The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1891-08-28
ably over hundred persons were in the
building when the accident occurred.

All Unconscious of Peril.
1t was just the noon hour and the res
taurant was fairly well filed. It accom-
modated sixty persons. In the windows
overhead girls and men could be seen
catching breath of air as they munched
their luncheons. There were several peo-
pie passing in the street, among them a
woman with an infant in baby carriage.
Three little children We're playing together
In front of the drug store, and horse at
tached to an express wagon was standing
by the curb. Above the noise of traffic in
the street could be heard the din of Licbler
4 Maass' ten big presses on the upper
floors. The building vibrated and trem-
bled with every revolution, just MS 1t had
done for months before.
Then there came low rumbling sound.
Some who heard it say 1t was accompanied
by heavy report, Ms OF n cannon fired. II
was followed by crash of falling walls
and the grating, rasping sound Of twistn
beams and timbers. A dark cloud of dust
filled the air and rose to the height of the
housetops. Before 1t had cleared fire burst
from the debris and leaped over to the ad
joining buildings to the west.
Came Down in an Armchair.
The street was in an uproar in an in
slant. A dozen or more who had been
slightly injured were helped into adjacent
stores. One man was discovered standing
to his waist in the debris. He had bad
cash in his head He was pulled out and
cared for.
Another had rolled down from the sum-
nit of tho wreck in big armchair. He
was helped to his feet comparatively un-
hurt. The mother with her baby in tho
carriage and the three little children ut
play could not be seen. A waiter who had
escaped from the restaurant said there
was no one left but himself to tell the
tale. A leg Of the horse by the curb could
be seen sticking up through the debris.
The fire gained headway with great
rapdity. When the fire apparatus came
changing to the scene the air was NO full Of
smoke that the drivers could hardly see
further than their horses heads.
Girls and men were climbing from the
windows of the houses adjacent to the
wreck by the fire escapes. The building
~ and 7S Park place, adjoining the wreck,
was all ablaze. Ambulances came rattling z
up and carried away those who had been
badly injured, while Police Captain Slavin
appeared promptly with II squad OF men,
who established fire lines and assisted those
in peril to safety. In an hour the fire was
under control.
Tho Rescue of Little Mary.
One of the most remarkable incidents of
the day was the rescue alive OF littld d'nfne-
year-old Mary Heapncy after she had been
covered with debris for three and half
hours. During his work Fireman Edward
Mulligan heard faint cry below him.
Somebody was living in that fearful wreck.
The word passed through the thrilled and
excited crowd. Fast an the men worked,
1t seemed as though they never would get
through. At last they came upon little
arm clad in soiled and torn cotton. Then
face was unclosed-the face Of a child,
still alive and her eyes blinking at the
sudden light A little cheer went up from
the laboring fremen. With might and
main they flung away the bricks The
ambulance surgeon reached down and
pressed to the bleeding lips u glass OF
water. The child drank it. Her body was
still inclosed in timbers, but she could
speak, and her first words were about her
little sister. -
my sister IL down in there" she said;
cant you get her out,"
The fremen dug on. Mulligan, who rad
first heard the feeble call for help, was tho
first to get his hands around the little body
and lift it into the air. As the crowd saw
the living face what a cheer went UP! II
was the first and only person rescued alive
from the debris.
II Was Nm Impressive Scene.
The scene early this morning was an i'm
pressivs one. A huge arc light hung d.
rectly over the ruins and brilliantly illu-
minated the arena Of death. Beneath its
rays the Italians labored faithfully. a
little pile Of empty pine coffins near at
hand seemed to expectantly await the
efforts Of the dusky laborers. The street
for block was piled high with debris.
Only about quarter of the rubbish has
been cleared away and scores Of bodies
may yet be hidden in the ruins.
| Two More bodies Discovered.
This morning the Italians working on
the College place side discovered the bodies
Of two men buried several feet beneath
them by a mass of broken timbers. The
bodies were badly charred, and one man
was clasping the others hand. They had
met death together. Owing to the great
mass of beams and bricks above them the
bodies were not recovered for several hours.
These two swell the list to eighteen.
A Strange Coincidence.
A strange coincidence is the fact that
fourteen years ago the confectionery store
Of Greenfield g. Son, G3 Barclay street, al
most directly in the rear OF the present
horror, collapsed in much the same way,
and twenty lives were lost.
The Dead May Number Sixty.
From the increasing number Of persons
who are reported as missing with reason
to believe that they were in the destroyed
building when it fell it seems likely that
the total fatalities may number as many
as sixty.
At Least = Hundred Dead.
The Times believes at least hundred
are dead. The World says: ut has been
estimated that about $50 persons were In
side of the Taylor building at the time the
accident occurred. AS far as can be ascer-
tanned now less than twenty-five managed
to escape Ninety-three persons are yet &c
be heard from"
The Herald estimates the number OF
dead at sixty, and says it is very evident
that the cause of the accident was the
fimsy, aged character Of the building, and
the fact that it was overweighted with ma