New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-03-02
THESE WE'RE FLINSY HOUSES
VHE LIVES OF LABORERS SEEMINGLY
HELD CHEAP.

ONE OF THE MEN HURT IN ORCHARD-sT. DIES
IN THE HOsPITAI~-A POLICE CAPTAIN PRE-
SERVES SOME OF THE MORTAR AS EVIL
DENCE AGAINST THOSE RESPoNSIBLE-AN
ITALIAN BELIEVED TO BE IN THE
RUINS YET TWO CONTRACTORS
SPEND THE NIGHT IN PRISON
THE OWNER SECURES BAIL.
The dust that rose from ne ruins Of the houses
in Orchards had hardly settled before rescuers
were at work trying TO extricate the buried men.
The firemen were also summoned. and in few
minutes several Of the bricklayers We're dug out
Of the ruins. One of them had his back broken,
and he was unconscious wnen placed in an am
buance. He was William Wilkinson. aged TWEEN
ty-one, of Astoria. Close beside where he was
found. two brothers. Frank and John Thornton,
were rescued. Frank was an apprentice lad. He
tainted in the arms of the man who dragged him
out, after murmuring: please look out for my
brother When examined by an ambulance sur
geOn IL was thought that neither Of the brothers
was fatally injured. but Frank died about mid
night at the Gouverneur Hospital
The dismantled beams and the pile of brick
and mortar formed such intricate mass to
disentangle that the work OF resucing the men
was necessarily slow. Their cries could be plain
ly heard however. one poor fellow was taken
out with both legs broken. He was recognized
by the other workmen George Gamble, aged
thirty-eight, Of No. 16S West Ninety ighth-st.
BRAVE RESCUE OF AN ITALIAN.
The most difficult task encountered was in the
rescue Of Joseph Barbara. one of the Italians
who was working in the cellar when the col
lapse occurred. There several feet Of rub
bish bearing upon him, but he still con-
scioug when reached While being dug out Of
the pit several Of his fellow-countrymen stood
above and shouted encouraging words to him in
his native language while an ambulance surgeon
from Gouverneur Hospital knelt by his side ad-
ministering stimulants. 1t was two hours after
the building fell before the imprisoned man
finally released from his terrible position. He
was the last one rescued The moment the build
ing fell in. urgent call was sent to Bellevue
and Gouverneur hospitals for ambulances and
there were four the scene before the first
man was carried out from the ruins. The in
jured men were hurried 10 the hospitals as last
as they were rescued
The wrecked buildings include No. ~ to 157 Or
chard-st and have been in course Of contraction
for ten weeks The work had reached the fifth
floor when the crash came The owner Of the
buildings is William f. Lennon. builder. whose
office is at No 12i East Eighty and lives
at No 81 West Ninety third-st The contractors for
the work are Peter COOmes and John c. Gleave
Mr. CoOmes lives at No. 1929 Park-ave. and Mr.
Gleave in Astoria. Both of the contractors and
the owner were present at the time Of the acci-
dent They placed under arrest by Captain
COrtright and sent 10 the Eldridge-st. station.
The charge made against them was criminal
negligence. Mr.. Lennon was released on ball.
Henry Degnan, Of No. 93l Park-ave.. becoming
his bondsman. The contractors remained in
prison.
POOR WORK. CAPTAIN CORTRIGHT SAYS
Captain C0rtright made careful inspection Of
the ruined buildings. He found that the mortar
used fel, like wet sand and did not seem to be Of
the proper quality. The Captain had a quantity
Of it packed in cigar-boxes and carried to the
station To- be used as evidence. The examination
which Captain Cortright made Of the beams in
the walls tnat were left standing led him to form
the opinion that the construction was faulty.
Contractor Gleave denied that poor material
was used or that the construction was FAULTY
He said: The best material was used. and
there was no scarcity Of cement. 1t is possible
that frost set in the mortar during the colo