The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-08-23

conscious after being buried under mass
of brick seven feet deep was almost mir
acle. The little girls face and arms were
bleeding from cuts and burns, but she was
able to talk The girl was carefully placed
in an ambulance and taken to a hospital.
The little one told the men that her broth
er and sister were both dead under the
bricks 1t seems that she was playing in
front of the building at the time of the ex-
plOsion. She was badly bruised Another
body, burned fearfully, was taken from
the ruins at PAS D. N. A few minutes
later the bodies OF a little boy and girl
were found. They were the children OF
Eugene +. Heagney, plumber, who lives
at 76 Park place.
At 8 o'clock, when the ruins had cooled
off and the flames were deadened, Firemen
Slevin and William Gorgan, taking Ian
terms with them, managed TO effect an
entrance through a small opening into the
cellar. Working along with difficulty and
in five feet of water, they made as thor
rough an exploration OF the cellar and
vaults under the sidewalk AS the debris
would permit. Among the overhanglng
timbers and iron pipes they discovered
two bodies few feet from the building S
front. wedged in and held securelyby several
wooden timbers. The bodies were those
of men ana were more or less burned. They
made an effort to get at them, but In their
attempt to tear away some of the obstruc
tions, they found that such a course
would result in bringing down upon their
own heads the immense mass of brick
above.
At 9 o'clock tonight red glare, eman-
Rting from the depths Of the ruins. proves
the fire to be still burning In the rear part
of the cellar. Slayin made second de-
scent into the cellar of the building at
930 O'Clock by means Of a ladder through
a hole in the sidewalk. When he reap
peared he reported seeing three bodies.
Tp to late hour nine bodies had been
dug out of the ruins. The list of dead re-
covered 80 far is:
Patrick Slattery, laborer; Annie Heag
1ey, three years old. of 81 Park place;
John Gibbs, years, 237 Greenwich street;
an unknown woman, charred beyond re-
cogniZation: William Berry, IS, carpenter;
four bodies lmales) not been identified
Injured-M L. Barret. of Johnson City
Tenn, skull fractured; William Smith, of
Brooklyn, 80 years old, wound in cheek
and head; John WaIlrof, 81, this city,
wound in arm; Louis Bernard, 81. lacerat-
ed wound Of elbow and scalp; Morris Got
lleib, II, fracture of clavicle; John Link,
foreman engine company, lacerated wound
Of hand: Bernard ArdbrOok, 33 years,
lacerated nasal wound; John Sheehan, 26
years, lacerated wound on eye brow; May
Hragnev, ( years. lacerated wound in
face and head Frank Morrow, is years,
lithographer Thirty-fourth street, frac-
tur Il ~iUr
All the bodies recovered tonight were
a. - ou, oi Jue debris which covered the
d walk in front Of the ruins. There are
many theories as TO the cause of the disas-
ter. Chief Reilly, Of the fire department,
was of the opinion that boiler exploded.
Another believed that the boiler in the
restaurant exploded and caused the disas-
ter. Then il was said that some chemicals
had exploded in the drug store. The most
plausible theory OF all, however, Is that
fhe wreck was caused by the shaky conGi-
lion Of the building and the vibration Of
the presses running in the lithographing
and printing establishments on the upper
floor IG * generally admitted that there
was an explosion OF some kind. But the |
collapse is accounted for in no other way
when it is taken into consideration that
the building was condemned thirteen years
age
The building which was wrecked by the |
explosion occupied Nos 90 % and "A Park |
place, and was five stories high. Brick |
walls divided it into three parts up to the |
second story. Leo Rosenfeldt occupied |
he first floor and basement OF No. 20 He |
was Il dealer in gold paint and bronze. |
Eight young women were employed in the |
basement. Frederick ". Trippe, dealer |
in drugs, had a store on the ground floor /
Of No. q. Peterson's restaurant was on /
the ground floor of No. a, and his kitchen |
was in the basement The entrance to the |
upper part of the building was No 76 and |
the entire second floor was occupied by |
Ellis & Macdonald, printers, whose office |
extended from 20 TO 16. Liebler Sg Mas. |
photographers, occupied the upper part of |
the building, having their offices on the 4
third floor, the photographic stones on the /
fourth floor, and the printing presses in /
the top story. The building is said TO be /
owned by Mr.. Crane, aud was also said to /
be insured for SO, ,C0O. The property in .
the building is said to have been worth |
not less than SI25O00