Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1893-07-13
THE FAIR GROUNDS FIRE

The Chicago Herald" Charges That Ten
More Bodies Were Found Under the
Ruins, Yesterday Morning, But That
the Discovery Was Kept Secret by the
Fair -Firemen and Guards.
SO the Herald" Says, We're Particu-
larly Instructed to Keep Silent About
| the CHASTITY Discovery Men Working in
the Rims Say the Statement is Un-
founded.
United Prsss Dispatch by Special Wires
CHICAGO, ILL.,, July 12.--The Herald
of this morning has the following:
EARLY Tuesday morning it was
learned that 10 more bodies had been
found in the ruins of the cold storage
warehouse. The men who made this
discovery tried to keep the knowledge
from reaching the public ears, but it
come out in some way and was a wide
/! spread rumor about the FAIR grounds.
| The report was afterwards verified.
| "Nine of these bodies are of men and
one of woman. The corpses lay piled
| all in heap near the foot of the eleva-
tor shaft. When the searching party
discovered the remains large crowd of
morbid spectators surrounded the fire
lines.
ooNcEALING THE DREAD DISCOVERY.
"The enormity of the unexpected
find staggered the tiremen who had
made the fearful discovery. After a
hasty consultation it was decided not to
take the bodies out in the presence OF
the watching thousands. For some
reason, hitherto not fully explained,
the stlictest silence was enjoined upon
the firemen and guards. Orders were
given to exclude the reporters from the
fire lines.
'sFor an hour before the fearful dis
covery was made sickening odor
issued from spot near the east side of
the ruins, to the left of the doorway.
Three men were set to work on this
place, and heavy beam was lifted, and
right below, through the interstices of
half dozen of crossed and broken tim
beers and bent rods of iron, could be seen.
HEAP OF BODIES.
"This was the source of the foul smell.
The bodies are quite badly burned, but
they lay at the very bottom Of the ruins
; and had been partially protected from
the fire by water.
at is impossible to tell just how many
bodies lie in this terrible pit. The men
l.
the total number is ten OF eleven, but il
is probably the first named. One is said
to be that of woman, because of her
dress, which is partly unburnt.
II 1.-THE position of the bodies at the
very bottom of the elevator shaft makes
it difficult to tell how the victims met
their death. Nobody will probably ever
know whether they FELL or jumped down
l al, ,a1a .1af hax ye
taken the awful leap down the shaft
f when they found their escape by the
r burning stairways cut of. They may
: have been all coming down in the ele-
) vator, when the ropes were burned away
: and the entire carload precipitated to
r the bottom. In this latter case most OF
Q the ten may have been killed by the fall
: Those who survived the shock must
| have been burned by the fallen timber:
!. at the very bottom of the building, and
i, when the floors fell IN were slowly
roasted by the burning mass above and
e around them.
INSTRUCTED TO KEEP SILENT.
2 "Three of the guards who we're sta
I toned about the ruins in the early even
n ing confirmed the report of the find
4 Not alone that, but each, without thu
q knowledge of the other, SAID that they
had positive orders to keep the fact from
a everybody, particularly from reporters
y They also said the bodies would b.
taken out this morning early, in fact a
n soon as 1t was light enough to see.
II THE MEAT THEY WERE TRYING TO SAVE
y "About midnight smoke broke out il
the southeast portion of the ruins. Tn
engine house at the terminal station wa
notified and two firemen were sent owe
r to investigate its cause. They wen
"a back saying that the apparent smok,
was steam, probably from somethin
driving In that corner. At the same tim
n one Of them said: we don't want an
ot fire there tonight under any circum
stance, for there is big pile of mea
~ which we are trying to save
at "In view of the fact that the elevate
~ was in that corner, and Of the furthe
fact that the meat, if there, would b
% before this time worthless, 1t is said tn
80 firemen are aware of the existence c
le the heap OF dead, although they denie
W knowing of 1t.
"Chief Murphy said that he had II
ceiyed no notification OF the find, bu
he believed the ruins had not "
as yielded up their total"
Lie IMPOSSIBLE TO VERIFY THE STORY.
n WoRLD's FAIR GROUNDS, CHICAGO
n ILL.,, July l2.-Itis impossible to yerif
er the statement made by a morning pape
I'D that 10 more bodies had been found
or the RUNS of the cold storage warehous
4. fire.
~ AT Ralston's morgue, where all d
ne bodies of the victims have been taken I
n. fast as found, nothing is known OF III
lis alleged discovery and it is stated pos
z lively that no such number Of bodl
had been brought there.
~ Men working in the ruins, this NOR
rse ing, declare that the statement has
q foundation whatever.
ANOTHER FIREMAN DEAD.
or Lewis j. Frank, the fireman, wi
~ jumped from the burning tower, dit
he this morning from his injuries. III
az makes the total number of known de,
10, while those reported by their frien
,x- number five. These five were all SCI
Of about the building just prior to brea
u.s. ing out of the fire.
N, AN EXPLANATION OF THE REPORT.
The finding of some meat by d
,nt workmen in one of the cooling hous
ma Just as they quit work last night
ro- thought to have caused the rumor to
er- circulated that more bodies had be-
ese reached. The workmen knew the su
NJ stance was meat and made no report I
the find. They all deny that any O.
was told that the beef and mutton W
thought to be bodies and paid no fl
ina | thar attention to the matter until IL