Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-04-12
UNDER THE DEBRIS.

Collapse Of q Crowded Tenement Build.
ing in Memphis, Tenn -Four Persons
Killed, Five Injured And Many Missing
the Latter, Supposed to be Dead In the
Ruins-Horrifying Scenes Attending the
Work of Rescue.
MEMPHIS, Tenn, April 9.-Four
cheap coffins laid in row in the
morgue, and five bandaged forms re-
posing on cots at the city hospital,
represent the dead and injured taken
from the debris of tenement build
ing on the northeast corner of De Soto
and Beale streets, at 7:15 o'clock yes
terday morning.
There is no doubt that there are
more bodies beneath the immense pile
of brick, lime, sand and splintered
timbers that now covers the place
where the building stood. but it is safe ?
to say that no haste that may be made
for the recovery of the bodies will
avail to save life.
THE COLLAPSE WAS WITNESSED BY SEW
ERAL PERSONS.
The collapse took place at 7:15 o'clock
yesterday morning. It was witnessed
be several persons on the outside, and
several of those who were on the inside
survive to relate what little they know
of this, one of the most appalling dis
asters that ever occurred in Memphis
There was a creaking and cracking, a
swaying of walls, then the collapse. that
came with a crash. A great cloud OF
dust foated out upon the air, filing
the street each way for a block. There
was a hurrying forward of police, fire.
men and citizens, and then the work
of rescue began.
CHANCES FOR RECOVERY DOUBTFUL
OF the injured the chances for the
recovery of Cora Murphy and Gather
inc Boyd are extremely doubtful. All
the persons taken from the building
are colored.
The building was erected thirty-four
years ago. It was of brick, three and
a half stories high, with a slate roof.
While it was all one building, it was
divided by thick wall into two COM
partments. The building had never
been condemned as unsafe. 1t was
considered as one of the staunchest of
the older buildings in this city.
HoRRIFYING SCENES.
The scenes attending the rescue were
horrifying in the extreme. The bodies
that were found with life extinct.
were all badly crushed, the flesh torn
and mutilated. and some of them were
almost nude.
A half hour after the collapse oc-
Cured, the news of it had Travelled
over the entire city and the attend
ance at the churches showed de-
cided falling off, as the worshipers.
could not resist the temptation of Wis
iting the grewsome place. The result
was that a great crowd gathered there
until Beale and DeSoto streets in the
vicinity were densely packed.
The time for church services came
and went and still the crowd remained.
AS each corpse was lifted out. groan
would go up. The noon hour brought.
no diminution of the mass of people,
and the heat of the afternoon was un-
noticed by the throng. When dark
ness set in there was still large
gathering.
THE WORK OF RESCUE.
Men went to work on the debris as
soon as the collapse took place. First
an old negro woman shook the dust
from off her back. arose from the top
of the heap and got away without as
sistance. Then the form of woman
was lifted out, still alive; and soon the
body of man still breathing was
pulled out. These were sent to the
city hospital.
Then came a corpse, and so the
work of rescue proceeded slowly
throughout the day. The exact num-
Der of lives lost will not be known un-
til the debris is cleared away. There
were about fifty rooms in the tene-
ment, about half of which were occu-
pied. Twenty-Five people were known
to be in the building at the time of the
collapse. OF these six escaped with
out serious injury, four were taken out
dead, five wounded, and the remain
der are missing.