The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-08-23
With A CRASH
The Walls OF Two New York Build
ings Fall to the
Ground.
Several Bodies Already Recovered
and Many More In the
Debris.
The Terror Of Raging Flames Added
to the Awful Horror OF
Collapse.
Miraculous Escape of a Little Girl
Who Sees Her Mother
Opposite.
Heroic Work OF Firemen in Preventing
the Spread of Flames and In
Recovering Bodies.

New YORK, Aug. GA moet disastrous
accident occurred this afternoon in Park
Place between Greenwich street and Col
lage Place. At that time the street was
filled with people and heavily laden wagons
and trucks. A small vaporish cloud was
seen to burst from the ground floor of 70,
~ and "A Park Place, followed by dull,
sullen roar. This was followed immedi-
ately by an eruption and Il mass of brick,
stone and timber WAS hurled thirty feet in
air., Then the front walls of the buildings
at Nos 70 and IA fell crashing into the
street, leaving not the slightest semblance
of what had been there a second BEFORE an
apparently strong and we'll constructed
building. The mass Of fallen brick and
timber half filled the street. At first there
was no sign of fire. The falling walls broke
steam pipe from which steam was spout
ing forth. A number of electric
wires were torn down but FORUM
ately the current was turned off
all but one. Crowds made the streets
almost impossible. Fire was now seen to
be breaking out at 6S. A large number of
assist wounded people in getting out of the
building were forced from their posts by
the fire, which spread rapidly. Owing to
the blocked condition of all neighboring
streets the fire department could not get to
the buildings for several minutes. Finally
one small stream from hydrant played on
the side next to G8. Soon after the engines
arrived and all directed efforts toward the
one side of the building,
Suddenly flames burst from the third,
fourth and fifth stories of that part of the
building on Park Place next to Greenwich
street, occupied by Lyndsay's type foundry.
The floor was saturated with oil, which fed
the flames generously. A murmer ran
through the throng as they thought of the
occupants of the ruined and burning part
of the building. When the full force OF
tiremen at last got to work they
soon checked the flames. Horrible
conjectures now began to be circulated
regarding the probab number of injured
in the ruins. Workmen. clerks and others
of the neighborhood generally get lunch
about the hour the accident happened. On
the ground floor of "a there was a chear
restaurant, in which it was thought there
were about Twenty-Five persons when the
of the building there were large number
of persons employed. 1t is moi
known how many were employed in the
building, but it was thought probablt
that most of those employed there were il
the building at the time of the accident
For two hours the only subject of inquiry
by those who thronged the street WAS a.
to how many were killed or injured.
1t was fully two hours before the fire
could be sufficiently subdued to allow fire.
men to make the least effort to extrica tt
the dead and wounded from the ruins. The
number of dead was variously estimated
from fifty to 200. Policeman Peck. who
got into the kitchen under the restaurant
through u plumbing shop. said he hauled
three bodies from there, and that in the
bas ement he saw at least fifty bodies, dead
and wounded. Dominlck Burke. cook
employed in the restaurant, escaped from
the kitchen. He said there were five per-
there was a great crash. ut seemed as
if there was the whole building
falling about u.s." said he, "bu'
none of us were hurt. There was door
from the basement into 76, but it was closed
l knocked it down and the others followed
me out. We crawled through an opening
| in the wall, which had partly fallen"
Policeman Joseph Peck was near the
building when the explosion occurred. lie
ran to the scene and found the building
wrecked and burning tiercely. He said: 81
saw nothing could be done from tho front
and with one of the fremen l Went
through the basement on Greenwich
We made hole through the wall
of the wrecked building, through
which we took three of the employees from
tho kitchen of the restaurant. We could
see others fast in the ruins but could not
assist them, being prevented by smoke anc
| flames"
Jacob Schlesinger, employed in the build
| ipr hp "A q at
there must have been at least Il hundred
persons in the building when tho explosion
occurred He saw a dozen or more girls a
! the windows of one OF the offices
on the third floor as tho building fell. Nari-
ous 20 sons who were in the neishborhooJ
of the ruined buildings when the accident
red give accounts of the scene at thu
time the wall fell. ii. l. Stahl, formerly
employed by Lieber a. Mas. saw the crash,
IL knew most of the men employed ther,
and recognized one of them, Louis Bell. al
he fell into the street with tht
WALL He dropped with shove
of bricks from the fourth story
When he struck the ground h,
SC. ambled to his feet and got away, but i,
now ut the hospital badly injuted. l saw
many others go down whom the front wal
fell. but did not recognize them. They
| were all killed.
As soon as the flames we're under contro
the work of recovering the bodies of un
fortunate persons buried beneath tho ruin,
was begun. Firemcn worked like tiends
After twenty minutes work. tho dead body
of one man was found, bu nod ant
charled 80 that the features wert
unreeoRniHuble. Fifteen minutes latel
another oharred body WAS found. moar
was heard coming apparently from under
the feet of party of resouers After work
ing for nearly twenty minutes II little girl
still alive but badly cut and burned, wal
lifted from tho ruins. As her rescuor raisec
her up III his ARMS she lifted her eyes to I
window ON the opposite side o
tones, "Ihere's my mamma" 1t was in
deed the child's mother, who. upon seeing
her child, became frantic with JOY tina
only the efforts of persons standing neal
prevented her from jumping out OF thu
window.
As the tlremen placed tho little girl III tn,
/ k,n.,;anl ,hiiln aha told than ha