The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-05-08
BIG BUILDING FALLS.
Nine Persons Buried in Debris
ir X. C. But No Fatalities.

Kansas City, May 8.-The three-story
brick building at 1902 Grand avenue col
lapsed at 4:25 o'clock yesterday after
noon, burying eight persons under tons
of debris.
No one was killed, but there were sew
eral narrow escapes from death. In ev-
cry instance where there was an escape
a protecting beam or piece of furniture
aided in keeping the debris at safe
distance from the victims of the wreck.
The people in the house at the time
of the accident were: John w. Moore,
ex-mayor and board of trade operator;
Mrs. J. L. Sohn, who had a rooming
house on second and third floors of the
building, and H. Goodman, a second
hand dealer on the first floor, his wife
and three daughters, and Wolf Viner,
Mrs. Goodman's father.
Mr.. Goodman was the most seriously
injured of the occupants of the build
ing. There was a rumbIing before the
crash came as the foundation started
to give way. Goodman, forewarned,
jumped through a glass panel in the
front door OF his store to the sidewalk
Once outside he remembered his wife
and children in the rear of the building.
He ran back to help them escape and
was caught in the falling building. His
back was severely sprained and he has
internal injuries. Dr. H. D. JeroWltZ,
who is attending Mr. Goodman, thinks
there is a chance for his recovery. He
is AZ years old.
Mr. Moore was on the second floor of
| the building. He was carried down I'M
! derneath several hundred pounds OF
bricks and mortar. Firemen rescued
him, a cupboard having shielded him
| from the debris. He has many severe
| bruises about his legs, body and head,
but no broken bones.
| Mrs. Sohn, who was also on the second
;, Oh, :, aT-r4
| the first cracking of timbers, but return
! ed to her room and was protected by a
| lounge She has no injuries She was
/ taken out of the wreck by fremen. At
| the time of the accident she was talk
ing with Mrs. Moore about some bust
ness matters.
| The escape of Mrs. Goodman and her
| three daughters, who were in the
| kitchen of their living apartments on
| the first floor in the rear of the store
! room, was miraculous. The kitchen was
| situated at the extreme west end of the
| building. 1t was filled with bricks and
| splintered timberS
Emma Goodman, IS years old the
| eldest daughter, had been i'll for six
weeks, with pneumonia, and lay on a
! bed. Her sisters, Fannie and Eva, aged
| respectively 7 and years, and Mrs
Goodman, We're in the kitchen when the
building fell. They were protected by
a stout ceiling and a slanting second
floor, the east ten feet of the building
not going down in the crash. They
were rescued by workmen and men first
to reach the building after the acct
dent.
Scott Malone, a negro carpenter, who
had been putting in some shelving fol
Mr. Goodman, was in the rear of the
kitchen and in company with A. Bloom
of 1890 Grand avenue and Isaac Bar
dine of 1908 Grand avenue carried Mrs
Goldman and the girls from the kitchen
taking them out through a window. Thu
sick girl was taken to a nearby hous'
and cared for. None of them was in
jured.
Mr.. Viner was rescued from the cellar
where he had gone just before the &C
, cident. He was not injured. He is z
. rrc n1