Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1895-11-07

from the top floor, was pulled from the
ruins entirely conscious. He was under
a steam table preparing a mattrix.
When he fell he was protect by the
great iron table, and could plainly hear
the rescuers at work until they reached
him.
N. Jacobs, a paper dealer, who had
been in Killers bindery, had just left
the building when the crash came. He
thought here must have been twenty
girls and four or five boys In the bind
cry, besides George J. Hitler, the pro-
prietor, Of whom nothing has been seen
or heard since the accident.
Charles Hackett was found in the
ruins, in the rear to which approach
was had through the alley. Before he
was removed in the ambulance, he re-
ported there had been four or five girls
on the floor with him. Charles Her
CERT, a packer, employed by John Davis
& Co., was on the third floor when the
explosion occurred.
Il felt the crash and was surrounded
by flying debris before l could realize
what had happened. The vinegar bar
rels and acid carboys came down on us.
| don't know how l got out. l know l
breathed the fresh air after a scramble
among the ruins, and | knew / had es-
capped. There we're four others in the
building that know Of, Alex. Campbell,
Annie Tapley, Kitty Leonard and Joe
Winter the boOkkeeper. | don't know
who got out alive"
From the list of tenants and en-
ployes secured, it seems certain that
fifty people in all were in the collapsed
section. There are still 27 persons un-
accounted for, and it is more than fair
to presume that most Of them are
among the dead. At every hour re-
ports are received of others who are
missing, and whose relatives and
friends have been unable to find any
trace Of them.
Two Of the injured who are in the
hospital will probably not recover.
OF these who are now in the ruins, 1t is
improbable that any will be rescued
alive
Those who were not killed outright
have undoubtedly perished, either from
suffocation or exhaustion. The only
hope is that some Of those who are re-
ported missing may 5e safe with
friends.
The total death list will not be
known before tomorrow night. 1t may
even be longer before the workmen
reach the basement floors of the ill
fated building and the total number of
lives lost is known to a certainty.
The work of removing debris and
searching for the bodies is going on all
night by aid of electric lights, but the
task is big one.
Carelessness is undoubtedly the
cause of the disaster, but where the re-
spOnsibility rests is as yet problemati-
cal. Thomas Thompson, the engineer,
was painfully injured. He said he
could assign no reason for the eXplO-
sion. City Boiler Inspector McGregor
says he inspected the boilers last Au-
gust and had found them up to the re-
quirements. Some of the employees in
the building assert that the boilers
were 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 consid-
| cred significant, namely, that carpen-
ters were engaged in snoring up the
floor Of the second story directly over
the boilers, in order to sustain the
weight of a heavy machine which had
been placed in Dunlap's machine shop.
The men who were at work at this job
were buried in the ruins. Little Gre
dence is given to any theory, however,
| excepting the original one, viz: That
the boiler exploded, demolishing the
| lower floors and knocking 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
Gies Bros, against Undertaken Frank
Gibbs The latter clung to the stretch
er, while the body was being carried
out through the crowd. AS the specta-
tors were becoming excited over the
ghoulish scene the police, in the inter
ests of order, rushed Gibbs outside the
fire lines and would not permit him TO
return.
The property loss will fall entirely
upon the owners Of the building and
tenants. It IS not believed that the or
dinary insurance policies cover the loss
by explosion. The loss on the ruined
part of the building IS about $4,000.
The Evening Journal loses about SlO,-
600 by the destruction of its machinery,
etc. The total loss OF the other tenants
is placed at something over $4,000.