Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-04-19
BIG AND FATAL FIRE.
Old Pennsylvania Railroad Station a
Philadelphia Destroyed.
TWO MEN CRUSHED TO DEATH
over a Dozen Others Seriously In
jured by Being Cnuaht Under FAN
ing walls and other Debris-Money
Loss Heavy.
Loss Heavy.

PHILADELPHIA, PA. April kline
old PENNSYLVANIA railroad Depot o.
Tbir.v-third and Market streets. ana the
,ra,n-shed together with eight Pullman
cars and about thirty passengers coaene''
were destroyed by fire tonight. i"o
e,or,an were killed by falling walls, ana
over a dozen others were injured. Inc
loss "a estimated at $4,000. The PENN
sv,van,a Railroad Company carries It's
own insurance. The dead are:
william NJ. saiger. aged 81 years; as
s,stant chief engineer of the Phladeiphia
Fire Department, skull fractured. inter-
na,Iv Injuries and frightfully burned
d,od within ten minutes after being
r.noved 10 the Presbyterian Hospital
Hugh McGranigan, IS years old, as
s,stant foreman of Truck NO. l. padiy
crushed. died at hospital half an hour
after being admitted.
Injured:
George r. Preston, aged 20 years. as
sistant foreman OF Truck a, irac.ureu
skull. feet and legs crushed and back IN
jlred, will die.
Samuel Sneyd, ~ years, ladderman or
Truck A. fractured ribs and confused
hack and abdomen. condition critical
Philip Salsberg, IS years, ladderman
Truck No. 1, scalp wounds and internal
Injuries, and arms burned, condition seri-
Gus.
William Bennett, SO years, assistant
foreman of Engine Company No. B: legs
disIocated, and otherwise injured.
Patrick Curtis. IS years. engineer Com
pany No. 43; caught under falling wall
and injured about the legs.
George Jennings, 40 years, ladderman,
Truck No. /. injured about the head ana
legs.
Charles w. Rau. q years of age. scalp,
shoulders and back hurt by falling debris
Five firemen and two railroad employees
were overcome by heat.
ORIGIN OF THE FIRE.
The fire started at 4:So o'clock. pre-
sumaby from an explosion Of gasoline,
in a coal bin under the train-shed, and 1t
spread rapidly. Three alarms were
turned in, and the firemen. aided by at
least 800 employees OF the Pennsylvania
railroad shops, nearby, fought the flames,
but without effect. The workmen saved
number of cars that were under the
tran-shed by pushing them by main
strength to places Of safety. among them
being the private-cars Of President Ro-
berts and Vice-President Thompson, OF
the Pennsylvania railroad. and President
Kimball. of the Norfolk and Western
railroad. The fire ragged for six hours,
and 1t was not extinguished until mid
night.
Shortly after 8 o'clock an iron portico,
In front of the building, fell, and four
fremen were caught by the debris and
badly injured. The most serious disaster
occurred two hours later. when two
story wing of the building fell without
warning. burying a half dozen firemen
under the mass Of hot bricks. The men
were rescued quickly, but Saiger and
McGranahan had sustained fatal intu-
ries, and they died In the hospital. Nc
Granular regained consciousness shortly
before he breathed his last, and asked
that a priest be summoned. The clergy
man arrived a few moments too late. lie
leaves a wife and three children. Sanger
had been a fireman for at least thirty
years, and was one OF the best-known
members Of the fire department. Two
children survive him.
The building was occupied by several
officials OF the Pennsylvania railroad. ard
valuable records and plans were destroy
ed. The commssary department OF
the Pullman company was also located
at this place. The structure was aban-
doned for passenger traffic in 1881, when
the Broad-Street Station was completed
after having been In use for ten or
twelve years. There were sixteen tracks
in the train-shed. and these were hlied
with cars when the fire started.
Travel on the Philadelphia, Whining
ton and Baltimore road, the tracks or
which run close to the old station. was
delayed for several hours. The pulld-
ing and train-shed covered ten acres