Morning journal and courier., 1892-02-10
THE SEARCH FOR THE DEAD.

Seventeen Bodies Recovered from the
 Hotel Royal Ruins-Mrs. Van Nor
 den's Dlamo nds Found-The Jewels
 Identified by Her Husband-Origin
 of the Fire.
 NEW YORK, Feb 9.-When the search
 for bodies in the ruins of the Hotel Royal
 ended last night twelve corpses had been
 been taken to the morgue. Soon after
 midnight the work was resumed by the aid of extra electric lights, and before daylight four more bodies had been re- 1 covered, making total of sixteen victims of the fire. The first five were killed by jumping from the hotel windows on Sun day morning, seven burned bodies were taken out of the ruins yesterday and the 1 remaining four during the dark hours of this morning.
 From till 10 o'clock no more bodies were dug out. but the fire chief, Hugh Bonner, and the contractor, Galligsn, were of the opinion that the extent of the loss of human life would not be known until the walls surrounding the elevator shaft were torn down and 8 thorough examina- ton was made there. The fremen ex- pect that the discoveries in this region would swell the number of victims to twenty-five possibly.
 The cellar under the restaurant was nearly cleared out before II o'clock, and the workmen began to tear down the walls near the shaft. The contractor said that he was satisfied that there were no more bodies in the cellar, and he intended to make it a deposit for the bricks and wood work of the remaining walls. He expected that the search for bodies would be ended by tomorrow morning. All the interest then centered on the discoveries which might be made in the ruins surrounding the elevator shaft.
 The steam derrick which was set up in Fortieth street did rapid work. The la- borers also did their best to clear away the ruins, and it looked as if twenty-four hours at most would disclose the full horrors of the disaster.
 By noon the contractor and the firemen were satisfied that there were no more bodies in the restaurant cellar Still it was considered best to turn over the debris in every nook and corner. The only dis coveries made consisted of parts of cloth ing and several sets of false teeth.
 The afternoon was devoted to removing the interior walls, which prevent the work men from reaching the elevator shaft. It was evident this afternoon that all that re- mains of the hotel will have to be torn down. A part of the wall in Fortieth street was thought to be safe yesterday. but it was considered threatening this afternoon. Up to 9 o'clock p. m. no further work was done to find bodies. All the workmen were occupied in pulling down the remain ing walls.
 At 3:25 the workmen discovered foot near where body Mo- F was found. The coroner decided that it was 6 portion of the body. A few feet distant quantity of clothing was unearthed. On it was the name 70. w. Fordes." The list of missing is still increasing and hundreds of persons called at the morgue to-day to inquire for friends. It required the efforts of two po- icemen to prevent crowds ofmorbid sight seers from rushing into the morgue. The majority was composed of women.
 In the basement just back of the office Norden were found in silver, gold-lined casket. These jewels were identified by Henry J.Van Norden as the property of his missing wife. w. l.. Lewis of Mount Yer non, N. Y., who was reported as missing, is alive and we'll. Fire Marshal Mitchell to-day continued his investigation into the origin of the fire.
 Richard Meares, the proprietor of the hotel, Herbert Harding, the engineer, and Jean Necteaux, the chef, test1hed. The engineer stated that there was no fire in the kitchen and that it did not originate there. Chef Necteaux was not in the building when the fire started. When he left the kitchen the fires were banked and the pots of grease were on the back part of the range. Fire Marshal Mitchell thinks the fire originated in the elevator of the hotel as a result of the careless use of matches. He says the rubber tube leading to the elevator on being twisted | would cut off the gas supply. Every time the car made a trip past certain | point the conductor would have to re- light the jet The engineer also made an investigation with 8 lamp to see if there was a leak and he may have left a spark | to shoulder in some crevice. According to MT. Meares, at the time the fire broke out there were five men in the basement.
 Body No. 15 has been identified as that of Elizabeth Donohus, aged sixty, cham bermsid. Body No. 3 has been partially identified as that of Hattie Reynolds. En- gineer Harding of the hotel is confident No. 16 is that of Kate Reilly, who worked in the hotel and to whom he was engaged. It is thought no more bodies will be re- covered before morning.