Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1893-06-10

Army fr~~sr1 Into S~rst<~-
f.ils- wagons ambaiaaces carriages
and vehscIe- II every description we're
pressed into service fsf taAing away the
deal s11 injured. Al the hospitals Ia
ths eits sers utlllzed IN caring tar the
lnlured snd >coges ~ phssieians solun
teefei their services for this sork. The
commissioners "a the District Il toluun-
bsa ts.Dk possession of the builsling aud
vicinity Ia person aud helped direct the
fsiiee snd fescarrs- Owing % the ex
eeilent police regulations the ressuefs
were not hlnsiefed in their work by the
an xloas crowds. snd 10 Mas not long be
fore the debris had teen cleared away
10 such an exteEt that the work Il res
cue could be carried on without hin
drance. Both the mihfary and naval
authorities tnok prsmp sction- General
Sehoteld ordered two tgcols 10 cavalry
ffom Fort Myer lu-r aero~s the river.
aud tEo COMPANIES % infantry ffom the
arsenal o. the scene % disaster. The
secretary q the navy ordered out all the
naval medical ot'ierrs stationed here and
also efs ned the naval hospitals 10 10.
eeivc the injured The eommsndant at
the navy yasd was ordered Ia reader all
assistance N his power.
Relief Tor Sufferers
Clerks who escaped were pressed into
-~fvie- and xeHt % work removing val
0ahlc dorcments- A great deal of the
work 81 the pension Office Is dependent
on these records and their value IN the
government and 10 individuals Is inesti
riable. They cannot be replaced Every
few minutes during the hrst two hours
. -. =. A.
nlcn were taken out ~ the debris. To
the on ioolzcrs. all the bruised. ,naimed
and dust covered bodies seemed bercft
e life. One man. whose face Was GOV
rfsd with hlood and v ho VAS seemingly
dead. spddcaiy raised up IN the ambu-
lane- "a which he MAS placed and swal
lowed a glass of whisky. This brought
a cheer from the crowd, and thereafic-
every rescue was accompanied by ap-
PAUSE. All the carts and wurkmen that
could b. secured wer. pressed into ser.
vice 10 clear away the debris The work.
nsen shoyelei plaster. brick. documents
aud broken furniture into the carts. and
each load WAS taken away 10 the dump
iag grounds near by.
There was much danger 10 the rescu-
ing gangs. for the eiges 81 the fallen
the heads * the workers Ii secmel
that little progress could be made in
clearing away the immense mass of
fallen rubbish. but the work. never;he-
Iess. progressed rapidly. An incident ~
the day was the number ~ clergy who.
on hearing Of the disaster. fiocked To the
scene. Utterly regardless II their own
safety, they entered the building. the
.
ing out. and minist-rcd Ia the dying and
injured. Ministers of all creeds were
present
AZ the Hospital
About 10 o'clock the dead and injured
hegan To arrive at the Emergency hos
pifal faster than the corps oi surgeons
could attend to thcir injuries. Carried
in on sfretchers. they were dumped in
the mosf convenient places. Those who
were the NEST seriously injured were at
tended fo. while others. groaning and
crying from the pain IL broken limbs.
lay limp. bcseeChing the doctors 10 dress
their wounds. Shortly after the arrival
"a the first unfortunate the crowd began
20 assemble Ia front IL the hospital.
many u them being the wives. tlaugh-
ters AMI relatives IL the dead and in.
Iured Their weeping and frantic cries
Tor information we're eheartrcnding They
greatly interfered with the work 81 tho
physieians and Df. Kerr. who is in
charge - the hospital. determined to
put them out.
Clergy Administer Comfort.
Load after load of the wounded. blind
from the debris and with limbs broken
and uai'nrd. were dumped at the door
They hat % remain outside for sotne
tiine % the forces - the hospital were
unequal 10 the emergency A. quickly
a. iassible the surgeons. who were
shortly reinforced by the young gradu
afss "a the city. examined and dressed
the wounds aud the injured were then
ssnt upstairs To more comfortable quar-
ters Priests and ministers were soon
on the spot. ant being at once admitted
repaired H. the cots os tho injured
where they we're administered spiritual
consolation Three men reached the
hospital in diving condition. ~ badly
iniufri that they were taken from the
dressing room AMI sent 90 the morgue
where they soon expired Vt the other
ha4risala and in 'hc drug stores ada
cent 20 the accideut. similar scenes werc
icing enacted In The meaDtime the
work q rescue vas gong braveiy on at
the ruins.
sliding fpr iafc.
The hair breadth escapes narrated by
The SURVIVORS we're numbcrles=. One 81
the q - Z Thrilling scenes - the Whole
snsir tss.s the sight - a dozen men who
Verr tft ln a ,.ornef of TIE fhiyd story
clsmhering down hose pr" - the
gfounfl TIM o1 t1ese men Tie first io
get down. WAS y Batter " ho worked IN
th~ center n The thir,l hoor The story
can hest ic told in his own words Il
was ~ 10y desk. hn sgii. when heard
great roar There vas no prsmouI
iory Trembling or sny kind = warning
fust a rOar and craah and the de-Ss and
fables SEEMED 90 raise up iu the center
81 iae nosr and then disayp-ar IN a
hliniinE cloud = White dust I sprang
for fhr rear xindOw ard cai'ssf % ny
c,lui f.anisfl- o. foiloe Thae~ Who werc
fighi near did a.. and ee gained safe
piser a. The rear q the building near
the vinsiows Then thought - reel
- ire ho-.e that ! knee Vas mar ly
Ne groped through the binding lgHt -
THE abi auickly unwounh it until The
ensl ,eurh he'd 'he ground Then I caught
hold n the h,-ae and slii down u alsght
.rz safciy e0 the ground
The Long search
fhf eork = tearing away The debris
eontiHued faHn bait past ! O'Clock until
> nanrte. fsssf e'elock before saotheF
hc.iy eas faund The work vas t,~inx
DONE lu ~ esiisr n 'h~ estrcrir ffon,
eui q The huiiiiog vhen one - the Ia