The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-01-03
WATCH WITH FEARFUL EYES
KINDRED OF MESSING ONES ABOUT THE RUINS OF ST. LOUIS, DISASTER.

KINDRED OF lLISsIN c ONES 4BoEp THE RUINS OF ST. LOUIS, DISASTER. series or Explosions in a Building-Seine
 of the Escapes From Death Were Almoat
 Miraeulous-One Man Perched on a Wiu-
 dow Frame and Fell as the Ladder Men
 Reached Him.
 St. Louis, Jan. 2.-Ah o'clock this af- ternoon series of explosions laid waste the vicinity of Second and Vine streets where printing houses and allied trades are numerous. A boiler ini George F. Meritz's printing office in the basement of Mo- sos Third street, just across the alley of the storage and commission house of 1T. B. Grubb, exploded. In the
 rear of the Grubb establishment a. large quantity of fireworks was stored, and a second explosion occurred, fol- lowed immediately by althird that lifted
 the Grubb building and dropped it in a mass of wreckage. The explosion caused general consternation, and every
 window for three blocks was broken.
 large plate glass window in the Mer-
 chants Exchange, four blocks away.
 was shattered and the traders stamped ed.
 Up to o'clock tonight five bodies
 had been recovered from the wreckage: four persons are missing as far as re-
 ported to the police, and the list of in- jured numbers nineteen. In addition
 to the list of injured given several others were hurt.
 The full list of all employees of the four firms is not obtainable, and prob-
 ably the list of dead will be increased when the ruins are overhauled. E. F.
 Lass, proprietor of the Excelsior Wdre company, says he is quite sure five of
 his employees did not escape from the building.
 The work of examining the ruins was continued tonight.
 The total. loss will exceed s100,0O0. Fully insured.
 The H. B. Grubb Commission corn-
 pany occupied the ground floors, No. 309 No. Second street, and the Anchor
 company the second and third floors.
 Adjoining the wrecked building on the south is the Levison & Blythe Printing company, where most of the injured were employed. The north walls and two floors went down. On the north is the Excelsior Wire company's building,
 also partly wrecked. l Tn half a minute the three buildings were wrapped in flames The firemen@ ! fought hard to prevent the spread of the fire and at 2 o'clock it was under
 control.
 Later-The police have made as com- plete a canvass as possible tonight off 1 the city to ascertain the number of the l missing. The list has grown to nine 1 teen, though it is hoped that some of 1 these are temporarily housed with 1 friends.
 At ' o'clock the body of Albert Mel- l Her was taken from the cellar of the
 Excelsior Works building. It was part l ly burned.
 As late as 8 o'clock groans were heard in the wreckage and the police had difficulty in restraining anxious rela- 1 LlNeS Ol lll6 lllSSlIS. IuG City uiSpSii- sary was turned into hospital and 1 fully thirty slightly injured persons, were treated there.
 I The scene of the wreck Is the center 1 of anxious inquiry from the kindred of the missing ones.
 They stand in the biting cold and watch with fearful eyes the work of 1 the rescuers. Little work can be done l tonight but it will be continued until the debris is thoroughly searched. It is
 believed that many buildings in the vi- cinity have been rendered unsafe and a 1 cessation of business about the wreck will be had until thorough inspection is 1 made.
 Some of the escapes from death were almost miraculous. James Kennedy, a 1 printer, perched for twenty minutes on
 the frame of a third-story window, which fell as the laddermen reached
 him. John Marlowe was on the street
 in front of the Grubb building and was 1 hurled across the street against a horsa that had been killed against the oppo- site wall James Couleshaw, one of the l injured, was found under the debris
 with a heavy beam supporting ths
 wreckage above him. A heavy tele-
 graph pole fell across an express wag-
 on and killed the horse. The driver es- capped uninjured Many others report narrow escapes from death.