The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1895-01-17


flames. From all over the city people
began moving towards the fire and the
crowd had greatly increased within five
minutes. just about that length Of
time after the first explosion, q second
explosion almost equal in volume to the
FIRST heightened the terror all over the
city and
Spread Death and Desolation
at the disastrous scene. In this explo-
sion scores of citizens were killed and
injured. Parts of bodies were hurled
scores Of feet away. 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
from the fearful scene. There were
still heroes left to help pull the shriek-
ing wounded and the groaning dying to
q distance, but the people up town hest
tated. There had been two explosions
and there might be more. There were
reports Of carloads Of powder in the
vicinity besides that stored in the ware
houses. Five minutes later
A Third Explosion did Come.
but it was. mild one, and it is believed
that very few, If any, were injured in
". It had all occurred in 10 minutes,
she most horrible quarter Of an hour In
Butte's history. The horrible awful
ness of the scene after the explosions
was beyond description. Words could
give no idea Of it, 1t presented more
the appearance of field of battle than
anything else. The dead were strewn
everywhere and the cries and groans of
the injured and dying presented scene
altogether uneafthly. Blood and brains
were spattered about. Here were legs
and arms; scattered around here and
there we're pieces of flesh and entrails.
Was sickening.
Between the Northern Pacific and Great
Northern depots, space of 800 feet, the
ground was literally covered with parts
of human beings and with the dead and
injured. The scene was one of utter
and absolute destruction. The houses
i'm the vicinity were as thoroughly
wrecked as if cyclone had passed
through them. One of the rescuing
corps gathered ~ dead bodies in one
pile. Eight were in another. Two aud
three in other piles The rescners
pulled some of the bodies ont still quiv-
ering, the remnants of the hnman be-
ings still groaning while legs and arms
had been torn off. Shapeless trunks
quivered and
Died In the Arms of the Living.
The work of rescue was prosecuted in
earnest. Every vehicle In the city was
brought into service to carry away the
scores of dead, the hundreds of injured.
The hospitals were filed. The spare
rooms in the hotels were taken and
private houses were thrown open where
it was necessary. Chief Cameron di-
rected the attack ON the building, and
while some of the firemen hauled d line
Of hose along, the others started In to
tear or the iron covering of the building
80 that they could get at the flames.
Just as they had succeeded in tearing
or = part Of the covering and secured
an entrance, the first explosion came.
u a Blinding sheet OF Fiame
forced the roof from its fastenings and
shot hundreds OF feet into the air, fol
lowed by q second OF deadly silence and
then came the awful roar, carrying with
it annihilation to those who closely sur
rounded the death trap and destruction
ON every hand.
seane of the Dead.
The dead who have been identified
j. B. Miller. attorney, Salmon City,
Ida; J ID. Cameron, fire marshal;
George Fifer, fireman; William MCGEE,
| fireman; g. e. Tracy, Fred Krembeck;
j.. j. Enright, J.. j. McHale, Rob
bins, Cozaque, Mike Meade, VIII
Smith, George Welton, Jack Charles,
q. Guttenburg, an employe of the Butte
Hardware company, folks live at Osage,
La; George Galbraith, Ed Sloan, fireman;
Dave Moss, fireman; John Fudge, vol
unteer fireman; Alexander Williams,
volunteer fireman; Charles Bowman,
volunteer fireman; Samuel Ash, Peter
Norling, James O'Leary, Miles McDon-
aid, William Pierce, Albert Goddard,
George Holloway, Dan Hickey, G. w.
English, Charles Ashton, W. III. Nolan,
Paul Hanson, Elmer Green, George
Wilson, Steve De Longhery.
sights something Awful.
The sights in the undertaking estab-
| 1lishments are something awful. All are
crowded with heaps of human flesh.
/ Here was half d head and a mutilated
trunk below 1T; iii another place an arm.
less and legless trunk, with the face dis.
/ figured beyond all possibility of recog.
milton.
j Scarcely any of the corpses were rec.
4 ognizable, and the complete roll ofaiead
I viii probably never be known.
There are I2 dead at the Butte nnder.
taking ronraa. Ile Az the Montana. and gs