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

ciuthJS connected with the calamity was
performed by a cOlored boy, 10 or % years
OF age, named Basil Lockwood As soon
as tho floors collapsed and the dust cleared
away, realizing the danger of those at the
rear windows, who were wildly climbing
out and calling for aid, he climbed up
telegraph pole as high as the third story
and laShed n ladder to the pole, putting
the other end in a window. BY this
means ten or fifteen were assisted down
safely.
None of those who escaped injury could
tell which Of the floors first gave way.
To the occupants of each floor there was
but one crash heard aud instantly the
whole building was filled with binding
lime dust. Running directly through all
of the floors and in the middle Of the
building was a light well ten feet long
and nearly as wide. The fatal area
was in front of this, leav-
ing space six or seven
feet in width undisturbed on either side
The entire back part of the building, con-
tanning more than half of the floor space,
remained intact
MANY MARROW ESCAPES.
There were many very narrow escapes
from death A number of clerks whose
desks rested directly upon the line where
the floors broke away saved themselves,
while the desks at which they sat were
precipitated down the awful chasm. 9th
ers who were walking across the room
heard the ominous sound and stopped just
at the very threshold of death. When
the crash came those who survived heard
a mighty scream of anguish from their
comrades as they sank out of sight, and
then cropping in the darkness they found
their way to safety, trembling in every
Joint, with the pallor of the dead in their
faces.
NO WOMEN IN THE BUILDING.
No women were employed in the build
ing, but in few minutes after the crash
came the wives, mothers and daughters
of the victims began to arrive. in a few
moments 100 or more men, stripped for hot
work, jumped into the building and began
throwing out the wreckage in front and
under the floors which remained standing
in the rear,
RUSHED INTO A HOSPITAL.
Most of those first taken out Of the
ruins were carried to the Emergency hos
pital. About 1920 O'Clock dead and in
lured began to arrive faster than the
surgeons could attend to their injuries
Carried IN on stretchers, they were
dumped at the most convedient places.
Those who We're most seriously injured
were attended to, while others, groaning
of broken limbs, lay limp
and beseeching the doctors to dress
their wounds. Shortly after the arrival
of the first unfortunate a crowd Began to
assemble in front of the hospital many of
them being wives, daughters and relatives
of the dead and injured Their
weeping and frantic cries for
information were heart-rending They
greatly interfered with the work of the
physicians, and DR.. Kerrigan, who was in
charge of the hospital, determined to put
them out Load after load of wounded,
blind from debris and with limbs broken
and MANNED, were damped at the door.
They had to remain outside for some
time, as the force and facilities of the
hospital were unequal to the emergency,
AS quickly as surgeons, who were shortly
reinforced by the young men graduates of
the city, could do SO they examined and
dressed the wounds and they were then
sent upstairs to more comfortable
quarters 1t was with great difficulty
that policemen could keep the relatives
of the injured out of the building, and
while outside their agonizing cries could be
distinctly heard by the poor unfortunates
who lay helpless. Priests and ministers
were soon on the spot and being at once
admitted repaired to the cots Of the in
jured, where they administered spiritual
consolation.
SENT TO THE MORGUE TO DIE.
Three men reached the hospital In
dying condition, so badly injured that
they were taken from the dressing room
and sent to themorgue, where they shortly
expired. Charles 5. Miller and j. Brad
Jones were two Of them, while the other
wasa young man of handsome appear
ance and about 25 years of age. The first
two were horribly mutilated, but the last
one did not bear any apparent trace of
even an abrasion At other hospitals and
in the drug stores adjacent to the acci-
dent similar scenes were being enacted.
In the meantime the work 0 f rescue was
going bravely on at the ruins. About II 80
o'clock company OF the Fourth United
States artillery from Washington bar
racks arrived on the scene of the accident
and the men were distributed about the
ruined structure to guard against inter-
ference with the workmen. Shortly after
the cavalry from Fort Myer, Va, reached
the spot and assisted the other regulars
in maintaining order.
GUARDING THE RECORDS.
The main duty of the soldiers was to
guard the civil war records stored in the
building. The clerks who escaped were
pressed into service and went willingly to
work removing bundles of valuable docu-
ments. A great deal OF the work of the
pension office is dependent on these re-
cords, and their value to the governm ent
and to the individuals is inestimab le.
They cannot be replaced.
Every few minutes during the first two
hours after the accident dead and
wounded men were taken out of the debris.
To the onlOokers all the bruised, MANNED
and dust-covered bodies seemed bereft of
life. One man, whose face was covered
with blood and who was seemingly dead,
suddenly raised up in the ambulance in
which he was placed and swallowed a
glass of whisky. This brought cheer
from the crowd and thereafter every res
cue was accompanied by applause. All
the carts and worAmen that could be Sc
cured were pressed into service to
clear away the debris. Workmen shoveled
plaster, brick, documents and broken
furniture into carts and each load was
taken away to a dumping ground near by.
There was much danger to the rescuing
gangs, for the edges Of the fallen floors
hung threateningly downward over the
heads of the workmen. 1t seemed that
little progress could be made in clearing
away the immense mass of fallen rubbish,
but the work nevertheless progressed
rapidly.
COURAGE UNDER THE CLOTH.
An incident of the day was the number
of clergymen, who, on hearing of the dis
aster, iocked to the scene, Utterly re-
gardless of their own safety they entered
the building, the rear walls Of which