The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1895-03-18
CRUSHED TO DEATH
Under the Walls of a Falling
Round House at Toledo.
THREE MEN DEAD, NINE INJURED.

The Twelve Men Were Endeavoring to Ex-
tinguish Fire When, without q Mo-
ment's Warning, the Walls Collapsed.
Two Crushed Beyond Recognition.
TOLEDO. o., March 1S.-The round house
of the Wabash Railroad company In this
city, located at the foot OF South street in
Dock front burned to the ground between
10 and IL o'clock yesterday morning.
Three uarters of an hour after the first
alarm was sent the southwest wall of the
building, sixty feet In circumference, fell
in, burying twelve men underneath 1t.
Two of them were instantly killed, third
aied a short time nfter being taken out of
the debris and the others were all badly
hurt, one probably fatally. All but one,
John Bowen, were employees of the Wa
bash.
The dead - r. H. Bohlman, aged SO,
painter, married, six children; J. j. Pres
ton, aged 80, car inspector, married, six
children; John Bowen, aged 10, inspector.
The injured-John Leary, machlnist,
arm crushed and skull fractured, may die;
i. II, Howard, general foreman eastern
division, head bruised, face cut and slightly
burned, will recover; Patrick McDonough,
fireman, skull fractured and shoulder
broken, will recover; Martin Greenburg,
car repairer, head cut, will recover; Harry
Zimmerman, painter, legs sprained and
body bruised; Louis Becker, painter, head
bruised and shoulder sprained; Henry
Gerding, car repairer, head bruised and
cut; 7. c. Laucr, truck foreman, head and
neck sprnincd and head cut; Jasper
Becker, painter, head and shoulders cut
The first alarm Of fire came by telephone
to the district offices at 1910 a. IN. Gen
eral Foreman Howard summoned the COM
pany's private fire department, consisting
of fifteen men, to the scene, and stream
of water was directed towards the blazing
cupola. A heavy wind was blowing, and
the fire soon ate its way down to the roof.
When Fire Chief Mayo reached the fire
he saw there was danger of tho flames
reaching the oil house and repair shop and
the Wabash elevator all in close proxim-
ity, and he Immediately sent in general
alarm.
Meanwhile the roads fire company had
directed its efforts towards smothering the
flames in the southeast end of the struc-
ture, which mcnaced the oil house, and
the fire Mt this point was held fairly in
check The roof was already ablaze and
threatened to collapse every moment, but
the falling of the walls was not at this
time anticipated. The iron braces sup
porting the roof expanded in the intense
heat and the frail frame covering gave
way with n muilied roar, falling in on the
stalled engines.
At this moment the southwest wall,
eighteen feet high and eighteen inches
thick, was seen to tottcr outward from the
lateral pressure Of the falling roof and a
yell went up to apprise OF their danger the
fftann nj work ut file ian ,,f thn
building. The warning came too late, and
twelve of the men were buried in pile Of
brick several feet high. That only two
were killed outright was nothing short of
miraculous. Streams of water were poured
on the smoking debris, and as soon as pos
sible the work Of rescue began.
Preston and Bowen were buried com
pletely, and We're dead some time before
their bodies were reached They were
badly crushed, Bowen's features being un-
recognizable. Bohlman was taken ont in
an unconscious condition and removed to
his home, where he died few hours after
ward, By this time half dozen persons
had reached the scene, and attention was
directed toward caring for tho injured.
Leary, the machinist, was found to he tho
worst sufferer, and it was feared he would
scarcely live out the day. The others,
though badly used up, will recover
The flrcmen had stubborn fight with
the now doomed round house, the heavy
wind greatly aiding the flames. At noon
the fire was practically under control,
after destroying all that was inflamm;lble
of the building.
The property loss Is estimated Mt $780,
00D; probably insured. The round house,
which had a capacity Of twenty locomo.
tives, contained only six engines. and
these were all badly damaged. A Wheel
ing Pud Lake Eric coal car and Baltimore
and Ohio box car were consumed