Mexico weekly ledger., 1895-01-24
sktkNfN.EifE fk0PI,E OF HUflE,
M0NG,, KILLED Ht ENPI0-
$i0NS,
scores OF others iiadiy tajured~-The
fnilro Fire department annihtiat-
ed-Maay brave Citizens Fall
Nictims--The Scene Like
a Battle Field.

box ~ 10 nght nre IN the ware
house of the Butte Hardware Com
pany. There was rumor that ther,
was powder in the building, but thi'
was denied, and after moment'l
hesitation the men set to work. Tht
hose wagon crew, Chief Cameron
Assistant Chief Sloane, Sam Ash
Ed Sloane, Dave Moses, Dave Ma
gee and Jack Flannery, were the
| first at the scene where the fire
started. Magee, the driver, re
mained with the wagon about forty
yards away, while Flannery ran to
the hydrant. The hook and ladder
was manned by George Filter and
Pete Nolan, of the regular psid de-
partment, and William Orr, one of the
volunteers. Chief Cameron direct
ed the attack on the building, and
while some of the firemen hauled a
line of hose along the others started
to tear off the iron covering of the
building so that they could get at
the flames. Just as they had sue,
ceeded in tearing off part of the
covering and secured an entrance the
first explosion came. A. binding
sheet of flame forced the roof from
its fastenings and shot hundred
feet into the air, followed by a sec
ond deadly silence, and then came
the awful roar, carrying with it an
Inhalation to those who closely sur.
rounded the death trap and destruc'
ton on every hand. All but Magee
and Flannery of the firemen were
instantly killed.
EXPLOSION FOLLOWS EXPLOSION.
AS soon as the stun of the shock
had passed away, spectators who
had escaped injury began pulling
the mutiiated bodies of the firemen
and the injured from the proximity
OF the flames, While from all over the
city people began running toward
the fire.
About five minutes after the first
explosion a second explosion almost
equal in volume to the first occurred,
heightening the terror all over the
city. In this scores of citizen were
killed and injured. Parts of bodies
were hurled long distances. A man
near the Northern Pacific water tank
was almost struck by the leg and
thigh of human being, driven by
the force of dynamite.
There were still heroes left to help
pull the shrieking wounded and the
groaning dying to distance, but
most Of the people hesitated. There
had been two explosions and there
might be more. There were rumors
of carloads of powder in the vicinity,
besides that stored in the warehouse.
Five minutes later a third explo-
sion did come, but it was mild
one, and it is believed that very few,
if any, were injured in this.
LIKE FIELD OF BATTLE.
The scene after the explosions pre-
sented more the appearance of field
of battle than anything else. The
dead were strewn everywhere and
cries and groans of the injured and
dying were heard from all sides.
Between the Northern Pacific and
Great Northern depots, epace Of
300 feet, the ground was literally COW
cred with parts of human bodies
and with the dead and injured. The
scene was one of utter and absolute
destruction. The houses in the vi
cinity were as thoroughly wrecked
as if a cyclone had passed through
them.
One of the rescuing corps gather
ed up twenty-seven dead bodies in
one pile. Eight were in another.
Two and three in other piles. The
rescuers pulled some of the dead
bodies out, still quivering, while
of the human beings still
groaning were found with legs and
arms torn off.
The work of rescue was prosecut-
ed in earnest. Every vehicle in the
city was brought into service to
carry away the scores of dead and
the hundreds of injured, and soon
the hospitals were filled. The spare
rooms in the hotels were taken and
private houses were thrown open.
The scenes in the undertaking es.
adjustments this morning were
something awful. ALI were crowded
withheaps of human flesh. Here was
half head with a mutilated trunk
below it; in another place an arm
less and legless trunk, with the face
disfigured beyond all possibility Of
recognition. Scarcely sny Of the
corpses are recognizable and the com,
plete roll of dead will probably never
be known. There are twelve dead at
the Butte undertaking rooms, ten at
the Montana and nineteen al the
Sherman.
Forty-three wounded are in the
hospital and twenty.eight of them