The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1891-09-03
REEKING WITH MAGG0TS.
BODIES NOW BEING TAKEN FROM THE
RUINS LITERALLY ALIVE.
While the Heads of the New York Depart
ments are Disputing as to Who shall
Pay the Bills the Unfortunate
Dead are Rotting.

NEW YORK, Aug. 2G.-The total
number of bodies recovered from
the Park Place ruins up to $50
this morning was fifty-eight. Two
more bodies were recovered at 7:30
this morning. At o'clock the body
Of man was found and at 1890
o'clock the body of a young woman.
"Any one here looking for sister,
mother or friend? If so step
to the coffin and identify
this BODY This was the command
that Jared the strained nerves of the
watchers beside the death pit last
night as each body was brought out.
1t was Il mere form of law, Il hooking
formula to shield the fearful criminal
ity of incompetent authorities. If
the readers Of the horrible tale which
this past nights vigil beside the sod
den open grave of these unfortunate
men and women reveals, could have
answered this summons of the police
captain, and mingling with the small
crowd of mOurners, gathered around
the plain coffin, caught glimpse of
the mangled remains, or headless
trunk and sometimes a mere
handful of rotting bones held
together by shreds of garments
and torn flesh, such readers would
realize the awful crime resulting from
the incompetent management and
heartless indifference Of those who
should have taken the fearful con-
dition of affairs in hand on the first
night Of the calamity. Every body
recovered last night was q reeking
nest of maggots. That human be-
ings should have so far forgot their
duty to the dead as to leave them rot
ting and purifying in this vast
mouldy pit for three days, if presented
as an incident in romance, would be
condemned as a violation off
decency and an insult even to
mans imagination. Yet such were
the revelations which last nights
labor caused and further proved that
these horrors could have been averted
II proper decency and common hui
manity rules at all among men. There
should be no mercy for such criminal
The heads of the various
city departments seem to have been
more anxious that the expense attend |
ing the work should not be charged |
to their particular accounts than that
the bodies of the dead should be re-
covered before all chance of identifi-
cation was gone. Ever since Satur-
day night the work of clearing
out the ruins has been greatly |
delayed by the presence of a huge |
of debris, blocking up the
street in front and leaving no place to
deposit the wreckage taken out; and |
yet it was not until last night that
any steps toward removing the block
AIDE were taken, and only then be-
cause the city contractor stepped in
and offered to pay for the work him
self, if the city officials could not de-
eide which department should pay
the bill. The pile of wreckage in the |
street is now rapidly disappearing.
but no city official is to be thanked.
At l:3O o'clock this afternoon Fire
Chief Reilly announced that the
search for the dead in the ruins
was completed, and that no more
bodies remained there. The work
was at once stopped. The depart
ment of public works will continue it's
work of clearing the debris from tile
street. The police records give the
number Of dead bodies taken from the
Park Place ruins up to o'clock this
afternoon as sixty-one. OF these seven
bodies were identified Immediately
after being discovered and wore
taken direct to undertakers or TO
their homes. There were fifty-four
bodies taken to the morgue, and Of
these thirty-three were identified
There remain twenty-one bodies un-
identified.