Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1891-12-09
LIFE CRUSHED OUT.
Wall of Burned Building at st. Paul
Fall s-Score of Workmen Buried
Men Employed in Clearing Away the
Ruins Bnried by a Mass of Bricks and
Mortar-Ten Bodies Recovered-Cause
of the Disaster.

ST. PAUL, Mimi, Dec. 4.-The most
horrible accident that ever occurred in
ST. Paul took place shortly after l o'clock
to-day, when the center wall of the
west section of the Shepard build
ing, recently occupied by Farwell,
Ozmun q Kirk, fell in, burying the
Workmen beneath the ruins. There
were supposed to have been fifteen
men beneath the wall at the time it
fell, and the majority of them were
killed, or received injuries which will
probably prove fatal.
All the pa rol wagons in the city we're
at once summoned, and Chief Clark,
with Chief Jackson and Assistant Chief
Martin, attempted to organize the
laborers who were not under the
wall and get them to work removing
the dead and injured. The men were
wild with excitement, however, and it
was long time before more than half q
dozen could be induced to 90 to work.
The others ran back and forth
around the building, shouting to each
other and uttering imprecations against
the contractors, or stood gazing blankly
at the ruins. The group that finally
went to work in less than half an hour
had taken out ten men, five of whom
were killed and five injured, one SO Sc
vereiy that the physicians said he could
not live until he reached the hospital.
By this time a larger gang had been
put to work and the work of removing
the debris went on rapidly.
Contractor Wilcox was taken out
dead and mangled beyond recognition.
His head was mashed to a pulp.
The wounded were taken to the city
hospital in the patrol wagon and
the dead, with the exception of
one man, were laid out in
the great Northern freight house.
Hundreds of people, including many of
the workmen, viewed the remains, but
not one was able to identify any of
the men. Finally the name of one
of the dead laborers was as
certained to be Chris Larson.
Lauer, the foreman of the gang, was
about the building, but was frantic
with grief and excitement and
could not tell the names of
any OF the men, though he
knew them all. Neither could he tell
the exact number of men under the
wall at the time it fell.
The cause of the accident, as
as near as can be learned, was
that the wall, which was much weak
ened by the fire, became top heavy from
the large amount of debris removed
from the bottom, and fell over of it's
own weight. For some time it has been
considered dangerous by people
who freqnented the place, but
the contractors who examined
1t pronounced the wall sound, and the
men continued to work without fear of
accident. The wall had appeared
nrm, and gave no sign of weaken
ing up to the time of the
fall, when it came down in heap with
out a seconds warning. The excava-
tons about the base have been carried
on very rapidly, and the greater part of
the debris had been removed.
1t was sight never to be for
gotten as the dead and injured
were taken out, some Of them
of the men, supposed to have been
sub-foreman, was taken out in his
fur coat nothing but his feet and
limbs being visible. His head and
body appeared to be crushed
out of all shape. There were men
with all their limbs broken and faces
bruised and crushed out of all sem blance
of humanity. Others were not 80 badly
mangled but had evidently been instant
ly killed by the bricks falling on their
heads. Of those who were wounded
and taken to the hospital two were able
to sit up in the wagon on the way, and
these are tie only ones who will -ecov-
er.
At o'clock ten bodies had been TAX
en- from the ruins.