The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1896-05-30
A a

Sudden Collapse of a Building Undergoing
Repairs-Large Numbers Buried in the
Ruins-The Bodies Of Two of the Vic
tims Taken Out Dead and a Great Many
Seriously Injured-NIany Miraculous Es-
capes.
BUFFALO, y. Y, May 21.-A section
OF the ~Seneca-street front of Browns
building collapsed at 9:20 this morn
ing, burying a score Of persons in the
ruins. George Metz, a barber. and
Jennie Smith, cashier in the barber
shop. are dead; William p. Straub, a
contractor, is known to be in the
ruins. and a dozen others are more or
less injured, one of whom will proba-
bly, die.
Browns building stood on the cor
ner OF Main and Seneca streets, and
for years the Western Union Telegraph
Co. had occupied the ground floor
as a business office and all of the fourth
hoo" as an operating room.
The building was filled with offices,
many of which were occupied. and on
the ground floor on both Main and
Seneca streets were stores occupied by
merchants.
The Western Union left the building
a few weeks ago and the owncrs of the
block began the work of remodeling
and strengthening it. On the Seneca
street side, workmen were engaged in
putting in place new columns and
beams and new foundations for them.
Nos. 5 and 10 Seneca street We're
unoccupied, the principal alterations
being made at that point. No. II was
occupied as 4 barber shop by George
Seinert, and No. II by James Clegg's
jcwelry store and Thomas Jones news
stand. The offices in the floors above
were nearly all tenanted, and alto
gether there were probably fifty peo-
pie in the collapsed section. The
walls fell with a crash, taking down
roof and ceiling with them.
Here and there could be seen people
who had not been caught in the fall
ing debris, rushing to places of safety.
The outer wall fell into the street,
burying those who had not time to
escape.
The fire department was called and,
with the police and workmen who
came rushing to the falling building,
the work of rescue was began. Some
of the people who had been in the
building were saved almost miracu-
lousy, having been penned in by the
falling windows and sill. They were
taken out as soon as possible.
In the Scinert barber shop were nine
b~arDtrs, the girl cashier and some us
toners. When the crash came all
rdshed to the front door, but the fall
ing bricks drove them back. Those
i'll front rushed to the alley, only to
be met by the falling ear walls, where
Net ~ buried and killed. The 9TH
ers crouchcd in 4 corner of the shop
until the avalanche ceased, when they
made their escape.
The experience OF the occupants of
No. Ii was somewhat similar To those
in the barber shop, but all escaped
without injury.
In Nos. 5 and 10 were probably
twenty workmen, including steam fit
tiers, iron workers, carpenters and
plaSterers, and it was here that the
crash was greatest. Nearly all of the
men We're caught in the falling walls
and floors and buried in the ruins.
The tenants on the upper floors had
many narrow escapes, but SO far as
known, all of them succeeded in max
ing their escape
The search for the missing began
and the ruins were worked over in the
hope of finding the bodies of Contrac-
tor Straub and Jennie Griffith. who
were known t be somewhere among
the mass of w~rcckage. Shortly before
6 O'Clock the body OF Miss Griffith was
found ana removed to the morgue
Straub's body has not been found.