The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1895-03-02
UNDER FALLING WALLS.
Fatal Collapse of Two Buildings
in New York.
FOUR KILLED, NINETEEN INJURED.

Ono Of the Buildings Was Being Torn
Down While the Other Was One of a
Row Being Erected Inferior Work
Caused tho Last Accident.
NEW YORK, March 1.-TWO buildings,
one in course of construction and one in
course of demolition collapsed in this city
yesterday and killed four men and fatally
injured or MANNED or bruised nineteen
others. The first accident occurred at the
corner Of Forty third street and Tenth
avenue where house which was being
torn down by some forty laborers fell
with q crash, carrying several workmen
to the basement three floors below, where
they were almost completely covered by
tons Of bricks, dry mortar and iron beams.
The dead are: Hugh Cullen, aged 40;
Angelo Ticcor, 81, and John Curran, SO.
The injured are Charles Bobsienn, aged
81, fractured skull; Felix Moran, 81, frac-
tured collar bone and confused body;
Louis Stein, %; Michael Greeley, John
Flaherty, Edward Weaney, Patrick Cur
ran, Thomas O'Connor and James NAL
lien. The first three may die.
Tho building, which Is an old one, had
been used as malt house by A. f. and Il.
Schweyer for the past thirty years, but IL
has been unoccupied for more than two
years. 1t was eight stories high, and ran
back about sixty feet on West Forty-third
street. Men were tearing down the old
structure under tho directions of Con-
tractors 'keefe and Keegan. The work
had gone on successfully until the men
had got down as far as the rear Of tho
third floor known as the old Kiln house.
There We're about eighteen men on this
floor at the hour mentioned, when sud-
denly there was rumbling noise and the
building rocked as II shaken by an earth
quake. In another moment the floor gave
way and fell with Its human freight to
the basement, carrying the other floors
with it,
Some of the cooler heads turned in the
fire alarms and ambulance calls, which
were quickly responded to. Fire Chief
Gicquel was among the first to arrive, and
assisted by some laborers, who had for
tunately escaped, and many willing citi-
zens, the flremen began tho work of rescue.
John O'Connor was the first man brought
out, but he died in the ambulance on the
way to Roosevelt hospital Half an hour
later the dead bodies of Cullen and Ticcor
were extricated, and they were removed to
the police station. 1t was two hours later
before all were taken out.
Contractors George O'Keefe and Pat
rick Keegan were placed under arrest, but
were later admitted to bail by the coroner.
The second accident occurred about 1895
o'clock in the afternoon. Without the
slightest sound that might have warned
the fifty men that worked near 1t, the cen-
trail wall to the four double tenement
houses being erected ut ISL to 157 Orchard
street crumbled and fell With the wall
80 laa wi
great rent fifty feet long and thirty feet
wide in the center of the buildings. 1t
was like a pit, rt the bottom Of which was
mass of tangled iron and broken wood,
that covered many men. From that heap
in an hour had been taken out one man
dead and twelve In jured.
The dead man was John Wilson, 80
years, of Astoria 4. l. The injured are:
William Wilkinson, bricklayer, Astoria,
back broken; Frank Thornton, 81 years,
Astoria, bricklayer, badly injured; John
Thornton, 90, brseklayer, Astoria, badly
injured about body; - Gloria, 80, brick
layer, both legs broken; Thomas Wilson
(brother of john, e7, bricklayer, head in
jured; George Gamble, SO, laborer, both
legs broken; Joseph Barbara, 81, laborer,
left leg broken; Frank Barbara, brick
layer, back injured; Joseph Mesire. "a,
head injured; Patrick Flaherty, 80, Ia
borer, leg injured; Patrick Malloy, As
toria, bricklayer, back injured; William
Malloy, %, Astoria, bricklayer, arms
bruised.
There wero fifty men working in the
four buildings They We're to DO seven
stories high, Of which four stories had
already been raised Most of the men were
on the fourth floor of the house No. 1856.
Between tho front and rear of the house
was big party wall. along the side of
which ran narrow light shaft 1t was
the party wall that crumbled. In heap
the mon went down with the fallingsfioor.
One of the bricklayers, Michael Luscles,
was near window towards the front of
the house. He had just time as the floors
sank beneath him to clutch at u window
sash and was left clinging to the frail sup
port, four stories above the ground. He
managed to crawl up SO as to sit on the
window sill, from which position he was
afterwards rescued by tho flremen.
Anthony Kline, of Williamsburg, fell
the four stories, but escaped without even
scratch He says he was carried down
gently and thrown through one of the
front doors into the street.
Police Captain Cartwright arrested the
contractors and the owner of the build
ing. Inc CONTRACTORS are Jonn N'oomesi
of Astoria, and Peter G. Cleaves. The
owner is William u. Lennon.
Both contractors and builder were I'M
able to account in any way for the acct
dent IT might be possible, they said, that
frost might have got into the mortar and
rendered it ineffective. But Captain Cart
wright said he had made careful examl-
nation of the building, and said Ii was a
surprise to him that the house had stood
as long as it had The mortar, he said,
had been examined by an expert and pro-
nounced worthless. 1t was also said that
the bricks were of poor quality, that the
beams were not properly supported and
that the iron girders were not on stone in
the walls as they should be. Bail for the
arrested men was refused.