The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-07-12
DEATH TRAP.
IGIG>n Charrsd Bodies Taken From
the Ruins In Jackson Park. \
rk7T MEN ARE STILL MISSING.
ne search For other Victims OF the Con-
0agration Going On-Most OF the
Bodies Recovered Were sBurned Be
yend Recognition

FAIR GROUNDS. CHICAGO. July 12.-Ihe
most interesting exhibit at the Worlds
fair grounds today is one not scheduled in
the Official guidebook. It is the ruins Of
tho cold storage warehouse yesterday de
otroyed by fire, and 10000 people today
crowded around the debris eagerly watch
ing the search for dead bodies. Three more
bodIes have been recovered from the ruins,
but they are so badly charred and disfig.
ured rs TO make recognition absolutely i'm
possible One thing is quite evident. how.
ever, and that Is that the bodies discovered
are not the remains of firemen. The 10
csli&y in which they were found seem to
. preclude this possibility.
The firemen who lost their lives were
huddled up in one place in the dreadful
f3re trap at the top of the shaft, and as
they fell victims one by one to the flames
their bodies naturally fell somewhere with
An the small circle surrounding the smoke
stack The bodies last recovered were
evidently not the remains of any who
Jumped or fell from the shaft, because they
were found at a somewhat remote distance
from this point and under mass of steam
pipe and machinery that must have fallen
from above. On one of the bodies was
found leather belt to which was attached
pair of steel pinchers, thus practically
proving the remains TO be those Of line
man.
Fifteen Bodies Recovered.
The discovery gave fresh color to the fear.
ful apprehension that the fremen were by
no means the only ones who fell victims
60 the flames, and the public at once be-
came disposed to doubt the declaration
made by the supervising foreman that all
employees and visitors were out OF the
building before the confiagration had
reached dangerous stage. The total OF
dead bodies recovered has reached 10, but
there seems no doubt the death list is still
incomplete.
The Columbian guards who were yester-
day on duty at the scene of the disaster
have constantly maintained that several
Worlds fair visitors and electricity men
and other workmen were caught in the
1ames, and the unexpected discovery of
the bodies under the ruins and the fact
that one is undoubtedly that of lineman
wfvos credence to their declaration. Ger
tain IL Is, there were numerous visitors
and workmen in the building at the time
the flre broke out, and the statements of
the Columbian guards that many of these
-we.e caught An the flames were received SO
seriously that It was decided to make mi
mute examination foot by foot Of the pyra-
mid Of ruins and debris.
The electric light company had a num-
ber Ct men In the lower part OF the build
ing stringing wires at the time the fire
broke out, and severalIof them are missing.
Four Columbian guards are unaccounted
for and their companions are naturally
very solicitous rs to their fate and where
A Flimsy Death Trap.
a The ravages Of the fire amply served to
<emonstfate the unsubstantial, fiimsy and
infIsmmsble condition of the structure
Tho thin layer OF staff that gave an ap-
poarance OF marble solidity to the build.
IND has dropped of and discloses frame
work of light pine and laths at points
where the casual visitor naturally supposed
supports Of stone or marble existed. Even
- Che upconsumed portion all the sup
IDortS and essential timber are found to be
light and himsy and apparently entirely
{podeQuate to structure Of that magni.
tudo. OF course all this is now visible to
No naked eye, and it served to arouse the
.oDectatoy to . state of intense Indignation.
Az least 100 people who have missing
friends OF relatives were around the ruins
today seeking to identify the bodies dis
covered. In numerous instances the par
Ties sought were visitors to the fair, but rs
their friends were usually uncertain as to
whether the missing even visited the cold
storage building yesterday il was thought
shat several of these will turn up all right.
Many inquiries have come from Spring
Geld, Ills. as to the fate of Lieutenant
John HI. Freeman of Company No. 1. There
iD no longer any doubt as to his fate. He
WAS one of the first to reach the top of the
burning shaft and was consequently one
Of the earliest victims of the fire. His
charred body has been recovered and in
some way identihed by the comrades of the
dead man, though of course the features
and form are now unrecognizable.
Freeman only entered the Worlds fair
llre department few weeks ago and was
= comparative stranger here He was for
many years chief fire marshal of Spring.
field, Ills, but recently lost his position
shere on change of administration.
It has been definitely ascertained that
but II f1remen lost their lives. All the
others have turned up either safe or injured.