The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-01-30
WHEN THE CALL GAME
testimony Of Witnesses Who Saw the
Prishtiul Disaster.
EVIDENCE ABOUT POWDER
Some OF Those Who Testified Yes
terday Gave Testimony of the
Most Interesting Character
The Wounded and Dead.

BUTTE, Jan. 29.-Charles Gregor, the
first witness examined to-day in the coro-
ner's inquest on the bodies of George
Fifer and others. testified that he had
been employed off and on at the ware
house of the Butte Hardware company.
lie worked there last about Dec. Is or 20.
lie testified that sometime in November,
While working there, he had seen between
90 and 100 boxes of powder piled up in the
warehouse. About go or 20 boxes were
piled upon the northeast corner and %
boxes were piled up at another point to
fill an order. He was positive that tho
boxes contained powder, because they
we're marked Explosive on the top and
"Judson" on the end, and he often ham
died them and transferred them from the
warehouse to the platform for shipment.
he was positive that it was sometime
during November that he saw the large
number of boxes, He did not think 1t
could possibly have been as late as Dec.
3, although questioned closely on that
point. He had frequently seen 90. 80 and
as high as 40 boxes of powder in the ware
house and had never seen less than 20
boxes during the time that he worked
there. Mr.. Gregor stated that one of the
henyon-Connell company's clerks had
asked him TO testify at the inquest.
Fat freel gave the following evidence:
Il was standing in front of the City hotel
below the Garrison house when the first
heavy explosion occurred. A fter waiting
n few minutes / went in and carried out n
boy who was injured. l then walked back
past ii. l.. Franks botting works and
picked up man near the end of the line
OF hose. | walked in front of the Butte
Hardware company's warehouse, which
at that time had the appearance of hav-
ing been partly destroyed by the shock
The west and south walls of the building
were all right, but the north and east
walls were destroyed. / was standing
near the west wall of the Butte Hardware
building helping to put an injured man
into Ed Buzzard's hack when the second
heavy explosion went off. That explosion
looked to me as though it came from
about the center of the line of ware |
houses; couldn't tell which building.
pieces of rails, hoop iron and boiler iron |
were thrown out by the second explosion |
and some bellows were thrown over our
heads. l saw some iron pipe which had |
been thrown out in q northwesterly direc- |
ton from the Butte Hardware building
before the second explosion. | saw some |
wire scattered around after the third ex-
ploslon was told to come here and tes-
THY by an attorney for the Butte Hard
ware company
Evan Evans told the following story of
the affair: II was in my cabin on Silver
street when | heard the first heavy cxplo-
sion and at once ran to the scene.
was standing close to John Sloan. Sr.
when the second heavy explosion oc-
Cured. 1t came from the kenyon-Con.
nell warehouse. | was knocked senseless
by IL and did not recover my senses fully
uutll nau got pretty near home. Mr.
Sloan was lying about 75 or 100 feet north
OF the Butte Hardware building. When
reached the scene the Butte Hardware
company's warehouse was demolished
and the kenyon-Connell building Iooked
to be In the same condition. | noticed
three or four pieces of six-inch pipe north
OF the Butte Hardware building, but saw
no wire. saw 80 or 40 dead and injured
men lying around"
Meyer Genzberger was at the corner of
Mercury and Arizona when he saw the
flrst pun, which made no report, He
walked on down and was in front of the !
Hair Way house when the first heavy ex-
piosion went off. He testified as follows: {
My brother had gone to the fire few
minutes before. and | started on the run
TO see whether he had been killed. When
l reached the scene / found the Butte
Hardware building in ruins with the ex. /
ception OF the framework of the east wall. c
This was the warehouse funniest west $
and / thought then that it was the Ken, '
building, but have since '
learned that II belonged to the Butte v
Hardware company. The kenyon-Con- c
nell warehouse was on fire, but | don't v
know whether 1t had fallen in or not. ] Il
at once started in to search for nv \
brother and turned over a lot of dead n
bodies and injured men. Their faces q
we're all blackened SO that / could NOT | 1
recognize them, but / knew that my Y
brother was not among them. Thinking b
ne might be in the ruins, l climbed up on s
The wreck of the Butte Hardware building S
md got IN about as far as the foundation. y
cannot remember what kind of debris /
'llmed over to get there, or whether | r
climbed up on a platform or not. Not II
hiding my brother / went back and as u
listed in removing the injured. While a
hus engaged | heard a man moaning and %
alling for help over just a little north il
vest oil the boilers, that we're lying above "
he Butte Hardware building | found a
he injured man to be John L. Fudge, and h
ust as l was STOPPING over him the second e
Nplosion occurred. / could not tell a
there II came from. saw tho fash and n
brew myself forward on my face to es- n
ape the conclusion. After the debris p
ad quit falling / ran away and crawled a
nder bank of earth south of the North n
IN Pacific tracks, when the third explo- Il
ion went off. / visited the scene next o
ay and found the ruins of the Butte -
hardware building in about the same IL
ondiiion as had seen il the night be- o
're, except that the east wall had fallen p
l." W
William Gemmell, JOINT depot agent for
ne Northern Pacific and Union Pacific.
hen took the stand and produced a list
all shipments that had been received
Or the kenyon-Connell COMPANY and
ute Hardware company over these
Dads since Nov. Is, 1891. The list showed
lat on Dec. a car of powder consigned
} the Butte Hardware company had
cen turned over TO the Montana Central.
IT. McQueeney had told the witness
fterwardS that the car had been SET ON
. the Montana Central track by mistake
nd that the powder had been hauled
ON there TO the magazine, which could
: done just as conveniently from there
; from the Montana Inion taap, traoI, |