The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-03-29
THE REscuERS' SAD TASK.
Among the Heaps of Dead In the Falls
City Hall.

City Hall.
LOUISVILLE, KY, March 28.-When the
firemen and police, assisted by large num-
Der of stalwart men, commenced the work of
rescue at Falls City hall, the walls of tie ad-
joining house were first propped, and then
they began the work of cutting through the
heavy slate roof that covered all. At first
the work was difficult and laborious on ac-
count of the anxious crowd that thronged
about the wreck. After an hour Of ceaseless
labor, the first victim, Mrs. Sarah Kelly, was
unearthed. She was found sitting in an up
right position, with her head bruised and
one arm broken. When she revived sufic-
iently to speak. she stated that when the
crash came, many women were knocked
down and trampled upon, and many, seeing
the overwhelming jam at the door, remained
behind, all being killed.
The work continued but no others were
found, and the searching was changed from
the rear of the building to.the front where it
was supposed the greater number were gath.
cred. As soon as the roofing was removed,
ten women locked in each others arms were
drawn out of the debris. Mr.. James Hasson
was foremost in the work, and the first per-
son he drew out Of the ruined building was
his wife, who died in his arms. He laid her
by the side OF others. who were dead,
and continued the work for the living. In
side the next hour, thirty men and women
were drawn out dead. There were no
wounds on the bodies, and 1t is thought all
met death from suffocation. The gas pipes
had had broken en- which VIII caused the lights to 90 oat
dgauffS as as fire might have proven. The res
fhr0n0h 10 md
bodies were drawn out dead and dying. The
wounded were taken into stores and houses
on the opposite side of the street where phys
icians and priests administered to their bod
les and souls.
Along Main street. the pathway of the
streets. From Seventh to Eleventh streets,
not building was left standing Occasion
ally massive stone or iron wall stood in
had been swept entirely away. In the course
OF the storm. lay the prided Tobacco Market
of the city. Today the warehouses. almost
to the last one. are in ruins. I hedastrucfion
of theLoulsville andNinth street warehouses
Thousands of hogsheads Of tobacco lay in
the brick and mortar.
Fire Lends Its Horror.
At II o'clock the opening up of portion of
the debris of Falls City hall caused draught
to penetrate the ruins, whereupon fire broke
out with tremendous fury and spread rapid
ly. 1t forced the workers to deser. the pile.
The groans of the imprisoned people became
shrieks, so great was the horror of the mo-
ment. The watchers became frantic, be-
cause they were unable to reach them. Sew
eral lines of hose we're soon throwing water
on the flames, but it was more than an hour
before work could be proceeded with. 1t
was then carried on with much difficulty. on
account of the heat. Up to IL o'clock only
about 35 dead bodies and 25 wounded and
dying had been token from the wreck. The
corpses were laid in various houses across
the street At about 11.3o, the room where
the children were dancing was reached.
When the room of TOMS Simms, Jr., was
reached, Mrs. Simms was the first one found.
She was fatally hurt. Within fifteen min
covered, unconscious There is faint pos
sibility that they will recover. While the
father was implOring the workers to get his
other child, the fire broke out, and work was
suspended. The last man taken cut alive.
before the flames started, was John Hep1en.
Just previous to that a woman who was un-
able to give her name was recovered.
Many Were Killed Here.
The hotel, corner of Sixth and
Seventh streets was unroofed and otherwise
wrecked. The building west Of it, occupied
as a cigar store upon the first floor, and as
sleeping rooms upon the second and third.
was razed entirely to the ground. In the
destruction of this house, many lives were
lost, principally of persons who occupied the
sleeping rooms. many of them young girls
employed at the hotel, next door,.
Saloons and other available places have
been turned into hastily improvised morgues
where the bodies are taken as fast as recov-.
cred, and LETT awaiting identih alton. Patrol
wagons are being pressed into service as
dead wagons" to convey corpses to required
places Eleventh street seemed to serve as a
kind of fiue for the storm as all intercepting
objects in that line were practically reduced
to nothingness.. AS 1t rushed down this
street, the wind carried with it the fronts OF
the buildings, which were mostly residences,
on each side, leaving. in many instances.
the furniture and other contents
unmolested. Jefferson and Market streets
are in almost as bad condition as Main
street. Massive trees in the park on Jetfer-
son street were twisted and broken like
reeds and lie crossed and piled up on each
other.