Evening journal., 1890-03-18
DASHED TO DEATH.
A Score OF Firemen Buried I'm
der Tons of Debris.
TWELVE OF THEM ARE DEAD
A Roof Falls at a Fire with Fatal
Effect.

WHINE walls were Tottering Above
Their Heads--The Number oc Dead
May BE swelled to Fifteen or Twenty.
Scenes OF Horror at the Fatal Spot.
Burned, Biackened and Battered Bodies
Borne from the Wrecked Building by /
Tender Hands-A List Of the Dead and
the wounded.
INDIANAPOLIS, March ls-Last evening |
fire from the furnace in the basement Of the
large book publishing establishment Of the
Bowen Merrill company reached some paper, !
and in an instant the flames were carried by
the elevator shaft 70 the fourth story. The
building, fine stone and iron structure
fronting on Washington street, was stored
with books and stationery of all kinds This
large stock was consumed and the building
wrecked. At $3.50 o'clock this loss of more
than Sl500OO on building and stock was
followed by the falling in Of the roof, which
carried down more than twenty persons,
including those who were working on the
various floors The fire at this hour had
been driven to a corner between the ceiling
of the fourth story and the cornice. Parts
Of the fire companies were on the roof work
ing their way down to the fire. The roof
seemed sound and the walls substantial, but
suddenly the walls yielded.
Into the seething Ruins.
A man threw up his arms and sank into
the seething ruins below. Another man
dropped and then the whole rear roof, with
fifteen men on it, fell on the top floor. whore
the fire was raging. Four men were ON the
upper floor under the roof These were
crushed beneath the grinding timbers and
all the men hurled through the falling
floor beneath, which gave way under the
weight Of the mass One of the firemen ON
the top of the adjoining building ran to the
front of the building and shouted to those
below:
"For Gods sake, throw water into the
upper windowsl Twenty men are buried
thereW
A Scene OF Horror.
Instantly ambulances were telephoned for
and presently the crowd below moaned I'M
der the terrible Developments. The scene on
the heap Of debris Immediately after the
collapse was pitiful and dreadful beyond all
power Of description. The limbs Of three men
were seen writhing, while the trunks to
which they belonged were buried from sight
A ladder lay across the three men and
was weighted down by tons of brick and
timber. Another poor fellow, who was be-
yond all pain, lay close beside his fellows,
a shapeless and mangled mass The ladder
lay across the stomach of one man, who
was screaming with agony, another man
with a broken arm and twisted body lay
next to him
Crushed and battered Humanity.
As fast as willing hands could hurl away
the bricks the weight was removed, but the
ladder was too firmly held TO yield. The
man with broken arm was dragged free
and carried away. Under him, mute but
breathing, appeared the upturned face Of a
poor fellow not seen before. The mortar
and dust were cleaned from his lips, but be
was buried so deeply that no immediate
help could come to him. On all sides
blackened and bleeding faces, distorted
with agony or dreadful in death urged the
crowd who had scaled the heap to assist
them to redouble their efforts. The debris
had fallen SO that it lay with a valley
shaped surface and this made the available
space for work very small.
There was no place to depos it the ma
terials dug from the bottom of the valley
except to throw them upon the sides of tn,
depression from which they continually
rolled down toward the center again.
Rescue in the Face Of Death.
All the work Of relief was thus ear ried on
with great difficulty. One by one tn,
men nearest the surface were extricated
but as the workers went down further they
discovered new victims and the horror
steadily grew. The forward part of thl
building still stood high and burning fiercelS
and threatened every moment TO fall dowI
and bury the brave rescuers, but they gav,
no heed to the peril On either side th,
walls lowered and seemed ready to fall, bu
there was no time to think Of them. Al
fast as the men at work became exhausted
Others stood ready and anxious TO fll theii
/ places, so there was not a moment OF delay
in the labor Of relief.
The FrightfuI Suspense.
Every moment was filed with an awfu
suspense, for all was thinking Of friends VIII,
lay buried beneath them. Names which meI
| inquired after were passed hurriedlY from
lip to lip and people bent down to scar
closely the blackened and SCARED faces
Persons who had friends among the firemen
or among citizens who were supposed {,
have been in or near the fatal walls, becam,
frantic as time passed and they could get n,
word AS the wounded were carried out o.
the ruins they were met with embraces anC
tears of joy, but when the still, broken
forms were borne away, motionless anC
limp, then it was when the full sadness ant
horror of the calamity came upon the wait
ing crowd.
LAST Of the Dead.
Twenty-Five men have been taken from
the ruins, twelve Of whom were dead and
the rest more or less injured. Others are
known to be under the mass Of debris, bu
have not yet been reached. The names o.
the dead are the following George Glenn
George Faulkner, Andrew Cherry, Albert
Huffman, Ulysses Glazier, Richard Lowry
Thomas Black, Espy Stormer, John Burk
hart, William Heinzle, Charles Jenkins
Samuel Neil All were fremen.
The WouEded.
The list Of the wounded inclutes:
Anthony Voltz, pipemaa; Lew Rafert
fireman; Thomas Barrett, fireman; A. G
Mercer, captain of the fire department
Webb Robinson, pipeman; William Partee
pipeman, internally hurt-may die; Henry
Woodruff, pipeman, badly hurt: Ebenezel
Leech, pipeman, cut and bruised; Thoma
Tailentyre. foreman Of engine No. ,, fatal,
crushed; William Long, pipeman, siisHtl,
hurt.