Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1893-06-15

lOOT tpuCe, Telualneu
There wore many very narrow escapes
from DEATH A number OF clerks whose
desks rested directly upon the limo whore
ths floors brooks way, saved themselves,
while the decks at which they sat were pre-
oipitated down the awful chasm. 9th
ors who were walking across the room heard
an omiuous sound and stopped at the very
threshold OF dOath. No women were en-
poyed in the building but IN few minutes
after the cr9ah came the wives, mothers and
daughters of tho victims bsgnn to arrive.
Most of those first taken out of the ruins
were carried 10 on emergency hospital.
About 1880 ococ: the dead and in ured
began to arrive, faster than the corps OF
surgeons could attend to their injuries.
Carried in on stretchers, they were put in
the most convenient places.
Load After Load of the Wounded,
blind from tho debris and with limbs broken
and manned, wore placed at the door. AS
quickly as the surgeons, who were shortly
reinforced by the graduates OF the city,
could do so, they examined and dressed the
wounds. and the unfortunates were then
sent up stairs to more comfortable quar-
ters
1t was with great difficulty that the po
lcemen could keep the relatives OF the in
jured out of the building. Priests and min
listers were soon the spot and being at
once admitted, repaired to the cots of the
injured, where they administered spiritual
consolation. Three men reached the hos
pitsl SO badly injured that they were taken
from the dressing room and sent to the
morgue where they shortly expired,
The first two were horribly mutiated,
but the last one bears no apparent trace of
even an abrasion. At the other hospitals
and in the drug stores adjacent to the ac-
cdeut similar scenes were being enacted.
About II 80 o'clock a company of the
Fourth United States artillery from Wash
lngton barracks arrived on tho scene and
the men were distributed about the ruined
structure to guard against interference
with the workmen Shortly afterward
cavalry from Fort Meyer, Va, reached the
spot and insisted the other regulars in main
tanning order
The main duty OF the soldiers was to
guard the rebellion records stored in the
building. Clerks who escaped were pressed
into service and went willingly TO work re
moving bundles of valuable documents.
Every few minutes during the first two
hours after the accident dead and wounded
men were taken out Of the debris. One
man
whose Facs was Covered with Blood
and who was seemingly dead, suddenly
raised up in the ambulance in which he W as
placed, md swallowed a glass Of whiskey.
This brought q cheer from the crowd and
thereafter every rescue was accompanied
by applause. All the carts and workmen
that could be secured were pressed into ser
vice to clear away the debris.
The hairbreadth escapes narrated by the
survivors were numberless One of the
most thrilling scenes of the whole affair was
the sight Of dozen men who were left in a
corner Of the third story clambering down
hose pipe to the ground. Another man
saved himself by jumping from the window
into the awning Of a tobacco store next
door
s. S. Baker escaped with bad scalp
wound. He was at his desk on the third
floor front. Half stunned and dazed he
found himself in the cellar pinned down by
debris and covered with plaster, furniture
and chairs. He extricated himself as best
he could and crawled out of one OF the
windows near the front door. 1t was fully
half an hour before he recovered himself
and even now can hardly account for the
escape.
From 400 to 800 in tho Building.
Surgeon General Steruberg went at once
to the scene upon hearing the news, as did
DR.. Ainsworth the chief of the records and
pension division. Gen. Grant says that the
rolls showed that the full force employed in
the building numbered 5l4 persons. a
number of these were absent on leave or be-
cause of illness, so that probably not more
than 400 or 400 persons were in the build
ing when the crash came.
Then, as only half of the floors fell the
number OF persons who went down was
further reduced. and of those who actually
fell many escaped with slight in uries, or
without harm. Shortly after midday
Major Moore, chief Of police, notified the
surgeon in charge that all those taken from
the ruins from that time forward would be
sent to the United State naval hospital
where three wards had baen prepared to re-
| ceive the INJURED
DR.. Shannon OF the personal staff OF the
surgeon general was put in charge OF ali the
government medical officers, aud every such
officer was promptly ordered to the scene Of
the accident or to the various hospitals
The ambulance of tine Red Cross society
rendered conspicuous service.
Pushing the Work of Rescue.
The rescuing parties worked necessarily
in the intense heat. When the day was far
advanced there was still large quantity
Of wreckaz, which had not been explored.
1t is rsarly in the centre of the section OF
the floor that fell and that fact led to the
| belief that number of bodies would he
found beneath it, 1t is out in tue open
space where no falling timber arrested in
its fall might shield an unfortunate from
the weight OF the falling floors.
The work OF clearing away the debris
continued until three minutes past five be-
! fore another body was found. The work
was being done in the cellar in the extreme
trout Of the building when one OF the la
borers announced that she saw hand. "
Shovcs and PICKS were dropped and the
debris was removed by hand.
The body of the unfortunate man, who
was evidently a clerk, WAS lying face down
with one arm doubled under it and the
other extended. The back Of the face was
badly crushed and the face was cut in sew
eral places. The body was removed with
al possible care and sent to await identified
ton.
| Several OF the dead are almost unrecog