St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-07-12
RUBBISH UNEMPLOYED.
IMPOSSIBLE TO REALIZE THE EXTENT
or THE CHICAGO DISASTER.
SIXTEEN KNOWN TO BE DEAD.
Charred Bodies Yet Resting
Under a Mountain of Twisted
Pipes and Machinery Sad
Scenes at the Morgue-Inquest
Postponed.


CHICAGO, July 1.-THE fall of night
still finds the ruins of the cold storage
building uneXplored, and it is just be-
ginning to be realized that the full ex-
tent of yesterdays disaster cannot be
ascertained until the mountain of rub
bish is sifted and carted away: At some
points the accumulation of debris is
fifteen to twenty feet high, and it is i'm
possible to know how many charred
bodies may rest beneath until these
heaps have been thoroughly examined.
The search is necessarily slow and
edious, owing to the vast amount of
iron and machinery that encumbers the
ruins and the ineXtricable network of
rods and bars formed by the intense
heat. The complete list Of dead SO far
as known is as follows:
Capt. James Fitzpatrick, Lieut.. John
II. Freeman. William Denning, Phillip
B. Breen. Capt. James A. Garvey, John
Mcbride, John Cahill, Paul Schroeder,
Capt. Burton E. Page. Lieut.. Charles
Purvis, John A. Smith, John Campbell,
Edward Fowler, Jasper Stanford, of
Buffalo, KY; R. A. Drummond, John
Murphy, Charles Hutton.
Lewis j. Frank, one of the injured
firemen, is in a precarious condition to-
night, and the doctors at the hospital
ara fearful of his recovery. The other
injured men are in fair way to get
well. In all thirteen bodies have been
Removed From tIae Ruins.
Besides these. three firemen died at
the hospital. TDepoint near the smoke
stack where many of the unfortunate
men were seen to jump is COW
cred with a tangled mass of steam
pipes and charred timbers fully
twenty feet high. 1t is now definitely
known that number of workmen en-
plOyed in the building ascended the
fatal tower with the tiremen, and how
many of them were lost no one knows.
When last seen r. A. Drummond, with
three or tour other workmen, was on his
way up the tower with fire extinguish-
ers. Before they could have had time
to reach the top of the ladders that
scaled the interior walls the whole mass
toppled over.
The inquest on the victims of the fire
began this morning. The scene at the
morgue, where the inquest was in prog
ress, was a horrible one. Swarms of
people, some looking for friends and
relatives among the dead, and many
more attracted by that morbid curiosity
which is always manifest at fires and
casualties, crowded into and around the
charnel house. The first patrol wagon
that left the grounds carrying the
blackened remains of a fireman was fol-
lowed by crowd of men and boys, and
this seemed to be the signal for increas-
ing crowds of others to make their way to
the place. The police found their hands
full in keeping the people back. Push
ing and crowding, men and women We'd
with each other in efforts to get
glimpse Of the corpses as they were
lifted from the wagons and carried into
the morgue. The interior of
The Death Chamber.
heavy with the odor of burnt flesh, pre-
sented sight that caused many a strong
heart to weaken. On the slabs, encased
in gunnysacks, overspread with white
linen, was all that remained OF the gal
liant tiremen who had yielded up their
lives.
One gunnysack. when opened, showed
damp mass of charred matter. Close
inspection revealed only black and
fleshless bones. Many women called,
wives. mothers and sisters of firemen.
They were told that it was useless to go
below and gaze upon the bodies, as
there was hope of Identifying the dead.
Their earnest pleadings were in vain,
except in a few instances, but every
time those who had hoped to relieve
their uncertainty by visit at the
morgue, left only sickened by what
they had witnessed. After the jury
had viewed the bodies of the victims
Coroner Ii. G. Hale decided to adjourn
the inquest until Thursday next. II
want to have time to prepare for a
thorough investigation.
"This is serioussmatter, and l shall
call upon Chief of Construction Burn
ham,, of the worlds fair, and Fire Chief
Sweeney, of the Chicago fire depart
ment, to be in attendance for examina-
ton. Plans of construction of the cold
storage warehouse will be brought be-
fore me. 1t is rumored that two sets of
plans are in existence. The first set, it
is said, provided for a tower of steel
lattice work for the warehouse, and
these were adopted. Subsequently
new set was prepared in which wood
was substituted for the steel, and from
these the structure was put up.
don't know how much truth there is in
the report, but l propose to find out.
Another reason that postponement is
necessary is that more bodies may be
recovered. l am informed that some
yet remain in the debris of the build