The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-11-03
EXPLOSIONS UNEXPLAINED.
Tarrant Fire In%vestsation Reveals Little
So Far.

Assistant District Attorney Walsh. who has
been assigned TO investigate the Warren street
disaster. said yesterday that II was apparent
that there would be difficulty In discovering
Just what was stored on the fourth floor OF
tho Tarrant building. He said that the evil
dence in the investigation thus far makes II
appear that the missing shipping clerk. Ben
jamin Moorehouse. who Is reported among
the missing. received money for the storage
OF drugs by outside firm and turned 1t over
10 the Tarrant firm without its being checked
on on the regular books Of the concern.
1t has been made 10 appear" said Mr.. Walsh
last night, that Moorehouse collected the
storage fees and turned them over to the book
keeper as he saw 1T: that is. they took his
word that the amounts he paid were correct.
! don't believe II. / don't believe that any
business firm would be so careless. When !
can get at the books In the safe ] am going 10
look them over. Thus far In the investisa-
ton there has been manifested a remarkable
amount OF ignorance as TO the doinss on the
fourth floor. | don't think that Moorehouse
was the only one who knew what was on that
floor. II may be necessary to go directly TO
the firms which stored goods there TO find out
what and how much they stored"
Charles Hopkins. who has been the Tarrants'
bookkeeper for eighteen years, testified yes
tefday tnat no hHd kept III ne boohs eaCept
the storage book. including the invoice books.
They did not show the articles on hand, he
said. but were made up from the original In
voices at the end Of each month. Only the
totals were noted and footed The original
invoices would not show what goods were
raCei we'd The invoices were kept by Tarrant
4 Go. but not in the safe They were kept in
partnent was not flreproof lie saw Moore
house IN the building after the fire was dis
covered lie had not seen him since. but had
heard from a porter named Martin that the
latter had seen Moorehouse on the street dur
ing the fire.
There was a story afoat Yesterday TO the eff
feet that one OF the searchers In the ruins had
found the stock book Of MoOrehOuse and that
the building al the time OF the fire. The police
hadn't heard anything about such a. book being
found and neither did anybody employed about
the ruins. The rest OF the story was that the
man who had found the book had agreed to sellt
10 deliver the, book later on. saying that. he
had made n better bargain with Tarrant 4
Go When Thomas Allen. President Of the Tar
rant company, was told. about the story OF the
book last night he said that IL was an OUT
raCo, u lie
No more bodies were discovered In the ruins
of the Warren street fire yesterday, although
the $40 men who are employed IN removing, the
wreckage have already cleared half the block
on Warren street between Greenwich and
Washington streets. Warren street viii be
open for traffic by Monday.
y Of the sixteen persons referred to as miss
ing in THE SuN Yesterday none has been Of
fciallv accounted for. but Of these sixteen eight
are not known at the addresses given when
they were first reported missing. Is klee.
man, % ears old. Of % Warren street and
X. II. Winkelmann Of PA Greenwich street
dav Of the fire, making the total number OF
persons now unaccounted for eighteen.