Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1889-01-18

der the debris Some of the bricks
were carried a square away. The
chamber of each Of the PASSENGER
ears were already filed with gas as
they were ready to be taken out on
the road in a few days. These ex-
ploded one after another with the
fearful bangs of cannons.
BANG, BANG, BANG,
they resounded over the CITY. causino,
the people to run out of their houses
thinking that it was the sound of an
earthquake. There was a consider
able quantity of gasoline in the build
ing and this added fuel to the flames
A sheet of flames shot upwards with
the roar Of musketry. Some twenty
Of'the men had a chance to crawl ont
of the debris but four of their COM
paniOns were enveloped in the embrace
OF the flames. Their cries were heard
Tor a moment by the terrified work
men, then their voices were hushed
forever. They We're quickly roasted
to death. The fire from the nine
passenger cars lit up the heavens for
miles around It was a beautiful
sight and could have been enjoyed but
fOH' the awful calamity which accom-
panied it. In the meantime the fire
department was called out, but its
services were unavaiIng The build
ing and cars were consumed in fifteen
minutes, and nothing was left but
BLACKEEED SMOKING. RUINS
under which lay four human beings
burned to a crisp.
While all this was going on the
storm was travelling forward with
fearful rapidity. It must have trav-
eled at the rate Of 100 miles an hour.
1t struck some more private houses
and unrOOfed a dozen residences.
The huge sheets of tin were carried
half a square away and deposited in
a lot. Then the storm proceeded in
its full fury. Directly in its path at
the corner of Twelfth and Marian
streets stood the Reading silk mill,
one Of the industries of the city IN
which the citizens took the greatest
pride. Here about 175 happy girls
were working. The building was a
huge structure, most substantially
built, four stories in height and had
a basement besides. It occupied an
entire block Of ground. The size Of
the building itself was nearly 800
in length and about $50 feet wide. It
was surmOunted by massive tower
fully 100 feet from the ground. The
funnel shaped storm cloud struck the
building in the center on its broadcast
sideawhicfa faced the west. It fell to
pieces as if composed of so many
building blocks. Nearly 200 human
beings went down in
THE AWFUL WRECK.
Human tongues can never tell the
terrible scenes of that hour. The
walls gave way, and the floors fell
down, one onitOp of the other, and
carried their great mass ofhuman be-
ings to the bottom. The bricks were
piled up in the greatest confusion.
While the hurricane was terrible,
cries for succor We're sent up to hcav-
en-. It was moment that tried mems
souls, and almost simultaneously with
the fall Of the building came the aw-
full cries for relief. Girls with black
ened faces, bruised and broken limbs,
their clothing tattered and torn drag
ged themselves from the ruins. Prob
ably rs to 100 escaped or were drag
ged out by their friends. These, OF
course, worked on the upper floors
and were thrown near the top Of the
debris. At some places the bricks
were twenty feet deep and under
meath are lying tonight human bod
les by the score.
In his MESSAGE to the Nebla ska leg