The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1889-01-17

Il Angustus T.. Roscup was the foreman Of
the frat and second floors Of the silk mill
He tells the following story:
80 II was about $50 o'clock when went 70
the second story to turn on the electric lights.
After 1hsd done this stood looking about the
. rushing noise, which I thought was cyclone.
The building then shook. was standing in
the southern end OF the room, and before
could look out of tho window
felt the building sink. Quick 40
lightning the portion Of the room that I was
in went down. The girls rushed about me
crying and screaming and calling. for help.
They didn't realize what was taking place. It
seemed to me as it the center Of the building
was struck first. can not describe the scene.
It was awful l could not do any thing
and could not think of what should do. Our
end OF the bulldog rent down first, and
while the floor was sinking it seemed to me as
II the girls In the other part OF the room were
on top Of a hill That was the way it impressed
me. While We were going down saw the other
portions OF the floor fall In minute all was
over. The screaming OF the girls was heart
rending. I was knocked down under heavy
timbers and held fast by my foot. could
AuVSO OvOIy VSAOI poIV VI Ivy UOUy C4C0Qtluk
my legs. I reached down with my knife
and cut the shoe OF my foot. In this way
became loosened and managed to arise.
Amid the screams of the girls and falling
beams and bricks succeeded In escaping. I
got out Of the. ruins on tha eastern side of
the bu ldng, but how I do not know. called
to the girls as loudly as could. They were
all teri bly, excited and I never witnessed any
thing SO awful in all my life. Many of them
heard me and worked themselves toward me.
At some places it seemed as il the floor was
closed as solid mass, and the girls
would creep around this, crawl over the ma
chimes and creep on their hands and knees un.
til they got to the opening where I was The
machines saved many from being crushed to
death, by leaving space between the floor
and debris through which to crawl out. I be-
lteve that fully 100 people escaped with me- I
remember seeing them run across tho COM
mons in different directions to their homes,
terrified naturally.
"Some ran q short distance and then le.
turned 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 impris-
oned in the runs. The rain was pouring down,
and all around was dark. was badly bruised
and hurt about the body, head and limbs. and
went home after I saw could do nothing. Be.
tween $50 and 800 operatives were in the build
60 home. All the floors were in operation.
The report that 100 went home at 4 o'clock is
not true"
LIVES LOST AT PITTSBURGH.
PITTSBURGH, Pa, Jan. 10.-A terrible
storm of wind and hail, tho worst known
for years, swept over the city shortly after
noon Wednesday, carrying with it death
and destruction. The storm was formed
with a suddenness that was overwhelming,
and as the wind. accompanied by hail and
torrents of rain, swept along the
streets, pedestrians were hurled before it
and barely escaped being crushed under
vehicles passing along the thoroughfares.
Suddenly, in the center of the city, there
was terrible crash, and few minutes
later the Central fire alarm sounded call
from box fourteen, on the corner of Dia-
mond and W God streets.
Hundreds of people with blanched faces
hurried to the scene, when it was found
that the cyclone had caught the new
building on Diamond street owned by c.
j. w Hey, and hurled it to the earth.
covering up two scores of mangled human
bodies The blu lding was in course of erec-
tion.. 1t was forty by eighty feet in
dimensions and was seven stories high.
The front of the blu lding had not yet been
put in, and the wind entered the high
shell from the open end; the high walls of
bricks and undried mortar parted, one
falling each way, partly wreckng nearly
a dozen build ngs. The main force
Of the crushing building was thrown
against Weldin e. Co.'s book store on
Wood street and the barber shop of Fred
Schumacher at Al Diamond street. The
rear of Weldin's store was crushed in and
the front Of the building was forced out
into Wood street. The barber-shop was
completely demolished. The leather
store next to the Wiley building,
occupied by w. IL Thomas, was also
wrecked. The rear end of II. Watt & Co. IS
bookstore was crushed in, while some
of the falling debris struck Joseph Rich
baum's building, fronting on Fifth
avenue, breaking the windows and
injuring number of employees. A por-
ton of the wall of millinery store next
to Thomas was broken in and the windows
and doors in number of surrounding
buildings were broken. The building of
Rea Bros. & Co., stock brokers, on the cor
ner of Diamond and Wood streets, was
partly wrecked and the occupants barely
escaped.
Within five minutes after the collapse of
the building the streets were filed with an
excited crowd notwithstanding tue fact
that the rain and hail was pouring down
in perfect deluge. With the arrival of
the firemen the work of rescue was begun
Ladders were run up to the second and
third stories of the Weld:n building
The first person taken out was a young
woman employed as typewriter who,
fortunately, had escaped serious injury.
Crowds of men were eager to take up
the work of rescue. Every little while
fresh localities where men had been
caught were found. At the time
of the disaster about twenty five
mon were at work on tho building
and not one escaped injury. In the barber
shop next door seven men were impris-
oned, while half-dozen more were buried
beneath the debris OF the Weldin build
ing: Chief Brown, Coroner Mcdowell,
Building Inspectors Frank and Eich-
ley and a score of physicians were
early at the scene. The hospitals were
notified and a short time later the clang
of ambulance bells and patrol wagons
had twenty-five wagons and carts on the
scene inside of an hour, and private ex-
pressmen went with their wagons aud
their aid in helping to rescue the victims
Up to 10 O'Clock p m. forty mangled and
bruised bodies had been taken fir ON the
ruins. Some were dead, others were dy-
ing, and many were fatally injured. One
or two d.ed on the way to the hospital
From the best information obtainable sew
en- were killed outright or died in a short
t me and thirty-six others were injured.
1t is believed that the list of dead will be
greatly increased.
Inspector of Police McAleese said at a
late hour that he was of the opinion that
from fifteen to twenty five persons were
yet in the ruins, and he would not be sur
prised if the death list would be increased
to fifteen or twenty. Dr. j. L. Reed, a
prominent physician of Allegheny, was in