Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1900-11-02
TARRANT & CO.'S BUILDING.
(Where the Explosion Occurred.)

fremen went to work with a will to
dig out the mass and at ten o'clock
p. m. brought to light portion of
q woman's foot and the top of
crushed-in skull. The skull has long
brown hair attached. and is supposed
to be that of woman.
At 1O:30 o'clock a portion of hui
man trunk, probably the abdomen,
was dug out, and little later
brown canvas coat. There was moth
ing in the pockets but four quill tooth
picks. Still later the firemen found an
other portion of skull! and por-
ton of a human, back DIR. Cromer,
of the Health department, who exam
ined the remains. said they were
probably al from the same person, as
were the foot and portion of skull
found earlier The remains were all
found in the Aarrant building.
Searching for bodies.
During the day Superintendent
Dooner had very large force of men
working as hard as possible tearing
down piles of debris and removing it.
The fire burned all day and toward
night was practically to the end of the
mass of debris at Washington and War
rem streets. The fire extends back for
some distance and is burning fercely.
There We're no new worllmen at work
at night. Superintendent Dooner was
using the same force that he had had
all day, but will get largely increased
force to-day. The reason assigned for
having no new men is that the ruins
are SO hot that but few can get at them
yet, and the men have to work at out
side walls and debris in the streets.
There has been much difficulty in get
ting contractors carts in Warren and
Greenwich streets. What space is not
used by fire engines is nearly all taken
up with piles of debris, and only one
cart can back in at time, thus allow
ing only one load to be removed. At
the Washington street end more carts
can be utilized and the work is pro-
crossing much more rapidly.
Thirty-Four Missing.
One hundred and eighty patrolmen
under Capt. Westervelt and Inspector
Brooks were stationed at the ruins at
six o'clock. relieving the day force
Both Inspector Brooks and Capt. Wes-
tervelt were skeptical over the reported
large loss of life. They both said that
they did not expect that more than
four or five bodies would be found in
the ruins. Playing on the still burning
ruins were four engines, and they kept
their streams going continually. A re-
vised list made up to ten o'clock p. m.
shows "a persons still missing.
Must Tear Buildings Down,
Superintendent of Buildings Dooner
declared that dozen buildings would
have to be torn down. He said:
More important than finding the dead
is the protection Of the living. The force
OF the explosion has impaired many build
ings in the vicinity. I cannot think of let
ting men work in them while there is a
possibility that they may come down. I
believe the buildings along the south side
Of Chambers street, from Greenwich to
Washington streets and on Washington
street, from Chambers to Warren streets.
have been made unfit for occupancy. They
will be thoroughly examined this morning
and until am sure of them l will not
allow the proprietors to open them for bust.
ness.
Forty buildings were damaged by the
explosion. ] place the property loss at
s2,000,00O"
Says 1t Was Nitroglycerine.-
DR.. Feeney, chief inspector of the
health department, was at the scene of
the explosion Tuesday.
"This havoc was never wrought by ben
zine or naphtha, he said. ~ believe il
was nitroglycerin. 1t is used very largely
nowadays by physicians as a heart slim
ulant and Tarrant & Co.. as wholesale
druggists, would have had TO supply it.
The stuff Is used in very weak solution.
Usually 1t Is from one-tenth of one per
cent. to one per cent of water. If Tarrant
& Co. had rs pounds of nitroglycerin in
their place it would have blown building
like theirs into fragments