St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-05-06
Thirteen Men at Work in the In
terror Being Caught in
The Ruins.
Four of Their Bodies, Mangled in Manner
Most Terrible, Taken Out
Lifeless,
And Five Others so Seriously Injured
That it is Expected They
viii Die.
Heroic Work by Mayor Ames, Fire
Chief Stetson. the Police and
Many Citizens.
An Attempt Being Made to Fix the
Blame for This Appalling
Disaster.
ATerrtble Accident.

With preliminary crash, Which served
in a measure as a warning, the southeast
ern half of the big Bracket block collapsed
yesterday afternoon, practically killing out
right flour men and dangerously, if not
fatally, injuring five more. AT this writing
at least one of the five is in dying condi-
ton. and the other four are seriously hurt.
With the exception of the great mill ex-
plOsion it was the most appalling catas-
trophe Minneapolis ever knew.
The Bracket block is a five-story brick
structure. facing south, at the corner OF
First avenue south and Second street. A
short time ago George A. Bracket. the
owner. desired to extend it along Second
street for distance of fifty feet, and for
that purpose had the wall torn out and re-
of the wall being piled in
the center of each floor. At $40 o'clock
yesterday afternoon these posts gave way,
and with terrific crash four floors and the
roof, loaded with brick, fell to the ground,
with a roar like thunder, sending up cloud
Of dust high into the air. About thirty-fve
men were at work in and about the build
ing, most of whom heard the first crack and
saved themselves by fleeing. Thirteen
men were caught in the ruins. three crushed
into jelly, another so shattered that he
died within an hour, five perhaps fatally
hurt, and three escaping with bruises and
scratches. E. Anderson, the contractor for
the grading had a force OF eleven men,
under charge of Aug. Seeber, all of them
escaping. Charles Putnam had small car
penter force and W. j. Larkin had twenty
men, from whom all of the victims came.
The crash brought out a great crowd,
and the Notwithstanding news drew
+l, - h. 4l,oG ,.r+
preston being that twenty-five men were
buried beneath the debris. The sight was
horrid one. AS though the building had
sliced vertically IN the center, the entire
interior was exposed, half OF which had
gone to the earth with a crash. -Four
floors and the roof, with accompanying
brick and debris lay piled together, from
the midst of which came the groans Of
the wounded prisoners. Fire Chief Stetson
CHANGED to be passing at the time, and in a
few minutes had Mayor AneS and his staff
on the ground. Life lines were at once
stretched, and special detail Of police,
in command of Col. Chase, placed in
charge. Chief Stetson was given command
of the working folce, and, with his depart
ment on hand, the work of rescue was
rapidly and Systematically begun. The
patrol and supply wagons were placed in
readiness to convey the dead and wounded
to suitable places. George Bracket, Archi-
tect Orff, Aid. Gibson and Sly, Wilkes
McDermott and w. E. Steele, with the
contractors and their men, went to work
with the firemen and in an incredibly
short time accomplished much. Guided by
their groans the wounded were rapidly
reached and tenderly laid in the patrol
wagons to be taken to St. Barnabas' hospi-
tai. Quickly and sadly the dead were
raised and taken to the morgue for identfi-
cation. The men for the most part had
been working in the excavation adjoining
the foundation, and, with the exception OF
two, were found in that spot. The other
two, both killed, were caught on the first
floor by the floor above and instantly crushed
to death.
SCENES IN THE RUINS.
The rescuing force worked like heroes,
and brick by brick and plank by plank the
ruins were removed. Ten minutes work
released the first sufferer, an unknown
Swede, whose entire person was bathed in
blood. He was followed by his friend and
companion. whose head was crushed, death
ensuing instantly. At the same time threeI
carpenters were released on the First ave-
hue side, with only slight injuries. After
an hours work eight bodies had been car
ried out, of which only one was dead.
though two more died before aid could
reach them at the hospital.
The floors and roof had broken into great
sections and resting On edge were piled
one upon the other When much of this
had been removed, grOans were heard, and
with renewed yigor the work was prose-
cuted. The debris was cleared to the
ground, in that locality, but though fresh
blood stains were seen on the foundation.
no trace of humanity was there. With I'M
firing energy. a wide ditch, along the foun-
dation, was cleared away. piece by piece,
for the length of the building. until it was
absolutely certain no mangled human re-
mains were concealed there. In the mean
time, on the first floor, by peering through
ipterstices, two more bodies were seen,
horribly crushed, beneath the vast ruins of
joists, brick and girders. The men were
evidently dead and no effort was made
to recover the bodies until all be-
low was cleared away, as huge
beams and piles of brick hung threateningIy
above 1t was nearly 6 o'clock when the
last body was rescued and the long list.of
missing workmen accounted for. For fear
of further calamity, the work of searching
the ruins and removing dangerous weights
was prosecuted far into the night the lights
necessary being furnished by headlights
and lanterns. No further developments
at the ruins have been made.