New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-04-14
EIGHT HOUSES COLLAPSE'
wANy woRKMEN BURIED IN THE hoiN"'

o-tnootor Charles A. Buddensek, VINO mas
.,ccted hundreds OF cheap tenement houses ~ .n
nnor mart of the city, stood In iron. oi os
erisbed houses Of that class IN "es' oS
.econd at. Yesterday afternoon ana iooAou az .nn
anx,onslv. He had reason to feel III d. eAoo
CbarIes Frank, the boss bricklayer' ana Ausu0U
SaI,or the boss framer had told him early I'D u .ho
sin., VIZ .,o foundations were insecure and the
Ill ,vera huleing in places. The houses were oh
.no sontb side of the street, about midway peV"oon
T.h and Eleventh avos. From Tenta-ave' to"aru
49, North River the ground soped 50 much tha'
the foundations Of the last house In tne ro" M
ahout tan feet below those of the hrst mousse ny
~aunda,ions had been laid in December on sou
croupd and during the winter the walls had OUCH
raised to the height of five stories IN tne cnoapo
manner possible. By the time the frosO was Uu. "
the ground the houses had been encios'o' ""o
Ruddens,ek locked at his fimsy houses worKme"
, h,sv in the cellars of three of them. trying 10
obore nm the walls in order to keep them from
fol,ino Meanwhile the sounds OF hammer anu
sav were heard in the upper parUs oA
all the buildings Carpenters and IaVners "o'o
b,sv lavipg floors and getting the walls reaoV ioi
the plasterers. On the roofs tinsmiths were a'
work. The workmen were not aware OF the shaky
condition of the houses . -
Ahont 2 n m there was sudden cessation vi
work and the msn throughout the buildings ex-
A tremor like the motion of an earthquake was
feIt the eight buildings began to totter, ana IN
another second they tumbled into heaps OF ruins.
None of the men IN upon the houses n'u
a obance TO save themselves. There
was general sagging down the Hill
of the whole row, gradual at hrst' ouo rap'u
enough at the end. The breaking OF tlmoers ana
the shouts of the frightened workmen were drowned
in An instant by the terrific crash when the roof
4, NJ broken floors
in the cellars dense cloud Of dust rose high IN
+ba air and sprsad far beyond the limits OF the
r,i,s shnttinp them out of view for several
minutes. The crash had been heard for distance
of half nile. Fifty or more workmen from hou9oS
which Buldensek was building in SIxty-hrstsV'
and IN Eleventh-ave. ran to the scene OF the us
ster before the dust cleared enough to let them 800
the extent of the wreck Rear windows OF dozen
bo tene oent- houses in Sixty-frstst. were thrown
omen and the occupants of those houses many Oh
whom had seen the new buildings fall. shouted ana
screamed.
Buddeusiek had been standing in front OF the
third house of the row and had seen the rotten
structures collapse. A brick had struck hIm on the
foot and his face white with fear When nc
limped to the middle of the unp1ved street. One OF
his workmen, who also had narrowly escaped
death ran after hlm. shook his fist angrlly ana
shouted: -,
Z " lOu ought to be luDB 1Or putting up o"~" ""'iN
ingsn
Bnddens,ek made no reply, but kept moving away
from the ruins Half dozen workmen who had
been injured slightly crawed out of the debris and
cleared their eyes and throats from the dust
Shouts aud roans told of other sufferers who couid
not get out. policeman ran to the slSnai-ooA a'
Tenth-ave. and Sixty-second-st. ana sent ouo an
alarm to summon the 6remen. A lew minutes i'VeI
a call for all the ambuances in the city was rung
companies were summoned Hundreds OF work
men living or employed / the ncghborhood, and
policemen from three precincts, were busy at the
ruins within ten minutes after the houses fell. "A
dozen ambulances arrived soon afterward. Inc
sprpeons found work brisk enough at first.
One injured workman after another was
helped out of the confused mass OF bricks
broken tmbers and sheets of tin roofing Among
the first to be removed were Thomas King and
John McInerpy, roofers. Kings back and hand
were burned badly by Goals from the small furnace
which lie was using, .and Mclnerny's leg and hip
had been broken. Joseph TrainoI, lather, and
Jacob scbucht, carpenter, were dragged ont from
beneath the roof beams of the same house. Both
mad received serious cuts and bruises and were un-
able to help to themselves. After Assistant Chief
Met abe of the Fire Department arrived TO direct
the work of the rescuers. he helped to take out
Henry Brandt a carpenter, of No. $50 West Seven
teentL-st., whose leg appeared to be broken
Brandt said he wanted TO go home and
Chief McCabe sent HIM there in his own wagon
President Van Cott and Commissioner Purroy, OF
tho Fire Department, gave orders for the immediate
employment of all the available wOrkmen IN the
Beighborhood to dig the ruins. under the orders
of the police aud iremen, but it was plain that II
many persons were buried few conld be rescued
alive On everv side were heard loud denunci-
ations of Buddcnsiek. 1t was asserted that the
loan from TIE cellars had been used, instead of
sand for mortar and that the buildings conld not
have stood up long In any case. One well-dressed
man stood ON the heap of ruins and shouted: This
is the worst outrage ever perpetrated IN
this city, In little while these houses
Heaps of loan in front Of the ruins
and in one place a quantity OF mortar made from
the soft earth still remained. he bricks scattered
all about were clean, showing that the mOrta nad
not adhered to them. Firemen looked at them and
SAID it would have been safer to build the wals
wltaout any mortar Inspector Dllks. captain
Killilea aud two detectives Of the Twenty-sccond
Precinct searched for Buddensiek. They learned
that he had jumped into his buggy soon alter the
Itis not definitely known how many worknen
were in the buildings at the time OF the collapse.
to mS6ng r Of ee ebse ag we're Dee ad off or
lack Of worS. Of the remainder, a. number were
not inside the buildings wnen t1ey fell AZ hearty
IS could be ascertained August Muller, the boss
carpenter. had eighteen men vita him, most OF
whom escaped without serious injury; Jatnos
0Reilly the boss stone mason, had three men,
Of whom are accounted for; Charles Frank, the
boss bricklayer, had one man, who Is saved; John
Il: Creighton, the boss framer, had eight men, four
of whom are accounted for There were i've
latbers, OF whom two are accounted for Seven
TIN and slate roofers were at work where four OF
them are is known Two stanbuilders, Matthew
kaufman age thlrty-hvc, married. and Matthew
seigol. age twentyseven, single were known to be
at work the house nearest Tenth-ave., and 1t
not known wnere they are.
Ihe digging in tho ruins continued With