Huntsville gazette., 1894-04-14
UNDER THE DEBRIS.

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 a row in the
rAorgue, 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
ttmbers 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. 1t 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 creaking and cracking, a
swaying of walls, then the collapse. that
came with a crash. A great cloud of
dust hoated out upon the air, filing
the street each way for block. There
was 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. 1t was of brick, three and
half stories high, with a slate roof.
While it was all one building, it was
divided by thick wall into two COM
pastments. 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.
Tie scenes attending the rescue were
horrifying in the extreme. The bodies
thai were found with life extinct
! were all badly crushed, the flesh torn
hand reutilated, 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 atte nd
| ance at the churches showed a de-
cided falling off, as the worship ers
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, a 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 debr as
| eooh 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 a woman
was lifted out, still alive; and soon the
| body of a 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 mum
| 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.