The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-06-10

but a falling beam had lodged near
him in such position as
TO break the fall Of hrickaud timbe rs and
when lifted up ne raised his hand. show
ing that he was conscious. When he was
lifted into Garfield hospital ambulance
the crowd saw that he was alive and
cheered again and again. Between 10
o'clock and noon ambulances were kept
busy carrying away the dead and injured.
The faces of many of the victims were
covered with pieces of cloth and old
newspaper or whatever else could be had,
but some of the mangled bodies were car
ried out with their faces exposed TO the
gaze of the great throng that surrounded
the building,
MANY APPALLING SCENES.
AS can well be understood there were
many appalling scenes. On the front seat
of one of the ambulances rode away one
of those who had gone down in the crash,
his face, hands, hair and clothing com
pletely covered with blood He did not
seem to be seriously hurt, but the spec
tacle was revolving In the extreme.
All during the long hours while the
worlmen were working with all their
strength to rescue such as were not past
help, the mothers, sisters and daughters OF
those that had gone down lowered
around the front of the building and with
streaming eyes inquired of all whom they
met of some tidings of their dear ones
Some could hardly be restrained from
pushing their way into the building. A
look into the interior tells q sickening
tale of how some were taken and others
left. Desks seen half toppling over the
brink of the broken floor, others stand
upright, but the chair which stood beside
it and its occupant went down with the
crash.
Records and papers were scattered
everywhere, but as fast as possible they
were gathered up and saved, Many of
them are spotted with blood and all are
re or less obliterated.
THE PRESIDENT NOTIFIED.
President Cleveland was informed Of
the sad event Just as he reached the
entrance to the white house by
one of the clerks, and he at once
interested himself in relief measures,
learning with satisfaction what had been
done by Assistant Secretary of War
Grant, who had come over to the white
house before noon. Surgeon General
Sternberg went at once to the scene of
the disaster upon hearing the news, as
did DR.. Ainsworth, who Is chief of the
records and pension divisions One COM
pany Of the troopers was placed under the
direction of Chief of Police Moore and a
second company was intended for fatigue
to assist in the work of rescue
and in bringing out bodies. Gen. Grant
received reports from time to tine, and
from these he based hope and belief that
the calamity would prove TO be less In eX-
tent than had been at first feared He
says that the rolls showed that the full
force employed in the building numbered
5l4 persons. A number of these were alb
sent on leave or because of illness, so
flanf l.snHA N - F1aaar
450 persons were in the building when the
crash came. Then as only half Of the
floors fell the number of persons who
went down was further reduced and of
those who actually fell many escaped
with slight injuries, or without harm.
DR.. Shannon of the personal staff of the
surgeon general was in charge of all the
government medical officers, and every
such officer was promptly ordered to the
scene of accident or to the various hos
pitfalls. The ambulances of the Red Cross
Society rendered conspicuous services.
LEFT TO THE LAST.
The rescuing parties worked incessantly
in the intense heat, but there was one
part of the ruins left to the last. A few
feet back of the front wall when the day
was far advanced, there was still large
quantity of wreclzage which had not yet
been explored. 1t was nearly in the cen
ter of a section of a floor that fell, and
that fact led to "a belief that a number of
bodies would be found beneath it. 1t was
out in an open space where no falling
timber arrested Ia its fall might shield
the unfortunate from the crushing
weight of the falling floor. AS there
seemed to be no hope of saving the lives
of any who might have fallen, conse-
quently the efforts of the workmen were
first directed to exploring the sides of the
building. When the crash came there
were supposed to be in the building 496
clerks, eighteen messengers and twenty
laborers, total Of 534 persons.
LONG INTERvIL
The work of clearing away the debris
continued from II 80 o'clock until SOB
O'Clock before another body was found.
Work was being done in the cellar in the
extreme front of the building when one
of the laborers announced that he saw q
hand. Shovels and picks were immedl-
ately dropped aud the debris was re-
moved by hand. The body of the un-
fortunate man, who, from his dress, was
evidently a clerk, was lying face down
with one arm doubled under him and the
other extended. The back of his head
was badly crushed and his face was cut
in several places. The body was removed
with all possible care and sent TO the
morgue to wait Identification.
The total casualties as near as can be
ascertained in this writing are as fol
lows: Twenty-one dead bodies are at the
morgue and the Emergency hospital. -Four
more persons are reported dead, whose
names were probably confused with those
of victims or their identity confused with
some of the bodies through physical
resemblance.
The number of injured reported Is about
fifty, but many others who were able to
proceed to their homes were hurt more or
less badly.
A LIST or THE DEAD.
The following list of the dead Is as
correct as can be made at this time.
Several of the dead are almost unrecog-
nizable and the names by which others
were identified do not appear on the Of
fetal list of the persons employed in the
building The list is obtained by com
parisen of imperfect statements prepared
at the morgue and Emergency hospital
with the official record of the war depart
ment containing the names Of all the
employees in that part of the record and
pension divisions located in the ruined
building All the victims at the morgue
and the hospital were III the employ of the
government with the probable exception
of three whose names as given when
identified do not appear on the war de-
partment list.
The followingli list of the dead, with the
names of the state from which they were
aDOOinfpd accounts for tWentV-tVO DpO-