The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-11-02
SEARCHING FOR THE DEAD
IN DEBRIS AND RUINS OF THE WRECKED
BUILDINGS IN NEW YORK
THE WREGKAGE STILL BURNING
Four Engines Throwing Water on the
Ffr All Day Yesterday-The Search
Very Slow-Four Bodies Found and
Portions OF Others Thfrfy-Four
Persons Still NIssing-The Death List
Not Expected TO be a Long One

new York, October "a the efforts
of the authorities are now directed to
cleaning away the ruins of the Tar
rant and other buildings wrecked in
the great explosion OF yesterday in b
desire to find out how many bodies are
buried in them and 10 ascertain what
was n cause of the explosion. The
effort of the searchers for the dead was
rewarded this evening by the finding
Of the remains of H. G.. A. Schmidt
n the discovery of what looks to be
Schmidt was an engraver and had an
office on the third floor of i01 Warren
street. The body could be seer pinned
down under a mass of twisted iron, but
could not be gotten at tonight. Identi-
fcation was made by a nephew Of
Schmidt.
At the northwest corner of the Tar
rant building, al Warren and Green
witch streets, a mass of clothing and
indiscriminate articles was come across
and the mass was said to be the bodies
of three people. The firemen went to
work with a will to dig u the mass
n at 10 o'clock brought to light a
, portion of a woman's foot and the top
of a crushed-in skull. The skull had
long brown hair attached and is sup
pOSedly that of a wOman
During today Superintendent Dooner
had a 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 de-
bris at Washington and Warren
streets. The fire runs back for some
distance and is burning fiercely.
There are no new workmen at work
tonight. Superintendent Dooner was
using the same force that he had a
all day, but will get a largely in
creased force tomorrow. 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 outside walls and debris in
the streets. There has been found to
be much difficulty in getting contrac-
tors carts in Warren and Greenwich
streets. What pace not used by fire
engines is nearly all taken up with
piles of debris and only one cart can
back in at a time, thus allowing only
one load to be At the Wash
ington street end more carts can be
utilized and the work is progressing
much more rapidly.
One hundred and eighty patrolmen
under Captain Westervelt and Inspec-
tor Brooks were stationed at the ruins
at 6 o'clock, relieving the day force.
Both Inspector Brooks and Captain
Westervelt were skeptical over the re-
ported large loss Of life. They both
said they did not expect more than -four
or five bodies would be found in the
ruins.
Playing on the still burning ruins
were our engines and they kept Their
streams going continually.
A revised list made up to 10 O'Clock
tonight shows thirty-four persons still
missing.
At 1890 o'clock a portion of a human
trunk, probably the abdomen, was dus
cut and a little later was found {
brown canvass coat. There was moth
ing in the pockets but four quill tootl
picks. Still later the firemen found
another portion of a skull and a portion
of a human back. DR.. Conner of tn,
health department, who examined tn
remains, said they were probably al
from the same person, as were the foo
and portion of a skull found earlier. Tn
remains were all found in the Tarran
building.