The state herald., 1891-08-28
THE FALL OF A BUILDING.
Fifty Persons Supposed to Have Been
Killed In the Collapse,

Killed In the Collapse.
A dreadful catastrophe fraught
with great loss Of life occurred In New
York City shortly after the noon hour
last Saturday. Men, women and children,
who after weeks weary toll, within but
few minutes of their usual Saturday
half holiday, met death withouts Q word
Of warning by the fall of Taylor's build
Ing, Nos. 6S and 10 Park Place. Any
where from thirty to fifty persons were
killed. Six had been taken out dead at
$3.50 O'Clock, and those only from the
edge Of the street. How many are In the
ruins nobody knows. Neither Is 1t known
what caused the collapse. 1t may have
been an explosion, or the building may
have fallen because 1t was overweighted,
or by the vibration of the printing presses.
The building was condemned thirteen
years ago. Some persons said that the
boiler in the basement exploded.
Whatever 1t was, the wreck was com
plete and the havoc awful. The whole
front wall Of the building was torn out
and dashed into heap Of ruins, which
extended entirely across, and partially
blocks the street Following tho crash
came an outburst of flame, and in ten
minutes all that was left of the building
was sea Of fire.
The fall Of tho building was followed by
one OF the swiftest and dercest fires known
In New York for many y day. The fire.
men with great difficulty hold the flames
In check and kept them from licking up
three or four OF the surrounding buildings.
Roundsman John G. Taylor OF the Fifth
precinct tells the following story
"a was on my way home to luncheon
ho said. at was about 1880 or l2:45
o'clock. 1 had reached the corner Of
Chambers street and College place when
l heard the clang Of the ambulance and
the rafting Of fire engines. ] Immediately
hurried in the direction they were TAX
ing. The stroet was filled with excited
persons all running in one direction. l
finally reached the scene Of the disaster.
AT that time Nos. 20 and ~ were in flames
and the other buildings had fallen. l
thought that probably number of persons
had been buried in the ruins, so went
down to Greenwich street in the rear OF
the buildings. l climbed On mass Of
wreckage and thought that heard some
one moaning. put my ear to the wal
and heard some one cry out: 'Oh, God
Oh, for an axer Take heart, cried, Il
will fetch you one'
"Then / rushed up the street where l
knew there was hardware store. won't
in the store and ordered them to got out
all the axes in the place. They gave me q
dozen axes. ! hurried with them TO the
scene Of the disaster. As soon as they
saw me with the axes they rushed up TO
and seized them. l took one myself and
we began to beat down the wslls.i We
could hear those poor fellows in there
moaning tell you It was something ter
rible. The walls were tough and did not
yield instantly. Finally we concentrated
all our exertions In one place and 1t gave
way. We made O hole about three feet
big. 1t opened into the basement Of the
building. A great gust Of hot wind burs
out into our faces and we staggered back
God knows how they lived in that furnace.
"The first to come out was a woman, q
weak, pretty little thing, with pale checks
and an ugly burn on her face. Then came
another woman. The men in that hel
stood back to let the women out first
Then came the men, fifteen In all OF them.
There were seventeen in that one place.
They all came out safely. They did not
walt to say anything, but scampered Oh to
their homes, They wcrc all burned in
places about their heads and bodies"
Up to Sunday night seventeen bodies
had been rescued. But slow progress
could be made on accout of the heavy tim
bers and machinery.