The record-union., 1891-08-25
THE PARK PLACE DISASTER.
THIRTY-FOUR BODIES RECOVERED
FROM THE RUINS.
TIE Accident Believed to Have Been
Caused by the Enormous Weight
of Machinery.
Special to the REcoRD-Uv1ox.

New YORK, Aug. 24.-The scene of the
| Park Place disaster to-day presents curl
Gus contrasts. Just outside the ropes
keeping back the throngs the busy pulse
of city life beats as ordinarily, though
life and death are close together. The
character Of the crowd has changed from
yesterday. 1t changes all the time 1t is
made up of curiosity seekers. Only a
very small portion is yitally interested in
what goes on within the ropes. The
fathers, mothers, husbands and wives Of
! those who may be underneath the black
ruins have long ago given up any hope.
| The crowd follows closely the movements
| of those working inside. Now and again
! the black morgue wagon or an under
| takers cart drives through the crowd, and
| the people stare to get a view of it's con-
| tents, and all the time the people are
| eGging up nearer, and then the police
with drawn clubs drive the crowd back
with threats.
The work Of delving for the dead in the
| ruins continued throughout the night,
/ during which five bodies were found.
The body of Ernest II. Shaddock of
/ Brooklyn was found. An Italian work
ing in the ruins was seen to take some
thing from the body OF the victim, and q
silver watch was found upon the Italian,
which he admitted taking. The police
took him to the station, and Oh his way
| narrowly escaped lynching. He has
! been held for trial.
| At the Morgue there is a constant stream
! of people looking for their friends or rela-
! tives among the dead. a sickening odor
/ from the burned bodies pervades the at
mosphere.
1t is now thought the faulty construc-
ton of the building was the cause of the
accident.
BY noon, two more bodies were found.
So far only the edge Of the ruins was
searched. The 1iremen believe at least
fifty bodies are still under the debris. Il
Is thought by tomorrow afternoon all the
bodies will be recovered.
Six more bodies were found IN the ruins
at 3 o'clock, five of which bodies were
women or girls and one that of a boy.
Three We're identified by friends.
District Attorney Nichclsis considering
the question Of indicting the person or
| persons responsible for the disaster. After
song consultation with his chief assist
! ant, eN-Judge Bedford, he placed the case
in the hands of Assistant District At
| torncy Townsend.
BY q o'clock two more bodies had been
! recovered.
The odor of decomposing flesh that
arises from the ruins is becoming almost
unbearable, and disinfectants seem to
! produce but little effect.
City Chamberlain Train. whose mother
owned the wrecked building, said, to-
| day, regarding its conditions: at WAS
/ built in 1872. and acquired by my mother
! In 1857. ! have always understood that
! IT was well constructed, and had never
] been condemned. Nor was it considered
unsafe. Regarding the claim that the
/ stock of material and heavy presses on
! the upper floor caused it TO collapse
J Ftasa,-rN - Il
/ been USED for the same purpose ii was
used for at the time of the fire. From
what | have been able 10 learn think
/ the cause of the accident was fire, fol-
! lowed by the explosion"
! a man who has been engaged for
thirty-tive years in placing printing
machinery in position, said to-day: The
! presses of Ellis d Mcdonald and Leibler
q Mas were so placed that the vibration
ran with the beams and rafters, and that
/ the eight-inch resting place was insult
! ficlent TO support the enormous weight
on IT. On the third floor alone" he said,
/ stood nearly forty tons of machinery"
Louis Rosenfield, proprietor of the
paint store at 20 Park Place, has been
missing since shortly after the disaster
and relatives think the fearful scenes he
witnessed after the crash came unsettled
! his mind, and he strayed away. They
! have SO reported to the police.
TWO more bodies were recovered at IL
! O'Clock. But little progress was made in
! the excavation tonight. At midnight
total of thirty-four bodies had been re-
| covered. OF these twenty are identified.
The total number reported of missing is
eighty-eight.
The full list of identified bodies is as
/ follows: Leonard Cole, John Gibbs,
Sarah Ann Hoeghney, Michael Slattery,
Andrew b. Peterson, George Low,
! Gustav Ieikler, Jacob Heidenrich,
| Charles Brother, Otto Walser, Frank
Hach, Abraham Derschopki, Gustav
! Steiner, JohmSteinke, Edward Shaddock,
Maggie Quinn, Lottie Helm, Mamie Will
Jams, Mary Deinlein, Conrad Schmidt.