The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1890-03-22
Hneven Gallant Indianapolis Fire
men Killed.
NEARLY 4 SCORE MORE ARE INJURED.
A burning Building Colispses without
Warning and the Unfortunates Are
Buried Meath the Blax-
ing Debris.
A TERRIBLE CALAMITY.

die. The building occupied by tho
book company was four-story ana
basement marble front facing Wash
ington street just west OF Meridian.
The fire started shortly before O'CLOCK
near the furnace in the sub-basement,
and the department, when it arrived
seemed at a loss to locate the flames
and began pouring water into the 'front.'
of the building. For two hours the hgnt
had continued in this way until ma
iority of the spectators had LETT, under
the impression that the fire was out.
About $50 o'clock, however, there was
a terrible crash and the entire building
with the exception of the front wall,
fell inward. At the time number OF
flremen were on the roof and were
buried in the debris, which was piled
forty feet high within tho walls OF the
burned building. The work OF rescuing
the living and extricating the dead was
Immediately begun by at least 800 vol
unteers.
Following are the names of the dead,
all firemen:
George Faulkner, George Glenn. Ulysses
Glazier, AL Hoffman, Thomas Burkhardt
Espey Stormer, Richard Lowrie, Charles Jen-
kins, Andrew Cherry, Anthony Voltz and Henry
Woodruff
The injured. all 6remen, are as fol-
lows:
Josepb Burkhardt, leg broken and internalin-
iuries; Richard Kelly, internal injuries; Will
fam Tallentyre, arms broken and body bruised,
will die; Porter, skull crushed Will Ole;
Thomas black limbs broken and internal III
iuries. fatal; George billiard, unconscious from
internal injuries; Sam Neal, internal injuries;
TONY Vatz, leg broken and body badly bruised !;
William Jones' internal injuries; william
Roesner arm broken and skull fractured;
Charles Jenkins skull fractured and injured In
ternally; Thomas Barrett, injured internally;
William Robinson, internal injuries; William
McCinnis legs both broken. badly hurt; Ed
ward Leach, injared internally unconscious;
John Heating, body badly bruised and burned;
William Long, slightly injured about head.
The Bowen-Merrill Company carried
q stock valued at Slo5000, on which
there was an insurance of $40, 900. The
building was owned by Silas Il. Bowen,
and the loss on the structure will be
3O,OOO. II. p. WATSON, dealer in dry
goods, suffered loss of $40, 900 by smoke
and water, and Byram e. Sullivan lost
half that amount. Several smaller
stocks are badly damaged. Bowen &
Merrill have secured a new location
and will reopen in few days.
The scene on the heap of debris i'm.
mediately after the collapse was pitiable
and dreadful beyond all power OF de-
scription. The limbs of men here and
there were seen writhing, while the
trunks to which they belonged were
buried from sight. A ladder lay across
three men and was weighted down by
tons of brick and timber Another
poor fellow who was beyond all
pain lay close beside his fellows shape
less and mangled mass. The ladder
lay across the stomach of one man who
was screaming with agony. Another
man with a broken and twisted body
lay next to him. AS fast as willing
hands could burl 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, but
breathing, appeared tho upturned face
of poor fellow not seen before. The
mortar and dust we're cleaned from his
lips, but he 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 re-
double their efforts. All the work of
relief was carried on with great diff
Guilty One by one the men nearest the
surface were extricated, but AS the
workers went down further they discov-
cred Nv victims and the horror steadi
lygrew.
The physicians say that half OF those
injured will die. All are more or less
burned. 1t was almost red-hot fur
mace where they fel! into. and it seems
remarkable that single man who went
down came out alive. The fall itself
(sixty feet was enough to kill all those
who were on the roof of the Inflated
building The injured are receiving all
the attention possible at the various
city hospitals, more than half hun
urou piy SiNlauo having FoluHtcolo u
their services.
The debris caught fire from the red
hot bricks and blazed up threateningly
right above where the men had been
buried. The cool-headed bremen who
had not gone down to death, however,
worked heroically, and soon had the
flames under control. Thus the pin
toned men were saved from death
more horrible than that which stared
them in the face. Within an hour
twenty-nine bodies had been removed
from the debris, and Of this number
twelve were dead.
The calamity is by far the creates,
that has ever befallen any fire depart
ment in the West The unfortunate
men, too, are the Oldest and best men in
the department, some of them having
been in the service for twenty years
The killed are all men of families and
already steps for the relief of the bereft
are being taken.
A fund which has been started for the
rsdef OF injured firemen and tho fami
lies OF those who are dead has reached
the sum of $4,000. Mayor sullivan has
issued a proclamation calling for sub
seriptions.
Shortly after midnight the searching