The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-12-15
DESTRUCTION WROUGHT
BY the collapse Of New York's Great
est Gas Tank.


BY the Collapse of New York's Great
est Gas Tank.
NEW YORK, Dec. N.-when dawn
lighted up the district devastated By the
collapsiug Of the big gas tank Of the
Consolidated Gas Company, a spectacle
Of ruin was presented.
Twehty-first street is barrlcaded by
twisted and bent iron stanch!ons, GRID
era and uprights piled to a height Of
twenty-five feet. Twentieth street is
also hlled with bricks, household goods
and tlmbers piled high in one promIscu-
OuB mass. Building department labor
.ers succeeded in clearing Avenue i So
that the cars could pass,
All night long hundreds OF men
worked assiduOusly TO discover the
bodies that might be In the ruins. In
the basement of the furniture factory
OF Henry Fuldner. there was six feet Of
water. Three men on raft 4oated,
searching for the body Of the missing
engineer, Pions Baum. who was in the
basement attending 20 his duties when
the deIuge from the tank swept away
, the rear wall OF the building. HIS body
A was found under u mass OF debris.
The missing are: George Brennan,
itinle-keeper for w. J. Logan. OF the
Logan Iron Works, Greenpolnt, which
conStTuctea the tank which collapsed,
Gustave Winscke. sixteen years old,
son OF one Of the foremen OF the Logan
Iron works.
William o'connell. foreman for the
Logan Iron works.
James E. Lutener, who was supposed
60 be IN the pit working when the tank
gave way.
Peter Corlin. a workman, OF the Con-
sOlldatsd gas company.
The tank that collapsed was 1I6 feet In
diameter, 100 feet in height. and the Iron
supports over which the Immense ca
bleB ran were over 200 feet In height
The lower tank into which the upper
one dtted. was twenty-five feet In
height and rested on the masonry work
OF the pit. This pit Is $50 feet deep. The
builders were testing the strength OF
the tank with water pressure. linz
mense pipes had been pouring water In
to the lower tank all day. The upper
tank or cap had risen about twenty-five
feet. The workmen were preparing TO
leave the place when the masonry work
OF che pit crumbled away like clay. II
SUI t(lAN kAiGNG was oagVNfNuN 8sAtasi'a
OF water in the tank Mt the time OF the
break. The water was over iifty-slx
feet in depth. The steel plates OF the
tank were rent asuudcr by the pressure
like so much paper. The great force OF
the water vented itself on the rear walls
OF the buildings on Avenue A, and all
were torn away with the exception OF a
part OF the gas cOmpanys engine house.
The masonry and brlclSwoTk were
thrown into the street and piled into
the Railways Of the houses and build
Tags on Avenue A side. The rushing wa
teFa cut the rear OF Fuldner's furniture
factory and huge slabs OF asphalt were
carried by the water Into the buildings
Tremendous iron beams and uprights
were swept by the water as II they
were so much timber and carried away
down Twentieth and Twenty-flrst
streets 10 the river front.
At the foot Of Twenty-hrst street
were two barges laden with coal The
rushing water sent beams and joIHts
With such great force against these coal
laden boats that they parted thcig
noOTlnHs. The steamer Paul Koch was
also lying at the foot OF Twenty first
street, and her mornings We're also part
ed.
The arm and leg Of man were found
IN the entanGled burrlcad0 on Twenty
first street to-day.
William o'ConnRIl who was reported
missing, turned up all right to-day.