The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1900-11-02
TERRIBLE DISASTER.
Fire and Explosion Cause Loss OF
Life and Property.
A DOZEN BUILDINGS WRECKED
Thirty Bodies Believed TO be Buried
in the Ruins. Thirty-five Missing
and Over One Hundred More or Less
Injured.

New York, Oct. 30.-The long list
OF fire horrors that have occurred in
and around the city of New York,
list that includes the Royal hotel fire,
the Park Place disaster and the Wind
sor and Hoboken fires. was added to
Monday by a fire and explosion that
shook the lower end of Manhattan like
an earthquake, hurled a seven story
building into the air and set fire 10
two blocks of buildings with a loss OF
life that only the efforts of the hun
dreds N men who were rushed TO the
work OF digging away the ruins as
soon as the fire was extinguished will
reveal
The big building of Tarrant e Co.,
makers OF medicinal specialties, stand.
ing at the northwest corner of Green
witch and Warren street and filed with
chemicals, took fire in some way that
may never be known at about quar-.
ter after twelve o'clock Monday after
noon. IL was sixteen minutes after
noon that citizen rushed into the
house of fire engine 80. on Chambers
street, near Greenwich. and shouted
that Tarrant's drug house was on fire.
He had seen a volume of black smoke
coming from the third story window.
An alarm was turned in. Soon after.
wards second and third alarms were
turned in. One fire company had just
arrived when a terrific explosion oc-
CURED and threw the entire engine
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 a shower of falling
glass and small debris which sent the
crowd, which was already gathered on
the opposite sidewalks, fleeing for
safety, and caused the horses hitched
to the engines to rear and try to get
away.
Engineer Rocksberry was unfasten-
ing the horses, and Fireman Brown of
the company, was turning the safety
valve Of the engine when the explosion
occurred and covered them with a
shower of glass. Both were injured,
as was another fireman belonging to
the company.
Captain Devanney of the company,
ordered his crew back into the build
ing again. They were 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 Green
witch street. Devanney being badly in
jured and was sent to 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 homemade restaurant next door,
and the buildings adjoining upon War.
rem street.
The second explosion occurred about
five 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 failing 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 all
at once in a mass of timbers, boxes
and barrels, from which the flames
which burst out from the Tarrant
building like the belching of cannon,
at once broke forth.
Neither the officials of the police de-
partment or of the building depart
ment were willing to give any estimate
of the loss caused by the fire and ex-
plosion. That it will amount to over
million was not denied by anybody.
The buildings which were destroyed or
wrecked by fire were: seven-story
brick and stone structure-the base
ment and first story, part of third and
fourth to the seventh story occupied
by Tarrant a. Co., wholesale druggists;
the sixth story partly by the +. T.
Witt Hardware Co. and the second
and part of the third by the Breiten-
bach & Co., manufacturers of patent
medicines.
A seven-story brick building occu-
pied by "Opens, Smith a. Wineman
Co., coffee roasting house.
Five-story building occupied by
Locke & Conklin, produce Dealers
Douglass a. Co, bakers supplies, and
Hopping & Campbell, broom sticks
and broom straw.
A six-story brick occupied by Aller,
dried fruits; fifth floor, Havons drug
and spice company; fourth floor va
cant; third and second, Flake & Co.,
lemons and oranges; first and part of
sixth, fruit Dealers; first, Fedora q
Xenelis, lemons and oranges; base
ment, Cuneo, fruit dealer.
Five-story brick used as a hotel.
Five-story brick, occupied, second to
fifth floor by the Morris Jackson Flag
company; basement by Hart & Co.,
butter and cheese.
Five-story brick, occupied by Shieg-
ley, second hand printers materials;
fourth floor occupied by O'Keefe &c
Shiegley, printers; third, by Morris
Jackson Flag Co.. basement and first
floor, Borne, butter and eggs.
The loss OF life is not known, but
from all sources of information IL is
gathered that there are perhaps the
bodies of thirty persons in the ruins,
though because of the hot debris and
the slowness of the moving of 1t, no
bodies had been removed up to mid
night.
There are 35 persons reported miss
ing and one hundred men, women and
children are on the list of injured.
The First Gun.