New-York tribune., 1900-10-30
AT WORK ON THE WRECKAGE
TOTTERING WALLS TORN DOWN AMID
BUSY NIGHT SCENES.

Without waiting for the great heap of ruins.
furnace-like in the heat they gave off, to cool,
the Building Department put to work a large
force Of men to clear away the wreckage and
tear down the tottering walls which are con-
stant menace to the hremen and others whose
duties compelled them to remain in places where
danger threatened. By about o'clock in the
afternoon the possibility Of fire breaking out
again and spreading TO adjacent properties was
practically at a end and many of the engines
returned TO their houses. With the approach of
darkness calcium lights and electric search
lights were placed in position TO permit the work
Of excavation to be begun without delay The
task Of tearing down the unsafe walls was first
undertaken. Ladders were reared against the
walls. thick ropes passed around them and
gang Of fifty 10 q hundred men would haul
away until with a crash, tons upon tons of
bricks. iron columns and wooden beams would
be pulled over upon the mountains Of wreckage
that already filed the roadway.
The two buildings on the northeast and south
east corners of Westinghouse. and Warren-st.
were demolished in this way, while the Atlantic
cafe, at the southwest corner of Warren and
Greenwich sts.. and the Home Made Hotel. in
Greenwich-st.. were being similarly levelled.
II was impossible. because Of the great clouds
Of smoke, TO penetrate into that part Of Warren
Z
fact there was need for further destructive work
in that section Upon both sides Of the street have
houses collapsed as completely though they
had been swept by some tremendous cyclone.
The effect Of the calcium lights, which were
burning at every few yards. gave the scene a
particularly weird appearance, and served TO
emphasize the great devastation which had been
wrought. Through the steam and smoke men
could be seen working with pick and shovel in
md in riIi bA in he
roadways. to facilitate the labor of carting It
away. The instructions given TO the workmen
were primarily TO explore for bodies. but the
ruins were still so hot that they were unable to
approach any but the Washington and Green
wich-st. sides with advantage. Until a late
hour last night no bodies had been recovered.
Five engines remained all night pumping
dozens Of streams Of water upon the burned out
buildings. Every now and again a sheet Of
fame would shoot up into the air at various
spots, but these were quickly extinguished.
Some Of the buildings that y ere destroyed at
the Washington-st. end of the two blocks
We're tenanted by fruit merchants. Hundreds
Of barrels Of fruit perished, and throughout last
night strong odOr Of baked apples and cooked
trult nlled the atmosphere For blocks along
Westinghouse. the roadway strewn with
vegetables and fruits Frequently wOrkmen
would De seen TO pause for q few seconds in
lllST ulsgllS 10 plck up an apple or an orange,
take one or two bites out of it and throw the
rest away. Amid such plenty habits of fru-
gality were forgotten.
Until midnight crowds of people continued TO
flock TO the scene of the fire but as they were
not permitted to approach within a block of the
oesolated district they could but little As
many Of the standing buildings have already
been condemned and might any moment
collapse, the fire lines were kept with unusual
strlctness- No one who could not show that
he had some specific business within the lines
vas allowed TO pass. The police said that a
most OF thieves attracted by the prospect of loot
he NJ
police on duty that petty thievng was effectu-
any prevented. Glaciers and carpenters were
employed IN putting fresh windows in the Irving
NauonaI Bank and in repairing the interior
OF the badly wrecked premises a notice posted
on the door stated that the bank would open for
business again this morning