte
steam that rolled over the burning building could
he seen human beings running about on the roof ana
eestjeulatng wildly for help. Many were half SUI
focated when rescued.
The building was doomed when the bremen
reached it,
The rear walls of the wings in falling had also
crushed in the backs of the tenements in Atlantic
ave. manning some of the residents and setting hre
70 them all Ambulances ratified up and carried
away the injured. The exertions OF the hremen
were limited 80 saving the tenements. coon line
of putting engines surrounded the block, the centre
of which was like huge furnace. For whlie the
walls of the state-st building stood upright, but
after the building had been burning short time
an explosion was heard and the walls tottered.
Another explosion followed and the walls fell in
with q crash that sounded like the rumbling OF an
earthquake while all the tenements on the block
trembled Some of the bricks had fallen into State
st., where several fremen were adjusting line oil
hose They started back up the street. Just after
the wall had fallen man rushed forward from the
crowd and pointing to manhole in the street that
led down into cellar declared that one OF the ire
men had fallen INTO the cellar Several OF the ire
men went to the hole aud peered in. The heat was
intense, and they called back by the foreman,
but the order had been scarcely given when a ter
foil ed bv n cODDle-
stones in the air and two fremen disappeared while
a great hole yawned in the street. An accumulation
of gas in the cellar had exploded and blown oil the
top The two iiTemen, Ruddy and Fay, were
quickly dragged out of the debris and sent TO the
hospital
The fire was now at its height the streets were
crowded with an excited populace, friends, relatives
and companions of those who worked in the fatal
factory, anxiously seeking tdngs of them. The
police fire lines often disregarded and several
arrests were made for breaking through them. In
tie crowds Fire Commissioner POllIOD,
Deputy Commissioner Moore, Police Inspector Nc
Kellar and Fire Marshal Thorn. The efforts OF the
fremen 10 prevent the fames from spreading
through the tenements in Atiantc-ave. were sue
eessfal and gradually te ronagratIon was brought
under control. AT midday the iiames lad died ont
in the centre Of tine ruined structure; but the
heated bricks still turned the water from the
hose into clouds of steam The runs presented the
spectacle of a tangle heap OF chaTred beams, gas
pipes bent and twisted into fantastic shapes and
smoking bricks. From the middle of the state-st
building the tall chimney, all that remained stand
ing rose from where the englne-room had been. At
D. In. the digging in the ruins for the victims of
the disaster whose number is not known, began.
Fifty men were put at work, carefully picking
the debris tue of No 90 Atlantc-aye., which
was directly back of the wall the collapse of which
brought down the west wing In n short time the
picks of the workmen exhumed the body OF q man
few feet below the surface of the debris The
body charred beyond all recognition. From
the runs of the wing itself two more bodies were
recovered They were all taken to the Third sub
Precinct where they lay wrapped in quilts The
clothing and SO much of the ilesh had been burned
OH that they were beyond recognition. Seven per
who suffered injuries were taken to the hos
pita and many more went to their homes. At
midnight one woman aud fourteen men and boys
we're reported as missing.