The age-herald., 1900-04-29
Structure Collapsed With
 Fatal Results. TWO MEN WERE KILLED Several Others ) at the Point
 of Death. PROPERTY LOSS ABOUT $15,0OO The Disaster Will Necessitate Months 'c Delay in Completion of the Big Plant-work Will Begin sa at Once.
PROPERTY LOSS ABOUT $15,oOO

One of the most horrible catastrophes in the history of the Birmingham district oc- cured at North Birmingham yesterday morning, when the roof of the Dimmick Pipe company's main foundry building col lapsed killing two men and dangerously wounding dozen others.
 The dead are:
 James McWhorter, crushed under the timbers and died within an hour
 Dave White, internal injuries died while being removed to the city.
 The injured are:
 J. T. Walker, arm and three ribs broken and otherwise crushed and mangled; his in- juries are thought to be fatal. ' D. c. Pattillo, broken jaw bone, concus- sion of back and internal injuries. George Siler, arm broken and leg crushed W. H. Allen, shoulder dislocated, head cut and rib broken.
 John Olive, internal injuries.
 J. A. Rolf, ankle sprained and side bruised.
 K. Roberts, internal injuries
 J. c. Beck, bruised side and hip.
 W. B. Wynn, head and shoulder bruised Homer Brown, ankle dislocated.
 John Sharpe, slightly bruised
 Telephonic messages from Hillman hos pital and Browns infirmary, where the wounded men were taken after the acci- dent, at midnight last night, stated that all but Walker and McWhorter were doing very well and would probably recover in a short time. The condition of Walker and McWhorter was reported to be very bad, and neither one was expected to live. Tho Accident
 The accident occurred at 7:52 yesterday morning, and came without warning to the workmen.
 About twenty-five carpenters were at work in and around the building at the time of the accident, but only those on the roof sustained injuries, the others hav- ing had time to escape from the building before the heavy timbers could fall to the ground. There were fourteen men on the roof and every one of these sustained more or less serious injuries, ana two of them, as above stated, died within a short time thereafter.
 The accident occurred while the carpen- ters were putting the last truss in posi- tion. The building was almost completed, was pushing with all possible haste to fin-
 
 owners In the roof were twenty-sx trusses twenty-five of which had been put in position and the contractors and the owners were congratulating themselves that they had progressed so far without a single mishap. Three or four more days and the building would have been finished and ready for the interior machinery and appliances; and that, too, without an ac- cident was cause for self-congratulation on the part of both contractor and owner. This fact was already being commented upon when all of sudden the fourteen maragled and bruised bodies lay buried beneath a mass of twisted and broken tim- bers two of which were to be lifeless with in the short space of an hour.
 The main foundry building of the Dem- mick Pipe company lies alongside the Southern railway, near the North Birming- ham Park, and is 354 feet long by 100 feet wide. The walls of brick and of thickness of two feet-four inches than was considered safe for the weight they were intended to support. The huge tim bers and rafters that formed a part of the roof had been put in position and made secure with the exception of the last one the twenty-sixth. The carpenters had some difficulty in getting this properly ad- justed and were working on it when the accident occurred.
 Caught Fly Rope
 hoisting engine was used in lifting the trusses to the top of the building and in some way the long rope attached to the engine got caught on the truss, causing it to fall against the one next to it. Its weight was sufficient to loosen that one, and it fell over against the third, and so on down the line, until the entire super structure fell with an awful crash carry ing with it to the pits some forty feet be- low fourteen human beings to be buried underneath the tangled wreckage The noise made by the falling timbers was heard for several blocks away, and a con- ductor on a north Birmingham car, which was near the park, looked at his watch and noted that it was eight minutes to o'clock.
 About fifteen carpenters were at work in- side the building, but managed to escape without Injury. As soon as it was safe for them to go inside again. they went to the rescue of the less fortunate men, and as quickly as possible removed them from their psriious positions in some instances timbsrs had to be cut before the men could be gotten out. Surgeons and ambulances