The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-08-27
Much Indignation at The Hardness in
EIhuming the Victims.
STATEMENTS OF TWO EYE WITNESSES.
The Collapse Certainly Preceded bv an Ex-
pIosIon--A Fund 20 be Raised for the
Sufferers.

/ day. Up 10 s o'clock this morning only liiy..
| seven bodies had been taken out. andf
although many others are plainly visible,
mixed up with the debris. the men ht Work
/ ago pOwerless % remove them on ac-
count oi the want Of the proper appliances
4 Many ~ the bodies are hold down by the
! heavy presses. which il viii be impossible TO
remove without the requisite machinery
These appliance are promised % he used To-.
! dar. when 4 is hoped that the work Of
/ exunmug tho bodies will 20 on more rapidly
! The bodies tlet have been recovered are
( simply Is shapelees mass Ot charred putril
flesh. n many instances moving mass or
maggOts. md 10 IL Impossible 10 recognize
/ them by tl cir features. the identity IN most
! instances being made by the clot es, OF some
! paper OK watch or something IN the pockets
! The stencil of decaying bodies last night was
( horrible onl IT vas almost impossible to
/ breathe within tho fire lines without some
| c0untGracfinK OdOr 10 inhaIo. There were
! one hundred and twenty-five 'ongsnoremen
/ at work all last night. 4 large crowd Of
watchers keep constant vigil.
one Of the bodies Identified to-day was that
| of john Hylard, aged sIxty-lve o, Penn y an.
| y >. He was waiting his son IN TINS CITY,
! and Went on TO got lun, h Iust before the dis-
aster Z is supposed he happened 10 60 INTO
peterson's restaurant. A short time after he
left his son received telegram announcing
the death Il his mother, wife OF the above
named. at Penn Yan.
AN EYE WITNESS STATEMENT.
G.. c. Shelley, proprietor OF q printing es-
tablishment. who occupied the fourth and
! fifth floors Of the hui ding adjoining the ray
| lor building on the east in an interview with
n reporter Of the L nited Press to-day said.
was III IEy Office when the crash came, aud
eight Of my employees were working at tho
cases by windows overlooking, the, Iay-
! ior building As soon as i heard the
noiso | started toward the sound and
not over five seconds elapsed before
! was in fuli view Of the catastrophe. By the
/ time I reached the window the atmosphere
was full Of q dense fog. unlike dust, but more
like the vapor from gas or voiAtne OH SUD
! denly touched on. | also heard report siIni-
lar to that of gun before the walls toppled
! over. In Il few seconds more flames snot up
| from the ruins. accompanied by a. smoke
| which follows the sudden igniting Of naphtha
or benAne.
CERTAINLY AN EXPLOSION.
am satisfied that al explosion occurred,
! and the testimony OF my employees tOthe elect
! that the root appeared TO rise several feet and
| then 20 down. seems TO corroborate what
| heard / believe IN the first place that the
| building was weak and was Oyerburdened
with weight. Several of the number Of Hoe
| lithographc presses which are twice as heavy
as ordinary printing presses, weighed at least
| ten tons each BeBides there were number
1
NOUS dead weight of paper on the upper
floors it only needed something 70 precipltstc
| the fall Of the building. L 20 something
came with the result above mentioned.
A printer working near q window directly
! back of the rear wall corr0DOraied Mr. Nhel-
! ley's statement regarding the luminous fog.
He states that the first iutimation nc mad Was
a report. and then tho top OF the rear wal
bulged out aud fell backward and not toward
the street. He says that there Is no doubt
that the lower portion Of the front wall gave
way hrst.
BURIAL or THE BODIES.
The mayor has AUTHORIZED tho commission
ers Of charities 10 prOc1re a suitable plot IN
some cemetery 70 decenuy inter all the un-
identified bodies There are now twenty
three OF them At the mOrgue that must O0
buried by Friday, owing to their advanced
stage Of decomposition The mayor this after
noon appointed q committee OF prominent
citizens TO receive subscriptions tor the VIC
tins Of the disaster. Reporters of oil the daily
newspaper have been appointed on the com
mittee. In the afternoon twenty barrels If
benzine and other oils were found intact IN
the basement of No. II. Eire-Chlet eastman
took samples from each barrel and forwarded
them TO the bureau of cOmbustibles for an
analysis. The coroners and the fire depart
ment officials are well satisfied that the search
for bodies is virtually over and the long agony
and suspense is nearly ended.
IDENTIFYING THE DEAD.
AT an early hour to-day disconsolate men
and women gathered around the mCrgue and
made inquiries about their missing friends.
The odor that arises from the mOrgue causes
many to keep at good distance. The black
wagon arrived about O'Clock bringing fouT
male bodies, and there was rush 20 identify
them. The bodies were put with the twenty
four that are yet unidentified. Out ot
total of fifty four bodies at the mOrgue there
are eight females The first body identified
TO-DAY was that Of Mary keddln, Of Brooklyn.
She was q woman employed IN the book
bindery of Ellis and Mcdonald. Dennis Sulh-
van identified the body of his slxteen-y -year-old
son George. Body number ffty-nine was
recognized as that of Morris HarriDg. OF
Jersey City, head salesman for Osborne "
Burke, Barclay street. BE was at luncheon
in the restaurant at the time Of the collapse.
THE MORROW WAS HER BRIDAL DAY.
Jennie Flower. the Young woman who was
10 be married on Sunday the day alter the
disaster, was identified 10y her step-father.
Lizzie Dowd. aged twenty-three years, was
identified by Mrs. Main. The body OF ". u.
Schell. litbo grapher and twenty-five years OF
age was identified by his mother. The body
OF Louis Rosenfeld, of Rosenfeld X Co., was
identified by hs partner by hls watch and
chan and lOcket The moTgue Keeper hal
bis attendants take q barrel Of chloride ot
lime and place il around the mOrgue IN small
tin pans The eject was instantaneous.
The scene around the little building today
was even more pitiful than il was yesterday
or at any time yet. Crowds blocked the
streets aud the entrance g. the gloomy place
is constantly filed making it difficult for the
attendants 10 get in sad out. The moment
tho dead wagon arrives there Is mad rush
byinQuiring friends bent on getting some clue
10 missing relatives and dear ones. some OF
the bodies that haya not been identified were
buried this afternoon.
ALI TIE RODnfs TAKVS OUT.
The worst is known about the Park Place
disaster Slxty-one bodies have been taken
out. and the announcement - made that there
ara no more in the ruins. At 2 o'clock thus
afternoon Acting Fire Chief Kelly sad
that the search for the dead IN the
ruins was completed and that no more
bodies remained there Work was az once
stopped, and the iaboTers employed IN clear
inc out the debris were discharged. The
verified list Of the missing shows thirty
five persons unaccouhted for. Inc num-
Der of unidentified dead taken from
the ruins is eighteen. Eighteen OF inc
missing persons are represented OY the
unknown dead aud there seventeen IN
accounted for They are not IN the ruins.
II not comes the natural query from every
side. where are theyy The theories are ad-
vanced that owing 10 the nerco,
ness of the flames, which RACED
several hours, some OF tho bodies
were entirely consumed. Coroner Hanley
said this afternoon ne would lmpanel Jury