The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1886-12-21
THE SHAPLEIGH DISASTER.
Several Persons Reported Killed
Hunting the Ruins.

St. Louis Dec. l3.-The great mas of
ruins winch marks where the Sh, pleig-
Cant-well block stood was viewed all day
yesterity 10y great thrUng of people
which blocked up the streets ALL around.
a more complete ruin could carCely be-
imagined, and the heaps Of charred bears.
blackened bricks and articles ~ hardware.
were at times completely enshrouded IN a
dense cloud OF steam aud smoke Struggling
up Iherefrom through the thick, damp air.
The crowd stood around all day in the
drilling rain and slush, awaiting anxious
ly the result of the labOrs of the workmen
digging in the debris for the bDd:es of
men. s opposed to have been bLried In
the disastrous crash of Satur lay afternoon.
Absence of anything definite on the sub
Jet led people To- indulge in most horrible
guesses as 10 IN" number Of victims, and il
was placed all the way between ten and
two. According to the informant, Larry
Gartland, an employee, the men were
TO be found about the middle of The place
at No. 100, as that was the last place he
saw them. He said that "a Was on the
office floor of No. 420 when The crash be-
gan and that there w. with i'm on the
floor at that time 80 men, y ho" and
Palmer. they were standing near the stove
when thc r'ssh came, and made dash
with han 40 the front He said that a. he
ran TO the front something fell upon him
and
KNOCKED HIM DOWN.
cutting one of his hands very badly and
that when he picked himself up he saw
that escape in the direction he started was
impossible. He turned, went out through
the office tht back way making his escape
without further trouble. He did not see
the other two men on the floor when he
got up, and said they must certainly have
been caught by the falling louTs and cal
ried down into the cellar. These were the |
only two men who had not been found, |
and for these the laborers were digging. |
From what Garland said, there was a hor-
rible suspicion that the men, being near |
the stove, were burned after being buried |
under the mass that came down upon |
them. The men worked until night caLle |
on, when it was found best 10 suspend opsr-
atoms, as they were simply digging de- |
bris away from one place and throwing it |
on another. 4 larger force OF men was put |
on at noon to-day and the bodies will be |
found in very short time il is hoped. |
The work is no easy task, as they have TO /
60 down through the material of four
floors to the sub-c liar. There was 4 goud
deal of horror in the thought that some cf
the employees were under the mass of stuff,
and there were loud demands that work
be prosecuted with more haste. Several
times there was quite a cOmmotioD in the
gathering at the announcement that bodies
had been found, but the temporary excite
ment died out quickly at the declaration
that none had been found yet
Everyone expressed a hope that none
would be found, yet contrarily enough
fingered about in expectation that there
would be find. Eleven men were at
work with picks and crowbars, and delyed
around industriously, but found no trace of
any one, though twas stated there were two
men on the lower floor when the floors be-
gan crashing down.
SUMMING Up.
Summing up the losses by the Saturday
evening cavern AMI blaze, il is found
that the loss was confined TO the Shapleigh-
Cantwell hardware company, whose four
buildings on Main street are, however,
Quilted. The insurance sums