St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-08-23
Hany Lives Destroyed by a
Collapsed Building in New
York City.
Estimates Of the Loss OF Life
Run from Twenty to Two
Hundred.
a Roasting Fire Adds to the
Horror Of the Awful Ca
tastr0phe.
But Few Of the Victims SO
Far RecOvered--Many Peo-
pie Missing.

New YORK. Aug. CA most disas-
trous and terrible accident occurred
this afternoon at 1880 O'Clock in Park
place, between Greenwich street and
College place. At that time the street
was filed with huTrying people and
heavily-laden wagons and trucks. First
a small, white, vaporish cloud burst
from the ground floor OF Nos. 20, y and
"A Park place. then was heard dull,
deep, suIlen roar, as if some monster
was trying to break his bonds. The
roar was followed by an Eruption and a
mass OF brick, stone and lumber. was
hurled thirty feet heavenWaTd. The
cries of terror of men and the almost
human screams OF the horses was only a
small accompaniment OF the terrible
scene which instantly followed. Not
more than Il second could possibly
have elapsed before the front
walls of Nos. 20, - and r fell crashing
into the street To those who saw the
sight it was horribly attractive. The
great walls slowly rolled and swelled
out with an uuduiatiHg motion until,
slowly at first. but then more rapidly,
They Gave EtaT.
and in a moment there was not a stick
or a stone standing above the .irst floor
between the dividing the walls. The
walls of the buildings were Jagged as
the brick were torn out IN places. There
did not remain the slightest semblance
of what had been three seconds before
napparenhy strong and weii-cOnstTuct-
ed building. The mass of brick. stone
and timber fell upon the sidewalk
and filled half The width Of the
street. At first there was Do
sign of fire. Tile attention
of those who were gathered from all
quarters was attracted by the sound Of
The escaping steam which was spOuting
forth from q pipe which lad been
broken by the failing walls. 4 number
of electric wires had been torn down.
Fortunately, the current LaI been
turned of from all but one. but that
one wire lay In the middle IF he street
SpItefUlly flashing ont its deadly
electric fluid. The fear of the electric
wires caused the immense crowd to
surge from one side or The street TO the
other In the meantime the ire had
broken out and was licking the lower
part of No. IS. Al least fifty men had
clambered up on the pile OF ruins. hop
ing TO rescue some of the unfortunate
people who were known TO be
Buried in The Debris.
They were driven from their posts by
the fire. which was spreading rapidly.
1t had burst OUT on the other side OF the
ruins and ran rapidly up the elevator
shaft al the main entrance 10 the block
of buildings Cf which Nos. 20. = and "A
were part. For a time the Kissing
steam fought the fire. but as that died
out the flames made more Roadway. If
the fire department could have been on
the scene at the time of the explosion
the terrible effect of the ire would have
been prevented in large part As it
was. the first contingent of the depart
ment did not appear until five minutes
after the explosion. The delay was
due to the blocked condition OF surround
ing streets. 4 hose cart finally
came. n line of hose was
laid and one feeble little stream
from hvdTaut was played on the fire,
which was breaking OUT on the side next
to No 6S. Soon afterWdrd other engines
arrived. but the efforts of the depart
ment were all directed to one portion of
the fire. To those who we're watching
the slowly creeping flames the delay
N d. q LCAL 81 dill -T4tttt--l4AN Ll4E III e
burst out i'm daTklY cOlOreJ flames from
the third. fourth and fifth stories of the
building, occupied by LindSaY's type
foundry. The floors and other parts of
the place were saturated with oil or
some other lnfammabe material which
fed the flames generously. 4 murmur
ran through the thr0ng that The build
ing was lost and the multitude shud-
deTed at thinking OF the
Fate OF the Occupants
of the ruined an6 burning part of the
building. w Then q full force of tiremen
did at last get TO work, the Roadway OF
the fire was soon checked by their
skilled endeay0re. rs tile interest in
the explosion and the falling walls in a
measure subsidized. horrible cOnjectuTes
were circulated as TO now many were
injured in the ruins. " Orking people
as well as those engaged in offices and
warehouses, generally gettheirluncheOn
at noon or q little later There was a
cheap restaurant On the ground floor
of No. y. in which il was thought there
were about twenty-five persons
when the accident happened IN
the upper portion of the build
ing there was large num-
Der of working people. employed by a
firm Of IIJhOgraphers and in other
trades. u is not known how many PEG
pie were employed in the places, but
as Saturday Is recognized is Il half holl-
day. beginning at one p. M, il IS pre-
sumed that most OF them who were not
out getting something 20 eat were III
the buildings. deep feeling of horror
spread through the thrOng as estimates
OF the number of victims were passed
from mouth to mouth. For over two
hours this was almost the only subject
of inquiry; il was on the lips of every
one During the whole of those long
two hours the FIRE Teigned supreme. Ii
could not be sufficiently Subdued TO per
nit the fiTemen to make any effort tC
extricate the dead and wounded. The
number Of dead was yarl0uSly eStI-
mated at
From 20 10 200.
A cook who was employed in tho
kitchen Of the restaurant escaped from
the ruins dressed only in his under shir
and trousers. lie said: There were
i've OF MS in the kitchen and we were al
busy at work when there was grea
crash. 1t seemed as if the building fel
all about u.s. but were nos hurt. There
was q door from the basement into No
T5. but il was closed. / knocked it down
and the other cooks followed me ont
AT the sidewalk we haQ 10 crawl through
an opening in the wall which haG partll
fallen" Policeman Joseph Back, O
the Second precinct. was at West stree
and Park Place, when the explosion oc
Cured. He ran to the scene to find thu
building wrecked and burning fierce
". He said:' Il saw thai nothin!
could be done from the front, on Parl
place. and with Fireman Nredenburg
of Hook and Ladder No. 10. l wen
through a basement on Greenwich
street. We made our way TO the wall O
the wrecked building with hooks. bar
ana axes. and made a hole through til