New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-07-23
THEY FELL INTO THE SEWER.
,c,rEMEN1 CAUSED BY a CHERRY HILL
CAVE-IN.
,~r YOUNGSTERS BURIED IN THE DEBRIS
THE RESULTS WERE NOT SERIOUS. But
THE PANIC WAS INTENSE
WIFI TT LASTED


THE PANIC WAS INTENSE
WHILE IT LASTED.
caving in Of a sewer under the passage
I'm as Single Alley" in the most populous part
rherry HILL last evening threw three children
~ u the drain among the bricks, dirt and sewage.
nv cave rise TO the report that there had been a
as loss Of life. All Of the children were rescued
, the sewer only slightly injured. however. and
-. excitement was soon allayed.
=, was about o'clock that the cave-in occurred 1t
sscted a section Of the alley twenty feet long in
c,,gIe Alley, which is a passage running between
.,s tenement-house at No. IS Cherry-st.. and the
-, mon which preparations are being made for the
",s,tion of new factory at No. 40 Cherry-st. The
W., is over 200 feet long. and extends right
.srmrh the block to Roosevelt-st.
The LOT AT No 40 Cherry-st. is owned by ex-Mayor
81, and was formerly occupied by tenement
.ouse The house torn down some time ago.
and William Galway, of No 5l7 West Thirty sixth
:, was engaged to dig the cellar for a new mould
,,g factory. His son. Edward, was the foreman in
assrse of the work. and had about twenty men
u,asr his charge. They had just quit work last
evening when the side wall of the sewer under the
NAV which had been weakened by the excavation,
ave way There a crash. and cries from the
Svstanders as the pavement of the alley for
a,.tsnce of twenty feet dropped out of sight into
the sewer
detective James McCrOry, OF tne Odh-St stdtioi'
,sard the crash from where he was standing in
Poosevelt-st.. and rushed through the alley and
,unsed into the sewer through the gap in the
nayement. There he set about rescuing the chill
dren who had been playing on the stones when
they fell into the drain. The youngsters were half
hured in the brick. stones and earth with which
they had fallen and there was besides. danger of
,ber drowning in the large amount or sewage which
was flowing through the culvert. McCrory worked
hard and was assisted by Stephen Donovan.
Thomas Hayward. Daniel Sullivan and Edward J.
Marshall, all of whom live near by. They rescued
three small boys from the vault but It was re-
ported that there was another-perhaps two three
more chldren-who had been carried down by the
falling of the pavement. and the work of turning
over the debris abandoned until II was seen
that the three boys rescued were all that had
fallen
as soon as the accident occurred and Acting Cap
tain Walter Thompson, with squad OF forty men.
hurried 10 the scene. He was followed soon after
by Acting Inspector Brooks and detachments OF
men from the Elizabeth-st. Madson-st. and FL
drdge-st. stations. Ambulance calls had been
turned in, and five responded. one was from the
Hudson Street Hospital two from Bellevue and two
from Gouverneur Hospital Two small boys were
taken Hudson street Hospital They were John
j. Burns. nine years old. OF No. p Cherry-st. and
James Ducey, ten years old. of No. Batavia-st.
Neither seriously hurt.
During the excitement succeeding the crash, when
II was known that several children had fallen into
the sewer and that some of them had perhaps been
killed. roush-looking man In the crowd which had
gathered made an attempt TO strike Acting Captain
enough. and realizing his danger, with policemen
standing near him on every side. the man ran
ST., short haf-block from the scene of his at
tempted assault. he had procession OF pursuing
policemen str.nging on behind him. The officers
sprinted their best. but the man managed 10 hold
Els lead, and got away.