The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-05-05
Scenes I'm the Streets-Many Wild
Stories as to the Loss of Life-SOme
of the Victims in a saloon.

holland A. DANlI.
ADOLPH DRACH.
MATTIE KENNEDY.
The injured are:
MRS. DRACH. feet crushed.
BABE OF MRS DRACH, limbs crushed.
BMIL DRACH, righ arm broken. cut over
eyes.
BARBARA HUTTZELMANN. domestic
for Fey hurt over the eyes.
]. B. WARD, Toledo, race horse man,
cut with glass.
SIDNEY w. JOHNSON, barkeeper for
Fey, cut on back of head and over eye.
WILLARD E. COOK, right arm mashed,
cut over eye.
JOSEPH sPRAGUE. colored porter, face
and hands badly burned.
w. Z. HUNWICk. shoulder dislocated.
c. s. WELLS clerk, body crushed.
PELI.ER BURNS, horse dealer. confusion
right arm and leg, bad scalp wound. :.
CHARLES FILLEY, teamster. confusion
head and arms.
JOHN MCCARTHY. clerk on the Big
Sandy steamer, confusion leg and head, in
ternally injured; will die.
r. A. FRICKE, of Norwood.
Among the missing are William Lauth and
William Loheide who are known to be still
in the ruins. and not likely to be recovered
alive.
The explosion did not carry the debris any
distance from the building or even obstruct
the street in front of it. The building
seemed 10 collapse so that the pile OF debris
was covered by the tin roof. and, after
working several hours, 1t was found that the
only way to rescue the victims was to re-
move the immense mass Of brick and tim
Der. Accordingly workmen were put at it. as
many as could work on it. The debHs was
being shoveled by one force out into the
street and into the rear alley, and all avail
able. teams were secured for another force
of men to load it up and get it out of the
way of the rescuing party VINO were working
on the immense pile of ruins. This is found
to be the only practical means of reaching
those who were oil the lower floors All
those who have been rescued have been on
the upper floors except some who were
thrown out into the street. While this work
was going on holes were cut through the
foundations of adjacent buildings and debris
was taken out, and three lives were saved by
persons being rescued in that manner. 1t is
thought that others will be saved by these
holes through the basement walls of the ad-
joining buildings. The family of Adolph
Drach suffered most severely. Drach and his
wife are numbered among the dead. his five-
year-old daughter is dead and his three-year-
old boy Is believed to be dying. holland
Davit, a travelling man for the Columbia
Of Eov vVni1f n md fu,o
others, unidentified. complete the list of
those known to be dead.
A most touching scene occurred when
fireman John Mccarthy found his brother
the men above to kill him. Mccarthy said
there were three other men near him and
they were alive. The most heroic effort to
liberate these sufferers were made up to
midnight.
Hermon Nolte, jr, was standing by a
barber shop pole in an adjoining building
when struck by some debris and suffered a
broken leg and other injuries.
There were many that suffered slight in
juries who were taken to their homes and
whose names cannot be learned. Some of
those who were in the saloons were thrown
out on the sidewalk and suffered slight
injuries Among them Mr.. Healy, of the
Aims Hotel. He was in Fey's place and
reports about eighteen or twenty in that
resort when the building went down. Mr..
Drach being among the victims, 1t Is proba-
BILE that 1t will never be known how the
explosion came about. He has just been
down in the basement experimenting with
the gasoline engine and had poured a barrel
of gasoline into the tank. He had just Sc
cured a new engine from Lafayette, Ind.
intending to start 1t tonight for motive
power to furnish incandescent light Among
the guests at the Gibson House across the
street were the Roston baseball team.
MRS. DRACH ALIVE
Later-It was thought early in the even
ing that Mrs Drach. as well as her hus-
band. was killed. The body of Mr. Drach
was recovered and taken to the morgue.
AS Mrs. Drach was known to be in her