Iron County register., 1893-06-15

ministers of all cceeds were present
The hairbreadth escapes narrated BY
the survivors were numberfess.
The last man taken out of the build
ing alive up to 1880 was Capt Dowd
of Indiana He was found near the
southwest corner of the building
covered to depth of two or three feet
with brick and mortar. He had Lair
there for three hours, bat a beam had
lodged near him in such a position as
to break the fall of the brick and tim.
bers. and when lifted up he raised his
hand showing that he was conscious
When he was lifted into the Garfield
hospital ambulance the crowd saw
that he was alive and cheered again
and again
Between 10 o'clock and noon the am
balances were kept busy carrying
away the dead and injured.
All during the long hours while the
workmen were using all their strength
to rescue such as were not past help.
the mothers. sisters and daughters of
those that had gone down hovered
around the front of the building. and
with streaming eyes inquired of all
whom they met for some tidings of
their dear ones Some could hardly be
restrained from pushing their way into
the building.
A look into the interior tells a sick
ening tale OF how some were taken and
others left Desks are seen half top
ping over the brink of the broken
floor. others stand upright, but the
~, ~,
their occupants went down with the
crash.
The president was informed of the
sad event just as he reached the en-
trance 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 came over to the White
House before noon. Surgeon-General
Sternberg went at once to the scene of
disaster upon hearing the news, as did
DIR. Ainsworth, who is the chief of the
records and pension division. One
company of troops was placed under
the direction of Chief of Police Moore.
The second company was intended
for fatigue duty which meant they
were to assist in the work of
rescue and in bringing out bodies.
Gen. Grant received reports from time
to time and on those he based the hope
and belief that the calamity would
prove to be less in extent than had at
first been feared. He says that the
rolls showed that the full force en-
ployed in the building numbered 514
persons A number of these were alb
sent on leave because of illness, so that
probab bly, not more than 400 or $50 per-
sons 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
by those who actually escaped with
slight I'M uries or without harm.
Shortly after midday Maj. Moore,
chief of police, notified the surgeon in
charge that all of those taken from the
ruins from that time forward would be
sent to the United States naval hos
pital, where three wards had been pre-
pared to receive the injured.
DIR. Shannon, of the personal staff of
the surgeon-general, was put in charge
of all the government medical officers.
and every such officer was promptly or
the various hospitals The ambulances
of the Red Cross society rendered con-
spicuous service.
At the morgue the sight was one hor-
rible to behold. The little building,
in which was one ice chest and a dis
secting table. was not near large
enough to hold the dead bodies brought
from the wrecked building. At 1880
o'clock the sixteenth dead body was
brought in.
There was no one at the morgue who
was able to identify the bodies, and so
Supt- Schon5erger tagged them with
numbers as they were brought in.
Along the floor they were arranged in
thousands of persons called and viewed
the ghastly sight The morgue was
filed, and then the stable was turned
into a reception room for the bodies.
Blankets were spread on the floor, and
the bodies were laid out as respectfully
as possible under the circumstances
Blood from the bodies formed large
pool on the floor and the crushed
skulls. broken arms and legs made the
scene indescribable. Then there were
some of the victims who had not been
crushed. They had been sInothered TO
death and the discoloration of their
faces and necks gave visible evidence
of the cause of death.
In front of the police station there
was large crowd as there was in the
yard around the morgue, some at
tracted there by curiosity and others
to identify the dead bodies if possible.
The telephone was kept in constant
use by persons inGuiring for friends.
The first woman to appear and to
make an inquiry was Mrs. F. E.
Meader. of SCI First street, n. E., and
when she entered the little brick
building the mutilated body of her
husband was the first TO meet her
eyes. ~
The scene that followed was a sad
one. and Mrs. Meader had to be as
sisted out from the presence of the
CHASTITY sight Mr.. Meader was 50
years old and came here a year ago
from Buffalo. n. Y. His head was
crushed and body injured
Other identifcations. with accom-
panying scenes of heartrending grief.
followed
The responsibility of the accident is.
purse. widely discussed. The obi
connected with the building de-
to state and declare that they do
Understand the reason of the fall,
here seems little doubt that the
ary causs, was the excavatlng
b was being done under the front