New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-02-09


the scene of the Park Place disaster. Police ana
Firr Department officials. insuranc' men and others
connected with the case were about as ignorant oi
what the origin of the fire was, where 1t started
and how many wcr, killed. as they we're at thc
r,o,,or,blc accident last August No one hal pos
1.-Two LnowIndce Of ANYTHING. No one knew what
tcyriblc sights might he laid bare TO the light at
,rv minnie The ONLY thing that any one. from
tho HIGHEST official 20 the lowest. did know pos
i+ivolv was that down there in that tahgled'
hot muddy. smoking mass Of iron, wood. prlcN'
stonc mortar. and burnt clothes and rags, 1here
certainly we're some bodies perhaps many ln,i''
ror, the efforts of every one were aiineu "i.o-
rethcr at the digging ont of tho dfeadi"iiS "i'-
figured dead. who had lost their lives 30 Su'''"''
and so cruelty. ~
A., : o'clock in the morning tho work ncsa"'
Tho frcmen had been throwing water Oh 'he rui''
! all through the night, and when the wv i' " ',!
/ Ioborcrs furnished under contract pN J. l "''
can. arrived they started digging al o".c' '.,
from that time on bit by bit, the purh' p'''-'
lumber tin roofing, and the huge hopcie7' ma"
of rubbsh were piled on the opposite siu. y, VI
ticth-st. along Bryant Park, ana i'll 'iN."
tot,yccn the ear tracks and tine curb Stea"liy 'hc
hills Of removed wreckagc grew, ana py noon '''rS
were fifteen feet high, ehutting out all view oi '"c
ruins from the street. In the morning lot ol
Iumbcr fin roofing. and part Of a brick wall were
| iomnocd togcther in an apparently lncNtrcape
! milo in the centre of the ruins ms lorhe' /"
s,rious obstacle for hours, and in the afternoon
ybcn il WAS partly removed. it was fouhd 'Ia' IL
! hid bodies from view. >
livery few minutes during thr day ar'icc' Vi
! clotbirg icwelry, trunks, vallses ana pai+'''
all burned badly and soaked and soddeh Wi.h
y,tcr were found by the wOrkmcn. All thesc 'rlce'
wore taken across TO the opposite slde ol roi-
teth st.. where they were piled against 'le ram
mos Of Dryant Park The collection last evening
had reached such proportions that baSgaee-""-on
was necessary to take thcm 10 '"' -'i"'
procinct Police station in Thirtieth-st. between
sivtb and Seventh aves. where they may ne seen
and examined. g, =. a
,rfprI, s,,cocstivc objects, a number OF unplahed
nine boxes from the Morgue, for holding the dead
| hdioe thot mrht he found. The collins dlI nou
mood to wait in vain nor did they wait long. -Four
Of them were filed yesterday before O'CLOCK ana
whcn evening came there were other drrldfni
obicc,s half seen under the timbcrs, which those
who approached could see were more bodies.
The first body was found at o'clock IN inc
morning by a fireman He was sent up 10 'he
fourth story of the Fortiethst. wing. which Is
thr only one still left standing, TO look Tor Dodles
still there His search fruitless until he
reached one Of the outer rooms. when an eXclama-
lion Of horror told those below that he had found
somcfhinr lie came down and said that
vomon's body was at tho window. in kneellng
position. as though in prayer, and that, though
,hc was almost burned to pieces, yet Ill her
backcned features there lay an expression Oh
deadly terror That she fearfully burned
beyond all powers of description, was found when
the body was brought down. II was not taken
down when il was found by the fireman, because
the walls began 10 totter, and IL was decided 10
wait for the arrival of a self supporting ladder
II was recovered then. but it was so badly burned
that tie iircmen hai to put it in n cloth and lower
il TO the street by a rope The body was taken
10 tie other 81 lc of the street and laid III colin
NO 6.
The next body that of man, and 1t was
found at 1915 n. H., lying head down wlth one
lcg pointing into the air in the rubbish under the
wrecked dining room This man had some cloth
ine on, which may help TO identify him, though
his face i. also recognizable His body and lower
limbs. however. were sho kinglN burned lie was
apparently about thrty-liVe years Old, five feet
seven inches in height, had dark musiache and
wore dark clothes and cotton undcrshrt. He
had i'm his clothing "A gold double case watch OF
American make, with a link chain, with a heavy
Love and Truth lie WAS pu, in coffin No. :.
shortly aft,rward, when the'.abor'rs were dig
ring about ten feet away from where the man
had been found, orc of them saw another object
that looked like body, and when the rubbish
had been removed il found to be that Of
n woman. She was taken out at IL 80 n. m
and put IN coffin No. :. She was apparently
about thrty-iivc years old, five feet two inches IN
lcil7t. and had nothing on. Under her hody were
found Il black cambria skirt bunch of pass Keys
badly defaced by fire, smal, bottle Of cologne Ill
a case and a check book on which was written
the name of G. A. Huhy Philadelphia. Near her
were a pair of womcn's shoes. leather trunk. and
a vaisr. licr face and body were badly burned
Ten minutes aftcrward the laborcrs gathered
around one SPOT again. and the watchers knew
that another body in sight. Again the Dody
vas under the ruins of the diaingroom, AMI when
il wa, recovered it was found that ii was another
woman She wa apparently about thlrty-hVe years
olI and five feet two inches in height. she had
bluc cycs false upper teeth and was dressed III
"A Garnet colored wrapper of silk with buttons oi tle
same kind of material. In the pocket OF her
wrapper WAS a Hotel Royal envelope, with $50
in bills in it, and in the same pocket was small
KEY The body apparently that OF a woman
who had been handsome. The place where she was
cound vyas near the corridor leading to the street
She Mas put in coffin No. ..
After the recovery of this body. interest IN Inc
proceedings grew ntcrse, for a.! feared that place
had been reached where many had
crowdtl together in vain hope OF Ind
in,, an outIct Shortly after the body
was found however, Chief Bonner suddenly
ordered the work t. be stopped, and the laborcrs
were called away because danger was threatened
lliqh up. the bIachcncd and broken west wall had
lrcn seen 30 move, as if II was about TO fall.
n woe decided that the safest thing 10 do W0uld
hc to mil it down, and two hremen were ordered
IA roount 70 the top and place cables around the
wall. Thi, they did with great dilicaty and urder
dangcrou, and trying conditions, bat AZ last they
succeeded When they had come down, the ropes