The morning call., 1891-08-23
BURIED BENEATH
BURNING RUINS.
Collapse Of a Large Building
in New York.
Inmates Crushed by Mass Of Bricks and
TimbeTS-The Victims Estimated at
From Fifty 10 Two Hundred.
Erecial TO THE MORNING CALL


laden wagons and trucks.
small vaporish cloud was seen to burst
from the ground floor of Nos. 70, u and "a
Park place. followed by dull, sulen roar.
This was followed Immediately by an erup-
ton, and mass of brick, stone and timber
was hurled thirty feet in the air. Then the
front walls of the building Nos. 20 to "A
fell, crashing into the street, leaving not the
slightest semblance of what had been there
three seconds before, an apparently strong
aud well-constructed building. The mass of
fallen brick and timber half filed the
street. AT first there was no sign of fire.
The falling walls broke steam pipe, from
which steam was scouting forth. number
of electric wires were torn down, but for
tunately the current was turned off from all
but one. The crowds made the streets al
most impossible.
THE RUINS ON FIRE.
Fire was now seen to be breaking ont at
No. IS. large number of men who had
clambered up on the ruins to assist the
wounded people in getting out of the build
ing, were forced from their posts by the
fire which spread rapidly. Owing to the
blocked condition of all the neighboring
streets, the fire department could not get to
the buildings for several minutes Finally
one small stream from hydrant was played
on the side next to No. 6S. Soon after other
engines arrived, and all directed their
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 Lindsay's type foundry. The
floor was saturated with oil. which fed the
flames generously. A murmur ran through
the throng as they thought of the fate of the
occupants of the ruined and burning part of
the building. When a full force of firemen
at last got to work they soon checked the
flames.
THE NUMBER IN THE RUINS.
Horrible conjectures now began to be cir
culated regarding the probable number of
injured in the ruins, workmen, clerks and
others of the neigh5orhood generally getting
their lunch about the hour the accident
happened. On the ground floor of IA
there was a cheap restaurant, in which it
was thought there were about Twenty-Five
persons when the accident happened. In
the upper portion of the building there was
large number Of persons employed. 1t is
net known how many were employed in the
building, but IL was thought probable that
most of those employed there were in the
building at the time Of the accident For
two hours the only subject OF inquiry by
those who throIged the streets was as to
how many were killed or injured. 1t was
fully two hours before the fire could be sut-
hciently subdued TO allow the firemen to
make the least effort to extricate the dead
and wounded from the ruins. The number
Of dead was variously estimated at from
fifty to go. Policeman Pectk, who got into
the kitchen under the restaurant through a
plumbIng-Shop, said he hauled three bodies
from there, and that in the basement he saw
at least fiIty bodies. dead and wounded.
ESCAPE OF RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES. 8.
Domiuick Burke, cook employed in the
restaurant, escaped from the kitchen. He
said there were five persons busy at work
in the kitchen when there was great crash.
1T seemed as If there was whole building
falling about u.s." said lie, "but none of us
were hurt There was door from the
basement into No. &C. but 1t was closed. |
knocked il down and the others followed
ME out. We crawled through an opening
in the wall, which had partly fallen"
Policeman Joseph Back was near the
building when the explosion occurred. He
ran to the scene and found the building
wrecked and burning fercely. he said: .'I
saw that nothing could be done from the
front and with one of the firemen | went
through the basement on Greenwich street
VIVA IIbOh~s DdI ; anu dAsS. W Z UldlG mole
through the wall Of the wrecked building,
through which we took three of the en-
ployeS from the Kitchen Of the restaurant.
We could see others fast in the ruins, but
could not assist them, being prevented by
smoke and flames"
ROundsman Taylor of the Fifth Precinct
reports having gone to the scene on the first
alarm. Hearing cries for help he rushed TO
a neighboring hardware-store and secured
lot OF axes, and, in company with a num-
Der of citizens, cut hole in the debris.
Seventeen people were rescued there, all
more or less painfully burned Had Taylor
not heard their cries they could not have
survived long.
SAW THE WALLS FALL.
Jacob SchleSinger, employed in a build
ing on the opposite side of the street. said
there must have been at least 100 persons in
the building when the explosion occurred.
He saw dozen or more girls at the win
dowS OF one OF the offices on the third floor
just as the building fell.
Various persons who were in the neigh
borhOOd of the ruined buildings when the
accident occurred give accounts of the
scene at the time the walls fell. They saw
one or more persons who were undoubtedly
Killed or injured. The persons seen were in
different parts of the building, according 10
the portion Of the street Oh which the OBJ
servers stood.
II: c. Stahl, formerly employed by Lieber
q Mas, saw the crash. II knew most of
the men employed there" said he. AZ
recognized one of them, Louis Bernard, as
he Tell into the street with the wall. He
dropped with shower of bricks from the
fourth story. When he struck the ground
he scrambled to his feet and got away,
but is now at the hospital badly injured. |
saw many others go down when the front
wall fell. but could not recognize them.
They were all killed"
THE WORK OF RESCUE.
As soon as the flames were under control
the work OF recovering the bodies of the un-
fortunate persons buried beneath the ruins
was begun. The firemen worked like fiends.
After twenty minutes work the BODY of
man was found, burned and charred SO
that the features were unrecognizable Fif-
teen minutes later another charred body
was found. just then low moan was
heard coming. apparently, from under the
teet OF the party of rescuers. After work
Ing Tor nearly twenty minutes little girl.
still alive, but badly cut and burned. was
lifted from the ruins. AS her rescuer raised
dow on the opposite side of the
street and called In piteous tones:
" There's my mamma 1t was, in-
deed, the child's mother, who, upon
seeing her child became so frantic with joy
that only the efforts of persons standing
near her prevented her from jumping out
OF OF tho window. AS the fremen placed the
little girl in the hospital ambulance she told
them her brother and sister were both under
the bricks, dead. 1t seems she was playing
In front OF the building at the time of the
explosion. Another body, fearfully burned.
was taken from the ruins about O'clock.
Almost immediately after the bodies of a
little boy and girl were found. They were
recognized as children of Eugene Heagney.
plumber. and were the brother and sister
mentioned by the little girl taken out alive.
CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT.
All the bodies recovered tu-night were
dug out of the debris which covered the
sidewalk in front of the ruins. The build
ing had frontage of about $50 feet on Park
place avenue and 30 feet on Greenwich
street. 1t was condemned thirteen years
ago by the Building Department. There are
many theories as to the cause of the disaster.
Chief Reilly Of the Fire Department was Of