New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-08-09
DETAILS OF THE DISASIEh
STATEMENTS OF wORKM&N AM CDN
rRACToRs-sAD SCENES.
MEN s.w THEIR COMRADES DISAPPEAR BEFORE
THEIR EYEs-MANY MARIO" E''N'
J. II. PARKER THE BUILDER


OUT on BAIL
There was a loud rumble and ciouu VI quo.
as the building caved in, and then from .'e -
Of mortar masonry and girders ca'ie VI" -
and yroans OF injured workmen. crown "'
rescuers we're on hand In less tha' '''e. ..'.,,
and two minutes later of the buried wo'H'
, nos corr;od out dead He proved TO De
,ohorer named John Burke Close Deside MN III
49,. ~,,,,,. ma found John Smith, an electri-
49,. 70 wos badly mangled and died In an
.,,,,,orca an the way TO st. Vincents hospital
O,.ar ara ,aken out badly manned ana re-
moved to hospitals. A.. ..,h,.
In t,o ars, excitement attending the terrible
accident there was report tha' a' 'e"S' '"'
men were killed.
Tho minnie the building collapsed policeman
OF the Mercer-st. station ran 70 d teep"ohe anu
called for all the ambuances that couiu De spaieu
from the New-York and ST. Vincents nospila'S'
r,na ersmen were also summoned 10 dig out the
,mnr,soned workmen. Park Policeman Living
s,on fell into an excavation while aiding In the
work of rescue and injured his BACK
r p. Galligan's Sons. who are the Fire De-
partment contractors. were sent ior Dy Ohei
Bonner to make systematic search OF the
debris The building looked 80 treacnerous tha'
!, was de,med unsafe for the workmen to enter
IL until ii had Deen properly S"OieN ny >"N'-
gang Of sixty men were put to work to overhaul
the rims Galligan said the work would be con-
tinued by electric light during the entire night
The work will not be completed, 1t is DeleVed
until to-day.
MANY NARROW ESCAPES OF WORKMEN
A number Of plasterers were working on the
roof when the crash occurred. Several OF tneh
escaped by running to the Th.rd-st. end OF the
building and the others are said to nave gone
down In the ruins.
Charles Martin foreman OF the carpenters
WAS working with several Of his the fifth
floor when the building fell In. Martin said
later, when seen by reporter, that there was
noise like dozen cannon exploding, and great
mass of mortar and bricks swept down by him
and his men They were not injured, however
and made their way to the street by the stair
way and fire escapes
Henry Newan. Of No. 224 East Thirty-fourth-
ST. who had the contract for the tile work. said
he had nineteen tle-workers on the fifth foor OF
the building when the accident happened He
visited the wrecked building at o'clock In the
afternoon and said that only four Of the men had
been accounted for He did not know the names
Of all the men. but said that two named Charles
Bihlheimer and Henry Thomas could not be
found at their respective homes.
Mrs Ellen Petersen, wife of Charles Petersen,
the young electrician who was Killed In the COL
lapse called at the ruins late in the afternoon
and created a sad scene. She pleaded 10 be al
lowed to go into the building and search the
ruins for her husbands body "Oh. let me get
near him. she cried. as Captain Eakins took her
gently by the arm and led her acros the street 10
a store where she remained sitting FOR seVerai
hours She was suffering great mental anguish
and became hyster.ca on several occasions as
, she kept watch on the pile Of ruins where her
husbands body was hid. One Of her husbands
fellow workmen finally persuaded her to go to
her home Petersen was twenty-seven years old
His body was recovered at $3.50 p. m
CORONER FITzPATRICK's THEORY.
Coroners Fitzpatrick and Dobbs. attended by
their clerks, reached the scene OF the disaster
about o'clock In the afternoon and made per-
sonal examination OF the wrecked structure one
OF the Galllgans reported TO Coroner Fltzpat-
rick that each OF the many bags OF rock plaster
which were In the various floors or the pulioinB
when II collapsed weighed l52 POUNDS Coroher
Fitzpatrick returned to his Office from the scene
| OF the disaster late in the afternoon and said:
1T is my opinion that the accident was caused
! by the giving away Of the middle column OF the
| building at the base. was once carpenter ahu
believe that the building was constructed IN SUCH
way that 1t could have held up from l'Vov 10
| 1000 pounds to the square foot on the Top hooi
where Il was said that the weight caused the
| floor to break through. | do not think this was
the IT Is possible that the middie counin
| may have been undermined at the pase py al,
| underground stream OF water The two tiers OF
| the building on the West Broadway side are
now liable collapse at any minute, ana the
| workngmen who are there bearing the wreckage
| away are In danger OF being killed. / nave IN
structed Thomas Galligan. who Is clearing the
| wreckage away. to prop up the walls
| Joseph Guido. who had the contract for the
! .aplx- Of plo lat
| side the building were the fifth and sixth
floors There was nothing on the roof. he de-
cared The roof was supported by heavy iron
beams and all the floors were neld UP by IRON
| beams on stanchions
| WORKMEN FEARED A COLLAPSE.
A n,a.terer who worked on the building. said
that the workmen had always feared that the
centre pillar was unsafe. He said some plaster
ers were working in the cellar at the time Of the
| collapse II So they are buried beneath many
hundred tons of wreckage. John Bruno. an
| Italian laborer. told the police also that there
were a dozen men in the cellar and only half got
out.
| Cornelius Guido, forty-fve years old. OF No
| 70 Bergen-st Brooklyn and William Fox. thirty
eight years old. OF No. 1888 Sackman ST.. Brook
! lyn were found beneath the ruins and they were
| taken out BY the hremen. Their bodies were
badly bruised and blood flowed freely from their
| faces, which had been cut by falling bricks and
| loose pieces OF timber Guido sustained q scalp
| wound and Commissions Of the body Fox was
| badly cut about the head and chest Both men
were taken to the New-York Hospital and their
| condition Is serious. Guido told the ambulance
| surgeons when he was placed In the ambulance,
| that he was working the seventh story when
the accident happened He did not remember
anything else. he said. but he evidently car
| ried down with the falling wreckage
John Cure OF No. 500 West Broadway, was
working on the ground floor when the roof fell
| in. and he was struck by two pieces Of brick.
He escaped being dangerously injured and walked
home.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END.
on the eighth floor there We're seven plasterers
and laborers at work. a plasterer named Walsh
was just finishing his job and had descended
to view his work when his foreman joined him
and said: