The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1891-08-27

three men out OF the kitchen in tn
BASEMENT under the Hudson restau
rant. He entered the basemen
through the plumbing shop, Bael
said that hC saw
~ LEAST FIETY PERSONS
partly burned in the basement. SOM
of them were alive and calling loudly
for help but most of them were evi
IDENTIFY dead.
Jacob Schlessinger, employed il
the building on the opposite side o.
Park place, said that there must have
been at least 100 people in the build
ing when the explosion occurred.
Frank Burris, of the Photograph
Engraving company, said that he was
in the upper window just opposite the
scene of the disaster, and that he
heard rumbling sound. He saw a
number of people fall from the upper
windows, and he describes it as ifthey
had been blown from the windows.
Following them almost Immediately
were the falling walls, which fell upon
and buried the people.
AS soon as the flames were under
control the work of recovering the
bodies of the unfortunate persons who
were buried beneath the ruins was
begun. About forty manly firemen
climbed upon the great heap of bricks
that filled the street and began
SEARCH FOR THE BODIES.
They worked like fiends. They
seemed to realize perfectly that on
their efforts depended the lives Of
many of the poor wretches who were
buried beneath the heaps of brick.
One minute delay might decide the
fate of some poor fellow. After
twenty minutes work the men saw the
dead body of a man down in heap of
brick. Then every man worked for all
he was worth and pushed away the
mass in an astonishing short space of
time. At 2:2O o'clock the body of the
man was found. 1t was burned and
charred so that the features were not
recognizable. Chambers Street Hos
pital sent corps of physicians and
surgeons who assisted the tiremen in
the search for the bodies. About tif-
teen minutes after the first body was
taken out the firemen came across
another body of man lying
under piece of roofing near the side
entrance. His legs, hands and face
were badly burned. The firemen
were working bravely when suddenly
they heard low moan come from be-
meath their feet. 1t was feeble and
sounded like that of child. The
firemen redoubled their efforts in
clearing away the mass of bricks and
timber from the spot whence the
sound came, and after working heroic
ally'for nearly twenty minutes Ed
ward S. Mulligan, driver of Hook and !
Ladder Company No. 8,
RAISED LITTLE GIRL
in his arms. That she was alive and |
after being buried under
mass of brick seven feet deep was al
most q miracle. The little girls face
and arms were bleeding from cuts and
burns, but she was able to talk. AS
soon as Mulligan raised her up she
lifted her eyes to window on
the upper floor of the building
across the street and called in pite-
GUS tones "there's my mamma" The
mother, upon seeing her child, be-
came so frantic with joy that had it
not been for the combined efforts of
four men standing near by she would
have jumped from the window.
When the little girl was rescued the
crowd yelled and clapped their hands
in joy. 1t was touching sight and
one that will not soon be forgotten by
those who saw it. The little girl was
placed in an ambulance and
taken to the Chambers street hospital. |
The little thing told the men as they |
were placing her in the ambulance
that her brother and sister were both |
DEAD UNDER THE BRICKS.
1t seems that she was playing in
front of the building at the time of
the explosion. 1t was found at the
hospital that she was badly bruised.
Another body burned fearfully was
taken from the ruins at 2:45 p. N. A |
few minutes later the bodies of a boy |
and girl were found. They were the
children of Eugene f. Heaghey, who
lives at No. ~ Park Place.
At 3 o'clock the force of firemen and |
police was increased and work on the
ruins progressed more rapidly. 1t is
now impossible to learn who were
in the building when the crash
came. The following is list of per-
sons so far recovered from the ruins
and taken to Chambers Street Hospi-
tai: NJ. f Barnet, 40 years old, of
Johnson City, Tenn, compound frac-
ture Of skull; John w. Wykoff, 81
years old, of Madison street. wounded
OIL arm; William Smith, Brooklyn,
chest hurt: John Sheehan, aged 26,
Fall River, lacerated head; John Sink,
foreman Of engine No. ., lacerated
hand; Morris Gottlieg. aged 81, frac-
tured cervical; Louis Bernare, "a years
Did, lacerated elbow and scaIp wound;
Frank Morrow, fractured ribs: Bern
ard Addlebrook, aged SO, badly
on the head.