Daily Republican., 1889-09-21
QUEBEC'S CALAMITY.
PARTICULARS OF THE TERRI.
BILE LAND SLIDE.
Twenty-Five Dead Bodies Taken Out
Eighteen Injured Rescued-NfiiItary
and Citizens at Work on tho
Rains--scenes OF Horror.

Il
Thousand tons OF rcck slid IRON Cap
Diamond, at the end of Dufferin Terrace,
to Champlain street, 800 feet below, de.
molish1ng In Its course seven dwellings.
Up 10 midnight six bodies were taken
from the ruins, viz: Thomas Farrell and
two OF his children, also two children
named Burke, aud one unknown child,
Farrcll's mother-in-law, Mrs. Allen, aud
her husband were still in the ruins. A
number of persons had beeu removed
from the debris badly injured. Some
have broken arms and legs, aud others
are badly crushed and mutiIaied.
1t is supposed that at least fifty per-
| sons are yet under the ruins. "B" Bat
terry, the Fire Brigade and the police
force were on the ground rendering val
haole assistance. All the injured re.
\ moved from the ruins were convened to
\ the Marine and Fisheries Department.
! where medical men and ciergymen look
cd after them.
Cries of "Helpl Help" where heard
from beneath the debris, but no help
i cot Id be given. Very little progress was
maae In recovering todies, owing to the
sturendous mass Of rocks covering the
1 ruins. More rocks were falling, and IL
was feared that the whole boulder form
ing the high,st poiIt of Quebec would
give away.
CAUSE OF THE SLIDE.
Two fearful days OF rain and flocd
succeeding month OF dry weather
, D. lied the crevices OF the soil Immediately
below and beyond the southern extrem-
| ity oil Dufferin terrace, aud at z. 20 d. m.
an enormous mass was detached from the
cljH aud hurled rs with the noIse OF
many thunders. slowly and majesticslly
at first but rapidly Increasing In mo.
rhentum through its slide OF q couple of
hundred feet. over the. retaining wall,
Lushing half u dozen houses out of its
way and crushing most OF them beneath
It's weight as though they had been 50
many paper boxe..
The site OF the landslide Of last night
is almost identical with that Of the one
which occurred in 1871, when eight build
ings wero crushed and thirty-two parsons
were killed.
The mass Of earth aud rock moved H.
roughly speaking, about 600 feet frontage
oy o0 'eet In depth. Some of the masses
oi ialien rock must weigh nearly twenty
mat u makes the work oil clearance very
difficult.
As soon as an idea was obtained of the
extent OF the disaster the whole force OF
municipal police was turned ont TO rem
der assistance, aud Chief Colonel Vohl
applied TO ID Battery at the citadel for as
sistance. A strong force OF the military.
under commana OF Major Wilson, turned
cut to aid in the removal of the debris
Fro broke out almost Immediately In
some OF the Rims, but the briga when
summoned, soou extinguished the flames
aud set to work to assist In the search for
the dead and dying.
WORK OF TIE REscUERs.
The mass of rock dislodged from the
clins LETT vacant space OF extraordinary
dimensions under DulIerin Terrace, and
that great promenade is now unsafe, Ten
corpses and sixteen wounded had been
taken out at 3.3J a. ID. 1t will take
several days 10 recover all the bodies.
The damage will exceed S100, 900. The
houses In that locality were built of stone
and brick and inhabited by ship laborers,
etc.
The loss sustained by the surviving
victims OF tho disaster is very great
Come of the working men who are de-
privsd OF their homes lose all their furni. |
ture and other effects, even their summer
earnings and many OF them are leii pen
niless at the commencement of Canadian |
winter. The injured have nearly all |
been removed TO the Hotel Dieu, where |
they will receive all possible care and at |
tention.
TERRIBLE INCIDENTS.
The work of reseuing tho victims IA |
going on vigorously. The members OF |
tho Black family were buried alive about
IL feet below the surface OF the debris.
On being asked If they were safe. Mrs.
Black answered: "My husband Is killed |
at the door. The rest are safe, but we
are suffering from wounds and bruises on
our lin. =.
The next person taken out was Thomas
Berrlgan, whose wife was taken out OF
the rules dead. lie was SO distleured
his tliends could hardly recognize him.
he was removed to the Hot.l Dleu Hos.
pit'l muttering prayer of thanks for his
miraculous escape.
Among those lurled by the rocks are a
young couple named Nolan, who were
married few weeks ago. Nolan could
have escaped, but he lost his life In try
ing to Ct his vile out OF the house.
Tie horrors OF this dreadful day are
still succeeding each other. VIII ie the
workers were busy clearing away the
debris OF crumbled buildings, faint groans
were heard at intervals from under huge
piles of rocks The efforts of the yolun-
te rs were concentrated to that point.
and after three hours hard work the
body of Joe Kemp was extrlcat-
ed from the mass of rock.
The poor man is In most pitiable con-
dition. Both legs ara broken at the |
knees, the left arm Is fractured above the
Show, and several ribs are fractured,
He cannot live many hours. Two hours
later his wife's body was taken out of ths
wreck. Her Lead was almost severed
from her body.
Farther away another bideous spectacle ,
was offered to sight-lhe corpse OF n !.
young woman (Mrs. Lauscn), who had i
been admired in her lifetime .or her
beauty. Her boiy had been crushed :.
almost fiat. Her abdomen had been
tipped open and her entrails were scat.
.ertd about. Shortly after viewing her q
:; mains her husband became a raving :
and It Is doubtful If he will re-
cover his teason.
Michael Bradley, who had gone almost
crazy when told that all his family had
,erished in the landslide, discovered,
while working over the wreck of his .
house, his 5-year- old daughter still alive.
His Joy was indescribable. 1t Is thought
he child will live.
,wBNTY FIVE BODIES; EIGHrEEN IN :
JURED.
Up to this time tho number of corpses
ound is 25, and the number OF
rounded is. y
The city is thronged with strangers, =
oming from all parts OF Quebec district
o witness the effects Of the terrible ava :
anche. 8