Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-11-07


he was protected by an iron table and
could plainly hear the rescuers at
work until they reached him.
M Jacobs, paper dealer, who had
been in Hillyers bindery just before
the crash came. thought there must
have been twenty girls and four or five
boys in the bindery besides George ].
Hillyer, the proprietor. OF whom moth
ing has been heard or seen since the
accident.
Charles Hackett, who was found in
the ruins, reported that there had been
-FOUR or i've girls on the floor with him.
Chnrles Hergert, packer employed
by John Davis & Co. was on the
third floor when the explosion occurred.
Il felt the crash and was surrounded
ny hying debris before | could realize
what had happened" he said. II don't
Know how | got out. l know / breath
ed the fresh air after scramble among
the ruins and ] knew | had escaped.
There were four others in the building
that | know of, Alex Campbell, Annie
Tapely. Kittie Leonard and Joe Winter,
the bookkeeper, and do not know
who got out alive"
FROM the list of tenants and employees
secured 1t seems certain that fifty peo-
Pile in all were In the collapsed build
ing. There are still twenty-seven per-
sons unaccounted for, and 1t liz fair TO
presume that most OF them are among
the dead. At every hour reports are re-
ceived of the missing. whose relatives
and friends have been unable to find
any trace OF them.
. Two of the injured who are in the
q 'spital will probably not recover. OF
~. lie who are now In the ruins II Is
q ssslble that any will be rescued
=. Those who were not killed out
right have undoubtedly persisted, either
tnf, bu.,
only hope is that some OF those who are
reported missing may be safe with
friends.
The total death rate will not be
known before tomorrow night. 1t may
may be even longer before the work.
men reach the basement foo. S of the
Inflated building and the total number
of lives lost is known to a certainty.
The work OF removing the debris and
searching for the bodies is going on
by the aid of electric lights. but the
task Is slow one. Carelessness Is
undoubtedly the cause of the disaster,
but where the responsibility rests is
as yet problematlcal.
Thomas Thompson the engineer was
painfully injured. He said he could
assign no reason for the explosion.
City Boiler Inspector McGregor says
he Inspected the boilers last August
and had found them UP to the require
ments. Some of the employees in the
building assert that the boilers We're
old and known to be unsafe. Still
others have a theory that the explosion
was caused by chemicals owned by the
Davis company stored In the basement.
Another circumstance is also con-
sidered significant, namely, that car
penters We're engaged In snoring the
second floor directly over the boilers
to sustain the weight OF a heavy ma
chine which had been placed in Dun
laps machine shop. The men who
were at work on this job We're buried
in the ruins. Little credence is given
to any story. however, except the
original one-that the boilers exploded,
demolishlng the lower floors and knock
Ing away the supports from the upper
ones, which fell with the weight of the
machinery, etc, which they supported.
The most shocking scene attending the
holocaust was a struggle between
Coroner Butler and an undertaken In
the employ of Giles Brothers, against
Undertaken Frank Gibbs. The latter
chung to the stretcher while the body
was being carried out through the
crowd. As the spectators We're becom-
ing excited over the ghoulish scene, the
police In the interest OF order, rushed
Gibbs outside the fire lines and would
not permit him TO return.
The property loss will be entire. for
the owners OF the building and tenants.
1t is believed the ordinary insurance
policies cover loss by explosion.
The loss on the destroyed part OF the
building Is about $4,000. The Journals
loss is about $4,000. The total loss of
the other tenants is placed at something
over $4,000.