Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-09-12
FOUR KILLED AND MANY HURT
EXPLOSION OCCURRED IN CELLAR
OF GROCERY STORE.
Building Where 1t Occurred and
Those on Either Side Collapsed
Cause of the Explosion
Has Not Yet Been
Discovered.


cellar of grocery store at 1iii South
street, tonight. surely four. and possibly
dozen more lives were lost.
As an immediate consequence of the ex-
plosion. the building where It occurred and
those adjoining it on either side collapsed
and, up to 10 o'clock four hours after the
occurrence four bodies had been recovered
from the ruins and three of these identified,
as follows:
Samuel SchatteEstein, keeper of the gro
cery store.
His 19-year-old son, Abraham.
A 1O-months-old child named Goldberg.
10 years old.
How the explosion occurred is yet un-
known. The front of 14i4 was blown out
and this was followed by the collapse of
that structure and numbers 1442, occupied
Morris Goldberg's furniture store. and 1ii6.
Louis Sallanose's shoe store. The west
wall of 1iiO, occupied by l.. WagnerS
clothing store, was blown out. All the
buildings were of brick, three stories in
height.
In the confusion and excitement follow
ing the disaster it is as yet impossible to
secure anything like an accurate census
| of the occupants but it is generally stated
that the upper floors were crowded with
families, huddled together in tenement
| fashion.
| Coming as 1t did at the supper hour, 1t is
feared the loss of life will be heavy. The
| list of injured will be long. They were
| taken to all the hospitals within radius
| of mile.
| After the recovery of the four bodies the
| authorities decided to postpone the search
| for additional victims until tomorrow
morning, thus obviating the dangers and
| delays of working upon the mass Of debris
and wreckage in the darkness.
| The corpses of Schattensteln and his son
| We're picked up on the steps of No. 14ii.
] The unidentified 10-year-old girl was found
pinioned by a mass of timbers In the rear
| of the same building, and the Goldberg
child died while being taken to a hospital.
The injured at the Howard hospital are:
| L. Schattenstein, aged Il. broken nose
| and laceration of scalp.
| Alexander Schattenstein, aged 6, lacerat-
| ed scalp condition serious.
| Mary Healey. aged 65, fractured leg.
Annie McPhilomy, 40 years. confusion OF
ankle.
Harry Rothemel. u years. lacerated scalp.
| Maggie Goldberg,32 years. lacerated scalp.
Sarah Goldberg. II years, lacerated scalp
and confused ankle.
At the jefferson hospital are A. E. Fish,
| 80 years. fireman of truck d, lacerated
wound Of scalp, and Yetta Goldberg. .
| years. confusion of leg and back and lacer-
! ated wound of scalp.
| At the Polytechnic is Rose Schattenstein,
| years. lacerated finger.
| The 10-months-od child was Max Gold
| berg, son of the furniture storekeeper.
Estimates of the number OF missing vary
| from eighteen to six.
| The accepted theory of the accident Is
| that Schattenstein went into the cellar
| with lighted lamp, which ignited the
fumes of the gasoline. From the position
| front steps, 1t is thought they were emerg-
| ing from the house when caught by the
falling walls. The collapse Of the buildings
| occurred within two minutes Of the ex-
plosion, and the occupants had little time
| or chance to escape. Mrs. Goldberg
| snatched up her 10-months-oid child in her
| was so badly injured that 1t died while
| being borne to the hospital. Strangely
| enough. the mother escaped with only
| trifling injuries.
| At 6:45 o'clock tonight. n sergeant of
police was talking with one of his men on
| the opposite side of the street when, with
out a moments warming, there was ter
| rifle explosion. which, almost oefore they
| could turn their heads. was followed by a
| thunderous crash Mingled with this were
the cries Of human beings.
| Without loss of time. one or the police
men struck the fire alarm at a box nearby.
| while the other rang for ambulances- The
engines and six of the hospital wagons were
| there within twenty minutes. and a large
| force of policemen. also summoned to the
scene. had the street roped of from corner
| to corner.
| The work of rescue was begun forthwith.
but was temporarily abandoned later when
the twilight had deepened into night. All
the dead and injured were in the buildings
at the time of the disaster and as the walls
collapsed almost in a perpendicular direc-
ton. no passersby were injured by flying
| debris.
The force of the explosion was so great.
however. that all the windows in the houses
across the street were broken by the con-
| cussion.
The search for more dead will be resumed
at daybreak.
None of the injured is expected to die.