Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-01-10
sertained in the confusion Tonight

certained in the confusion tonight.
THE BoREMAN's STATEMENT.
August r. Roscup, residing at 63S
North One Hundred street, was foreman
! Of the first and second floors OF the silk
mill. A reporter interviewed him and
| his statement is as follows:
- It was about twenty minutes past 5
when went to the second story to turn
on the electric lights. After had done
| this stood looking about the room for
ten minutes. Suddenly / heard loud
rushing noises which 1 thought was a cy-
clone. The building then shook. I
was standing in the south
ern part of the room and
before 1 could look out of the window
! felt the building sink. Quick as light
ming the portion of the room that l was
in went down The girls rushed about
me crying and screaming for help. They
did not realize what was taking place.
1t seemed TO inc as if the center Of the
building was struck first. / cannot de-
scribe the scene.
IT WAS AWFUL.
1 could notdo anything aud could not
think of what ] should do. OUR end of
the building went down first, and while
the floor was sinking il seemed to US as if
the girls in the other part of the room
were on top of hill. That is the way it
looked to me While we were going down l
saw other portions of the floor fall. In a
minute all was over. The screaming of
the girls was heartrending 1 was
knocked down under heavy timbers and
held fast by my foot could move every
other part of my body excepting my leg.
/ reached down with my knife and cut
the shoe off my foot In this way l be-
came loosened and managed TO arise.
Amid
THE SCREAMS OF THE GIRLS
and falling beams and bricks 1 succeeded
in escaping. got out of the rufus on
the eastern side of the building, but how
| do not know l called to the girls as
loudly as 1 could. They were all terribly
frightened, and / never witnessed any
thing so awful in all my life. Many of
them heard me and walked toward
me. Some places it seemed as if the
floor closed as a solid mass, and the girls
would creep around this, crawl over the
machines, and creep OH their hands and
knees until they got to the opening where
[ was. The machines saved many
from being crushed TO death, and left
81 space between the floor and the debris
to crawl out. believe fully 100 persons
escaped with me. / remember seeing
them run across the commons in different
directions to their homes terrified.
fSOme ran away a short distance and
then returned to the ruins. The entire
building was down. The girls came back
to look for their brothers and sisters or
friends. We could hear the means and
shrieks of those imprisoned III the
ruins. The ram was pouring
down, and all around was dark. 1 was
badly bruised and hurt about the body,
head and limbs, and went home after 1
saw l could do nothing. Between 250
and 300 operatives were in the building
About o CLOCK 1 allowed sixteen girls to
go home. All the floors were in opera
ton. The report that 100 went home at
CLOCK is not true -
George Grimshaw, Jr. one of the pro-
prietOrs of the mills, was upstairs writing
letter. He went down with the wreck
He was badly hurt about the back and
limbs, and sustained cash in his hand.
John Reber, engineer of the silk mill, is
another of the MANNED. His head was
cut clean; as if with a sword
Among the killed taken cut of the ruins
late tonight are:
Charles Reitbaur,
Harry Crothers.
Sallie Hickel.
Harry Jones.
John Foreman.
Jane Zeilheiner.
Among the injured are:
Kate Keppler.
Mary Evans.
Mary Statman.
Kate AlSpaCk.
Matilda Taylor.
Sarah Shade