Morris tribune., 1891-08-26
TERRIFIC EXPLOSION.
IT OCCURS IN A NEW YORK BUILD
ING WITH FEARFUL RESULTS.

A Raging Fire Adds Horror to the Terri
BILE eWreck--Thirty-ei eight Bodies Already
Taken from the Ruins and Eighty
five Persons Still UnaccOunted For.
NEW York, Aug. GA terrific explo-
sion took place at Shelly's paint and
bronze store at G8 Park Place, blowing
out the entire front of the store. At the
time the explosion occurred many of
those who worked in the building were
at lunch. 1t is estimated that more
than 140 boys, girls, men and women
were i'll the building at the time. Those
who sew the catastrophe say that the
earth trembled when the explosion oc-
CURED, and thGS the fire was in the
street in couple of seconds. The dust
from the wreck rose i'll such clouds that
for at least three minutes nothing could
be seen of what WAS left standing, but
from the pail which hovered over the
wrecked building came clouds of smoke
and sheets OF flame, and
YelIs and Shricl1s of Agony.
Out of the clouds Of fire and smoke half
q dozen persons emerged while from the
Eix-story building on the Northeast
corner Of Greenwich and Park Place
poured at least 100 working people Of
both sexes and of all ages, uttering cries
of alarm. When the fremen arrived
the Taylor building, 66 to 76 Park Place,
was ablaZe and the Greenwich extension
of the building on fire. At l o'clock the
fire was under control. Half of the
Greenwich street building had been
burned while the Taylor was a complete
wreck The losses were computed at
$3.50. .000 for the Taylor building and con-
tents and $4,000 for the Greenwich
street building. AS to the loss of life
the moro conservative estimate, that of
Fire Chief Cushman. was that
Sixty People Perished.
Persons who knew how many worked in
TIC building daily ran the list up to 130.
Scvcntv-ive Italians We're engaged all
through Saturday night and Sunday
removi> the debris from the burned
buildings on Park Place. Two COM
panics Of firemen kept at their dreary
task al searching for bodies. Their eff
forts resulted in the finding of five badly
burned corpses. The bodies We're taken
to the morgue Immediately, in the dead
wagon. These were all that were re-
covered up to 6 o'clock p. M. The
fremen and laborers worked dill
gently during the evening but made
little progress. At 8 o'clock it began
raining hard and a steady down-pour
continued for over an hour. The men
were forced to quit work and seek
shelter All through the pouring rain
however. anxious watchers stood out
side the fire lines patiently waiting to
hear of some news that would give them
O. clue to missing friends or relatives.
The Cause Not known.
just what caused this sad disaster
was discussed from every point of view
by those who visited the wrecked build
ing. One thought the building col
lapsed from jar of the machinery, and
another that it was caused by an explo-
sion. The real cause may never be
known. Three other bodies have been
taken out of the ruins, swelling the
number of those recovered to seventeen.
Thirteen out of the seventeen bodies
have been identified. Inspector Will
Jams, who has been at the scene of the
disaster almost from the first moment,
says in regard to the probable cause Of
the accident: ''There was no explosion
in that building because there was
nothing to explode. The accident was
the result of weak structure and the
incessant vibration of the heavy presses. :"
Many of the witnesses who saw the
crash say that the building slowly
bulged out in the middle until it had
formed a noticeable curve from the roof
to the ground and then it fell.
List of Missing Growing.
NEW YORK, Aug. 24.-Up to ga. m.
thirty ight bodies had been recovered
from the ruins of the collapsed building
twenty of whom have been identified.
Eighty-fve people are still reported
missing, indicating that at least 122 peo-
ple were lost in the terrible accident.