The Red Cloud chief., 1891-08-28
AWFUL DISASTER.
Boiler Explosion In . Basement at
New York
The BUILDING FALLS TO The GROUND
The Ruins Take Fire and . HesrtresdiaG
Loes Of Life Results Bodiss Of the Viz
tins sh~oekinEiy Barned-Ths Dead
Thought TO He my.

WV YORK, Aug. "A NEST disas-
trous and terrible explosion occurred
Saturday afternoon n ie:3c o'clock in
Park place. between Greenwich street
and College place, just at the time when
the street was filed with hurrying peo-
pie and heavily laden wagons and
trucks
without . moments warning q whole
block Of buildings S%warming with busy
workmen collapsed as the result Of u
mysterious explosion. and an appalling
loss Of life Is beyond all doubt
The number Of the dead Is v~ariously
estimated at from fifteen 10 fully \
hundred and only a thorough search OF
the ruins will establish the full extent
of the calamity.
Fire added To the horror Of the situa-
ton and some of the bodies of the vic
Tins may never he recovered
In the restaurant on the ground fioor
Of No. -, which WAS kept by ]. Peter
son, there were n crowd of persons Mt
lunch The number is estimated at
the time of the explosion al between
twenty-five and thirty-fvc. Then there
were a number OF girls in the wash
room in the basement
Tripps 4 Co, druggists at 20 and -
Park place, also had n large number Of
employees
First n small. white. vaporish cloud
burst forth from the ground floor ~ ~.
- and - Park place; hen was heard n
dull, deep, sullen oar This was fol
lowed by an eruption and n mass of
brick. stone and timber was hurled
thirty feet heavenwa ard.
No more than a second could posi-
bly, have elapsed before the front walls
street The great walls slowly rolled
and swelled out with on undulating
motion until they gave way and in n
moment there was not a stick or IA stone
standing abeve the first floor between
the dividing walls.
The walls of the standing buildings
were jagged. as the bricks were torn out
in places. They did not retain the
slightest scmblance Of what had been
three seconds before an apparently
strong and well constructed building
The mass of brick, stone aud timber
fell upon the sidewalk and fillci half
the width of the street.
Suddenly fire burst out in darkly
cOlorcd flames from The third, fourth
and fifth stories of that part of the
building on Park place next Ia Green
witch street occupied by Iindsay's type
foundry. The floors and the other parts
of the place were saturated with oil or
other iniiamInable matter which fed
the flames generously. A murmur ran
through the thropg that the build
ing was lost and the multitude shud-
dcred at thoughts of the fate of the
occupants of the ruined and burning
part Of the building.
AS soon n the flames were under
control the work of recovering the
bodies of the unfortunate persons who
were buried beneath the ruins was be-
gun by about forty fircmcn. who
climbed upon the great heap Of bricks
that filed the street.
After twenty minutes work the men
saw the dead body Of n man down in
the heap OF brick, and then cleared
AWAY IA Ia III di tSNbiilNiiIE Ni'tt
space of time. At 2:20 o'clock the body
was recovered. II was burned and
charred so that the features were un-
recognizable.
About fifteen minutes after the first
body was taken ont the frernen came
across another body Of n man lying
under n piece of the roofing near the
side entrance. The man was apparently
80 years old. Ills legs. hands and face
were badly burned.
Other bodies were brought up at
various times. the remains being fear.
fully burned.
Thirteen out Of seventeen bodies re-
covered have been identified.
The opinion prevails that less than
half of the bodies have so far been re-
covered from the wreck, and IL Is
thought that altogether not less than
CITY Spuls were killed i'm the disaster.