The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1888-09-03
/ VH0LE BLOCK BURNED
i, Baltimore, EntaiIing Great
oss Of Life and Property
. FRIGHTfUL EXPLOSION
,..,r. ,,n,irs the Fire. Destroying
rmolcr,,c building and Bury
,,r several Firemcn In the
unin,-Nn Awful Scene.

p,,rmorr, MD., Sept. AT an early
.,L;s morning fire broke out in the
ny' r,,cbonsc Of Prior, llilgenberg d
y: w. Io7 South Sharp street. Before the
~, S,.nep could get to work an explosion
','1 %,owork. wrecked the building and
n.,J III. flames to spread with alarm
'a,,nidity to the drug house OF J. II.
,yI WinEirman x Co. on the North and the
,,, hons. Of NJ. $. Levy < Co. on the
'"n,b D scarcely had the iiremen entered
,sa sii,icr orcupicd by the drug house
,,r.o =. ,br inside Of the building seemed
~ mJJcnIy drop in. A terrific explo-
,ior followed and the immense building
o,,l,r.rd The entire fire department
had by ,his time reached the scene, and
n,,,.u,ion Of the men was conccn-
,,,," on the building under which
THEIR COMRADES WE'RE BURIED,
,ho flames had chance to spread and
sn,.,1 sn tbcy did with irightful rapidity.
In an incredibly short space OF time the
an,ir. blo,k running from Lombard to
p,,,, % street was q seething mass OF
a,ms ", A. the drug house the tiremen
%"rynl Lrlyelv. Holes were cut through |
,b,,n,ycurnt and every effort was made
"a ,rorb the imprisoned men, but they |
w.r, brrird under great mass OF brick
and iron, and fierce flames were roaring
smund the spot. Awful groans came
inm ;be vile which seemed to make the
working tiremen put forth superhuman
ofor,s and after more than an hours
work Il became evident that some OF the
men were alive and that they were being
roastcd 10 death. John Kelly OF Truck
80. :, managed to crawl out from the
rnbbisl. and Of the men to enter the
bpiIdtng he was the only one to escape |
with his life. He was cut and bruised,
but his injuries are not serious. The
names Of the men known to have been
buried in the ruins are:
TIE VICTIMS.
George Bowers, Thomas Watncr, John
4. Combs and Perry Ryan, OF No. .
Hook and Ladder Company, and Harry |
Walker, George Kerins and Hiram Me-
Aiee Of 40. 7 Engine Company. 1t is
certain that these men have lost their
lives and it may be that others were
with them when the crash came.
Tie firms that werecompletely burned
out are. Wylis BrusIer Il Co., whole
sale Shoe dealers; j. II. Winkleman 4 !
Co., drugs; Tabb Bros. Il pominick,
hardware; Prior n Co., toys; NJ. S. Levy |
< Sons. hats; II. S. King &Sons, hard.
ware; Dobtr, Nudge 4 Co., paper, and
llirshbcrs, llolIandcr x Co., paints and
glass
The row OF buildings was one OF the
finest in the city, none OF the ware
houses being less than five stories high,
nearly all Of them having beep recently |
erected. Among the buildings partially |
burned was the Materiate, on Lombard
street and its inmates were removed
only with great difficulty.
The total loss will probably reach
Si'yHH,VJ", hiiH IL iS PFSttS wSlt SpNStSH
by insurance, most OF which is in small
policies in out OF town companies.
The intense heat several times drove
the iircmCn from the building where
the bodies Of their unfortunate comrades
we're
LYING UNDER Tons OF nRicK
and iron, but they persisted in the
search, and shortly after noon the first
body, that Of Wagner, was brought to
light. Near the spot was the
body OF Harry Walker standing
erect rs il packed in. Near him was
found what was left of George Bowers,
but no other bodies were found until
nearly six O'Clock when that OF George
kcrins was uncovered. The bodies were
terribly ydisiigured, the flesh being burned
oil in many places. Tie search is
being pursued tonight by the aid OF
electric lights. At midnight the fire.
men are still hard at work searching for
bodies. Itis known that at least three
are stiii in the ruins, but they may not
be recovered tonight, us they are bur.
lcd beneath tons OF debris.