Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1896-05-14
AN ENGINE OF DEATH
MANY KILLED BY A CINCINNATI
GAS GENERATOR.
Awful Catastrophe Occurs When
Building and Streets Were Crowded
Certain that Many Are Dead and
More MangIed-Panic in the City.
Tale of the Horr or.


Tale of the Hori or.
At 7:45 Monday evening a terrific ex.
plosion occurred in Louis Fey's saloon ut
Cincinnati, o., Immediately opposite the
Gibson house The building, five-story
brick was shattered to splinters. Fey
manufactured his own gas with ma.
chine from gasoline. A large tank filled
with the explosive fluid was in the room
in the rear of the saloon. In addition a
barrel of gasoline was being unloaded at
the time. An electric motor furnished
the power. The motor was operated at
too high rate of speed, causing the com
mutator to burn out. This ignited the
gasoline, causing the explosion. 1t is al
most certain that at least twenty persons
were killed. A fair estimate places the
number caught in the falling building at
from sixty to seventy-fve. At least TWEEN.
ty-6ve people, and perhaps more, the ex.
act number may never be known, were
mangled, crushed, burned and scalded to
death. Bodies of Adolph Drach's fam.
lily of four, and four unknown, were quick
ly recovered Three of the Fey family,
two servant girls, and three men employees
were missing. Twenty-Five injured were
removed to the hospital, two OF whom
will die.
The explosion shook large buildings for
squares. Hundreds of windows in the
Gibson House were broken and plate glass
windows on both sides of Walnut street
the entire length of the square were shat
tered. Scores of pedestrians were knock
ed from their feet and there were dozens
of runaway teams in the vicinity. Sever
nj electric cars were thrown from the
track and at least twenty female passen.
gers IN different cars tainted away and
were carried into the Gibson House and
adjoining places. The electric light, tele
graph, telephone and trolley wires on the
square were torn down and the explosion
was followed Immediately by darkness.
Whole Building Destroyed.
Flash lights were rigged up across the
street and the rays thrown onto the ruins.
The explosion tore the entire structure
from between adjoining buildings on
either side as neatly as it could have been
accomplished by workmen. All that is
now left is a mass of brick, mortar and
torn lumber, over which the roof rests in
a slanting position. 1t was occupied by
Fey's and Drach's saloons, both of the
better class. 1t is estimated that forty
or fifty people were inside at the time
Of the explosion, and it seems impossible
that any could have escaped.
The firemen beat path into the ad-
Joining barber shop and began drilling
holes through the thick brick wall in the
hope of reaching some of the bodies. The
heavy roof lying over the ruins made II
impossible for the firemen to make any
Roadway from the top or sides.
The upper floors of the five-story build
Ing were occupied as flats. 1t is not known
how many people were in the flats or how
many were in the saloons, but none es-
capped, as the building Immediately col
lapsed There was no fire to consume
the ruins and make certain death or all
in the building, but the dust and dirt
continued flying for long time so dense
ly that the work of rescuing the victims
proceeded with great difficulty.
His Whole Family Gone.
One of the barkeepers, who was not on
duty at the time and escaped, lived in
one of the upper fats, and was wild with
grief because he knew that his wife and
four children were in the ruins. One OF
his children was recovered dead soon
after the explosion.
As the night passed the scenes about
the wrecked buildings became more dis
tressing than ever. Women whose hus-
bands and sons had not reached home by
10 or IL o'clock came down to the Foun.
tain square and filed up the space about
the government building, where they
were weeping and crying about their
friends being in the wreckage.
Departments at Work.
All Of the departments of the city were
at work at the ruins. The police commits
sioners were in charge of their depart
ment, together with Chief Deitsch, and
the fire commissioners were with Chief
Archibald The street cleaning depart
ment was out in full force. at work re-
moving the debris and hauling it away
and good engineers were soon ON hand
superintending the handling of the heavy
timbers.
Crowded with People.
The explosion occurred at a time in the
evening when there were many people in
the bar, and ii was said soon after the ex-
plosion that number Of women and
their escorts had just entered. They were
probably in the wine rooms in the rear OF
the bar The street was well filled with
pedestrians and it is almost certain that
many Of them were fatally injured. Stand
ing almost in front of the building when
the explosion occurred was Newport
and Covington car. 1t was completely
wrecked ana the half-dozen passengers
and the motorman and conductor were
more or less severely injured.
Panic in the Gibson House.
There were several hundred guests in
the Gibson House and they all became
panic stricken. Men and women rushed
from their rooms, the latter shrieking
with terror and several of them fainting.
The guests of the house who were in the
lobby, barber shop and waiting-room were
knocked down by the shock. 1t seemed
to them as though the explosion was in
the hotel building and, not knowing at
what moment it would be followed by
another, they rushed from the hotel, add.
ing to the panic in the street.
Wreck at Liberty, Neb.
At 3 o'clock Monday morning train 63,
fast freight on the Burlington, going
west, ran into a washout, near Liberty,
Neb. The engine and three cars were
wrecked. Two trainmen were killed and