Evening journal., 1900-10-30
Thirty-eight Are on Roll of
Missing
ELEVATED STATION WRECKED
Entire Fire Engines Crew Thrown
Down the stairway When The
Chemicals Blew Up

New York, Oct SO.-The long list of
FIRE horrors that have occurred in and
around the city Of New York, a list
that includes the Royal hotel fire, the
Park Place disaster, and the Windsor
and Hoboken fires, was added to yes
terday by a fre and explosion that
shook the lower end of Manhattan like
an earthquake, hurled a seven story
building into the air, and set fire to
two blocks OF buildings, with a loss
OF life that only the efforts of the hun
dreds OF men who were rushed to the
work of digging away the ruins as
spon as the fire was extinguished will
reveal. At the present time IS persons
are reported missing, but it is believed
that most of these hurried to their
homes after tho accident The list of
injured numbers a hundred, many with
broken limbs.
The big building of Tarrant & Co.,
makers of medicinal specialties, stand
ing at the northwest corner of Green
wich and Warren street, and filled with
chemicals, took fire in some way that
may never be known shortly after
noon. II was 16 minutes after noon
that citizen rushed into the house of
fire engine 49, on Chambers street,
near Greenwich, and shouted that Tar
rants drug house was on fire. He had
seen volume of black smoke coming
from the third story window An
alarm was turned in. Soon afterwards
second and third alarms were turned
in. One fire company had just arrived
when a terrific explosion occurred and
threw the entire engines crew down
the stairway. The firemen, realizing
the danger of their position, rushed
out of the building to the street The
explosion had filled the street in front
with shower Of falling glass and
small debris, which sent the crowd
which was already gathered on the op-
posite sidewalks fleeing for safety and
caused the horses hitched to the en-
gines to rear and try to get away.
First Explosion IuJures Firemen.
Engineer Rocksberry was unfast-
ening the horses, and Fireman Brown.
OF the company, was turning the safety
valve of the engine when the explo-
sion occurred and covered them with a
shower OF glass. Both were injured,
as was another fireman belonging to
the company.
Capt. Devanney, of the company, or
dered his crew back into the building
again. They we're dragging the line
TO the doorway for the second time
when another explosion, more terrific
than the first, came, and the whole
crew was hurled across Greenwich
street, Devanney being so badly in
Jured that he was sent to a hospital.
In the meantime the other engines
that had responded to the alarm had
collected, and the firemen were busy
rescuing people from surrounding
buildings. Firemen had already taken
many girls down the only fire escape
upon the building, and more persons
had been carried down the escapes of
the Home Made restaurant, next door,
and the buildings adjoining upon War
rem street.
The second explosion occurred about
hYe minutes after the first. From the
accounts of witnesses the building
seemed to leap into the air, and in a
moment masses Of brick wall. timbers
and stone were falling into the streets.
The force Of the explosion tore away
the walls Of the big commission store
houses fronting on Washington street
and caused them to collapse. falling
at once in mass of timbers, boxes
and barrels. from which the flames.
which burst out from the Tarrant
building like the belching of a cannon.
at once broke forth.
Across Warren street to the oppo-
site buildings the flames leaned set
ting them all aire at once. the force
OF the explosion demolishing windows
and all wooden structures about the
houses. In a moment Warren street
was choked up with a mass of debris
and the whole place was afiame The
great explosion was followed bv half
dozen more scarcely less intense
and by countless number Of smaller
ones.
BY this time the fire apparatus was
arriving from every direction. Deputv
Chief Ahearn came about two minutes
after the second series OF explosions
and he at once ordered a fifth alarm
sent out, followed by a general cali for
ambulances.
People Fled Panic Stricken.
The explosion and fire together had
now assumed the proportions Of a great
catastrophe, and it was at first thought
that hundreds of lives had been lost. 1
Throngs Of people were rushing about
in the nearby streets, many OF them
panic striken, fleeing from the fire.
They mingled in the crowd that was