The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-08-23
DEADLY EXPLOSION
A Building at Park Place, New
York, Blown Up.
MANY PEOPLE WERE KILLED
Fire Added Horror TO the Accident-Charred
AemaIns or the Nictims-A Little Girls
Narrow Escape.

Place, between Greenwich street and Col
lege Place. At the time the street was
filled with people and heavily laden wagons
and trucks. A small vaporish cloud was
seen to burst from the ground floor of 90,
a and ~ Park Place, followed by dull,
sullen roar. This was followed Immediately
by an eruption. and masses of stone. brick
ana timber were hurled thirty feet in the
air. Then the front walls of the buildings
at Nos. 1074 fell, crashing into the street,
leaving not the slightest semblance of what
had been there a second before-on appar-
emily strong and well-constructed build
ing. The mass of falling brick and timber
halt filled the screet. At first there was no
sign of fire. The falling walls broke the
steam pipe, from which steam was pouring
forth. A number Of electric wires were
torn down, tut fortunately the current was
turned off from all but one Crowds
made the street almost impossible. Fire
was now seen to be breaking out at
No. 16. A large number of men
who had clambored upon the ruins to as
sist the wounded. People in getting out
of the building were forced from their
posts by the fire, which was spreading rap
idly. Owing to the blocked condition of
the neiehboring streets the fire department
could not get to the buildings for several
minutes Finally one small stream from a
hydrant played on the side next to 6S. Soon
after the engines arrived and all directed
their efforts toward the one side of the
building. Suddenly flames burst from the
third, fourth and fifth stories of that part
OF the building on Park Place, next to
H-ig.ke
Type foundry. The floor was saturated
with oil, which fed the flames generously.
A murmur ran through the throng as they
thou ght Of the fate of the occupants of the
ruined and burning part Of the building.
When full force of iremen at last got TO
work they soon checked the flames
Horrible conjectures now began to be
circulated regarding the probable number
OF injured in the ruins. Workmen, clerks
ana others Of the neighborhood, generally
get lunch about the hour the accident hap
pened. On the ground floor of No "a there
was a cheap restaurant in which it was
thought there were about twenty five per-
sons when The accident happened In the
upper portion Of the building there were
large number OF persons employed. 1t is
not known how many were employed in
the building, but it was thought probable
most of those employed there were in ths
building at the time of the accident. For
lhO NUTS IuS OOlA SUBJECT OF INQUIRY DIV
those who thronged the streets was as to
how many were killed or injured. 1t was
, fully two hours before the fire could be
sufficiently subdued TO allow the fremen
to make the least effort to extricate the
dead and wounded from the ruins The
number OF dead was variously estimated at
from fifty to two hundred Policeman
Peck, who got into the kitchen under the
restaurant through the plumbing shop,
said he hauled three bodies from there and
that in the basement he saw at least fifty
bodies dead and wounded.
Dominick Burke, a cook employed IN the
restaurant escaped from the kitchen He
said there were five persons busy at work
in the kitchen, when there was a great
crash. 1T seemed as if there was whole
building falling about us,n said he ''but
hone of US was hurt. There was a door
from the basement into No. 16, but it was
closed. ] knocked it down and the others
followed me out We crawled through an
opening in the wall which had partly
fallen"
Policeman Joseph Peck was near thu
building when the explosion occurred He
ran TO the scene and found the building
wrecked and burning tercely. He said
81 saw nothing could be done from the
front and with one of the tiremen went
through the basement on Greenwich street
with hooks, bars and axes We made a
building through which we took three of
the employees from the kitchen of the res
taurant. We could see others fast in the
runs but could not assist them, being pre-
vented By smoke ana flames"
Jacob Schleslnger, employed in q build
Ing on the opposite side of the street. said
there must have been at least a hundred
persons in the building when the explosion
occurred. He saw dozen or more girls
nj the windows of one of the offices on the
third floor just rs the building fell
Various persons who were in the neigh
borhood of the ruined buildings when the
accident occurred give accounts of the
scene at the time of the fall. They saw
one or more persons who were undou btedly
killed or injured. The persons seen were
in different parts of the building. accord
ing to the portion of the street on which
the observer stood.
II. A. Stahl, formerly employed Lieber
Mass, saw the crash. 81 knew most of
the men employed there,n said he a re-
cognlzed one of them, Louis Bernard, as
be fell into the street with the wall He
dropped with shower of bricks from the
fourth story. When he struck the ground
he scrambled to his feet and got away,
but is now ut the hospital badly Injured. /
saw many others go down when the front
wall fell but bid not recognize them: thew
were all killed.
AS soon as the t1amas were under control
the work OF recovering the bodies of the
unfortunate persons buried beneath the
ruins was begun. The flremen worked
like hends. After twenty minutes work.
the dead body of one man was found,
burned and chsrred so that his features
were unrecognizable. Fifteen minutes
lster another charred body was found.
Just then a low moan was heard, coming
from Gnuer the feet of party of rescuers.
After working for nearly twenty minutes.
a little girl, still alive, but badly cut and
burned, was lifted from the ruins AS her
rescuer raised her up in his arms she
liftea her eyes to a window on the opposite
side of the street, and called out in piteous
tones; There's my mamma" 1t was, in
deed, the child's mother, who, upon seeing
her child, became so frantic with Joy that
only the efforts of persons standing near
her prevented her from jumping out Of the
window. AS the tiremen placed the little
glrl In the hospital ambulance she told
them her brother and sister were both
under the bricks, dead. 1t seems she was
playing in front of the building at the time
of the explosion. Another BODY. fearfullv
burned, was taken from the ruins about
o'clock. Almost Immediately after. the
bodies of little boy and girl were found.
They were recognized as the children of
Eugene Heagney, plumber, and were the
brother and sister mentioned by the little
girl taken out alive.
AT O'Clock tonight an entrance to the
cellars and vaults under the sidewalks was
effected. Workmen labored with great
difficulty, as the ruins are still hot and in
the cellar there are five feet of water. Two
bodies more or less burned were taken ont
near the front of the building second
descent into the cellar at half past Q re-
suited IN seeing three bodies, which it was
impossible to move, as they were down