The record-union., 1891-08-24
DREADFUL ACCIDENT.
A Large Business Building in New
York COllapses.
MANY PEOPLE BURIED BENEATH
THE RUINS
Not Less Than Fifty Persons Believed
to Have Lost Their Lives-SiXteen
Bodies Already Recovered, Many
Burned so Badly That They Could
Not be Identified.
Special to the REcoRp-uN1oN.

! NEW YORK, Aug. PA most disas-
trOus accident occurred yesterday after
noon i'll Park place, between Greenwich
street and College place. At the time of
the accident the street was filled with
people and heavily-laden wagons and
! trucks.
a small, vaporish cloud was seen 10
! burst from the ground floors Of Nos. 20,
Y and "A Park place, followed by dull,
sullen roar. This WAS followed imme-
diately by an eruption, 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 and
well-constructed building. The mass of
fallen brick and timber half filled the
street.
Fire was now seen to break out at No.
! 6S. Owing TO the blocked condition OF all
the neighDoring streets, the fire depart
ment could not get to the buildings for
several minutes. Finally one small
stream from a hydrant was played on the
side next to No. IS. Soon after other en-
gines arrived, and all directed their efforts
toward the one side of the building.
!
fourth and fifth stories of that part Of
the building on Park place, next to
| Greenwich street, occupied by LinGSay's
! type foundry. The floor was saturated
with oil, which fed the flames generously.
\ murmur ran through the thrOng as
they thought of the fate Of the occupants
! OF The ruined and burned part of the
! building. When full force Of firemen
at last got to work they soon checked the
| flames.
Horrible conjectures now began to be
| circulated regarding the probable num-
/ Der OF injured in the ruins, workmen,
! clerks and others of the neighborhood
generally getting their lunch about the
hour the accident Happened. On the
! ground floor of "A there was a cheap res
| taurant, in which it was thought there
were about % persons when the accident
happened. In the upper portion of the
! building there was q large number of
persons employed. 1t is not known
| how many were employed in the build
ing, but it was thought probable that
most of those employed there were II the
| building at the time Of the accident.
For two hours the only subject of in
quiry by those who thrOnged the streets
was as to how many We're killed or in
jured It was fully two hours before the
tire could be sufficiently subdued to al
low the tiremen to make the least effort to
| eXtricate the dead and wounded from the
ruins
AS soon as the flames were under con-
troll the work of recovering the bodies of
the unfortunate persons buried beneath
the ruins began. The firemen worked
like fiends. With the aid of hastily
placed electric lights the search in the
debris of the disaster was kept up all of
last night a large force was put at
work. Two fire engines were kept at
work all night playing upon the heated
brick and stone. Those who had friends
| supposed to be in the ruins formed
large part Of the crowd that thronged out
side the police line. At intervals man
gled and charred bodies were taken from
the ruins and placed in the dead wagon
that stood constantly near. Up to 9
o'clock this morning fourteen bodies had
been recovered. At l:3O the bodies of two
more men burned beyond recognition
were removed. Evening came on and a
heavy downpour OF rain set in, which,
with slight breaks, continued throughout
the night. The workmen were with
drawn from their work and the crowds
were scattered, the policemen being left
10 watch the ruins.
A complete list of the identified dead
up to 10 7. II. is as follows: Leonard b.
Cole John Gibbs, Sarah Ann Haeghney.
| Michael Slattery, y. b. Peterson, George
Low, JuStan ioickler, Jacob Herderich,
Otto Waser, Charles Briener, Frank
Hatch. Five bodies, all Of men, have not
yet been recognized.
1t is thought Tonight that not less than
fifty were killed III the disaster. In the
morning means will be provided to re-
move the heavy iron girders and machin-
cry, which must be taken from the ruins
before any more effective progress can
be made in clearing away the debris and
getting out the remainder of the bodies
OF those who periShed.
Late tonight two more identifcations
were made, as follows: Gustav Steiner
and Abraham Berschoplli.
There are many theories as to the cause
OF the disaster. Chief Reilly, of the fire
department, was of the opinion that a
boiler had exploded. Another believed
that a boiler in the restaurant had ez-
ploded ana caused the disaster. Then it
was said that some chemicals exploded in
the drug store. The most plausible the
ory, however, is that the wreck was
caused by the shaky condition of the
building and the vibration Of the heavy
presses running in the lithographing and
printing establishments on the upper
floor. 1t is generally admitted that there
was an explosion of some kind. But the
collapse is accounted for in no other way
than the one mentioned.
EInspectOr Williams, who has been at
the scene Of the disaster almost from the
first moment said tonight in regard to
the probable cause: There was no ex-
plosion in that building, because there
was nothing TO explode. The accident
was the result of a weak structure and
an incessant vibration of the heavy
presses"
Many Of the witnesses who saw the
crash say the building slowly bulged out
in the middle until it had formed a no.
ticeable curve from the roof to the ground
and then fell.
CALIFORNIA FRTTJVS
Large Quantity Disposed of in the East
Saturday.