The state herald., 1895-08-23
TWENTY : FIVE DEAD.
THE DENVER CATASTROPHE.
The Gumry Disastsr Worse Than at First
Thought - Work Of Taking Out the
Bodies Very slow-But Few Persons
Injured,

Denver, Aug. 1913 p. m.-Reports
from the scene of the terrible catastro'
phe at the Gumry hotel make 1t worse
than at first thought Following Is a
list of those know to be killed, wound
ed or unaccounted for:
Dead.-Peter Gumry, General Charles
Adams, Robert G. Greiner, Mrs. Robert
Greiner, Myron e. Hawley, James
Murphy, A. l.. Blake, w. ]. Corson,
George Burt, Bita 1. Lorah, f. French,
- Grelner, father of Robert G. Grein-
err; unknown woman, unknown man,
unknown child
Missing.-J. u. Calkins, wife and
child; E. +. McCloskey, three chamber
maids. one bell boy, Mrs. Wolfe and
daughter.
1njured.-M. Il. Letson, Joseph Munal
Alex. L. Irwin, Fred Coleman, Nathan
@. Burgess, Bud Hopkins.
1t Is thus certain that fifteen persons
lost their lives and seven others whose
bodies have not yet been recovered are
probably dead beneath the ruins.
The members of the fire department,
aided by a large force of workmen, have
iabored with the greatest earnestness to
recover the bodies In the ruins. and
tneir efforts are shown In the above list.
Ihe last man taken out of the ruins
alive was NJ. f. Letson, who was re-
leased from his terrible position under
the fallen timbers at 10 o'clock. His
arm was crushed and his leg was hurt,
ous he will recover. a
Now and then, as the men worked.
the remains Of some charred or scalded
unfortunate would be brought to light,
ana the CHASTITY corpse tenderly pulled
from Its Imprisonment and conveyed to
the waiting wagon, where It was quick
~ covered from the view of the specta-
tors and carried away. Each time that
a discovery like this was made the
crowd would surge forward, and 1t was
with some difficulty the curious and
sympathetic OnloOkers could be held In
pace. This scene was repeated again
ana again, until curiosity was worn out
from sheer safety.
A chlef cause OF the easy collapse of
the building was the presence of fiue
running up In the east wall which SO
weakened 1t that the shock caused the
wall to split ut that point.
The windows In nearly all the stores
along the block were broken by the
shock Of the explosion.
1t Is said that 1t may be two and
even three days before the last body
Is recovered, and from the present ap-
pearance OF the ruins 1t may be even
week. 1t Is known that there are
number OF others still In the ruins, and
1t Is reasonable to suppose that those
VINO We're reported missing would have
made their presence known before this
time II they were still alive. 1t Is Ger
tain that all who were In the rear part
OF the hotel on the other side of the
elevator persisted, as II any one were
imprisoned for even an hour beneath
the tons and tons of bricks that are in
the basement they would inevitably be
dead by this time
Denver. Aug. 20-The firemen are this
morning still digging for dead bodies In
the ruins Of the Gumry house. They
may not reach the bottom OF that heap
of rubbish before two days of hard
work. but there Is no room for doubt
that the death roll will contain twenty
five names. or NIL the guests who We're
occupants OF rooms In the rear part OF
the Gumry hotel at II o'clock Sunday
night when the boiler exploded and
wrecked the building. only two escaped
alive. The saving of these two was al
most miraculous.
NJ. T.. ietson and Joseph Munal, who
We're rescued from a terrible position
where fire threatened their lives, are
doing well. Lets0n being but slightly
hurt.
All possible efforts were centered yes
tcrday upon the work Of rescue. Every
available man In the fire department
was kept on the scene, keeping the
sm0uldering fires In check and exca-
waiting for dead bodies In the ruins.
Though there was Imminent danger Of
wall and the suspended wreck Of the
elevator machinery falling suddely and
crushing score OF firemen, they kept
steadily at work TO ind Just what that
great heap OF debris contained. 1t Is a
labor OF the greatest difficulty and II IL
impossible TO remove the accumulation
OF rubbish except piece by piece, Not
only Is the debris 80 inextricably mixed
up, but there Is the horrible probability
OF striking pick or a shovel Into tho
flesh Of dead man.
Two streams OF water were playing
constantly on the smoking ruins. The
iiremen dared not take them away, for
the smallest period OF time because Of
the great volumes OF smoke that rushed
out and overwhelmed the workers. II
seemed us II enough water had been
poured upon the mass to float Il, but fire
stlll smouldccd In the buried woodwork,
and nothing but continual stream Of
water kept II down. Even then the
smoke now and then gushed forth as II
the flames were again about to play
havoc.
Up to an early hour this morning the
bodies OF the following named persons
had been taken out:
T.. Il. McCloskey. Colorado SPRING.
James Murphy. Denver.
Robert G. Grelner. Denver.
Mrs. Robert e. Grelncr. Denver.
VIII Richards. Denver.
George Burt, Colorado Springs.
Mrs. q. II. Wolfe and child, Lincoln,
Nebraska.
Bella I Lorah. Central City.
y. French. Central City.
Peter Gumry. Denver.
The following were believed TO be In
the ruins yet:
General Charles Adams, Myron u.
Hnwley. Lincoln. Nebraska; A, y.
Blake. u. W. Edwards. A. l.. Corxon,
Fred Hubbold. A. N. Monroe. Colora.
do Springs. ]. l.. Kirke. Omaha; J. A.
Brown. Omaha: Lizzie Lager, I>oulss
Reinhubcr. Emma Millcthaier. Prob.
ably among the dead. Elmer I-oescher,
the engineer.