The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1901-03-14
EIGHT DIE INSTANTLY
Defective Boiler In Chicago Laun'
dry Blown to Atoms.
BUILDING IS TOTALLY WRECKED
Half q Hundred Workers Were
Buried In Debris, But Heroic
Work Saved Many Lives.

By the explosion of the boiler in the
Doremus laundry, 54S West Madison
street, Chicago. Monday morning eight
people we're instantly killed, twenty
nine were injured and several are miss
ing.
The cause of the explosion has not
been determined with accuracy as yet
and it will probably require an official
investigation to settle the matter. It
is known that the boiler was old, q
second-h hand affair, and there is no re-
cord in the Office of the city boiler in
spector of any inspection having been
made within the last year. Pending
the verdict of the coroner's jury A.
L. Doremus, the proprietor of the
laundry, is held in custody by the
police and it is the intention of the au-
thorities to institute criminal proceed.
ings against him should the facts
brought out at the inquest warrant
such proceedings.
The list of dead and wounded was
difficult to secure. Reports of the
number of dead in the ruins were all
the way from six to twenty. It is
known that thirty six employees OF
the laundry had entered the place be-
fore the explosion occurred, because
the automatic timekeeper, found in
the ruins, and which was not damaged,
showed that number of registered ar.
rivals. Two or three were entering at
the moment of the explosion, making
an approximate total OF forty en-
p!oyees in and around the building.
The list of injured includes, how.
ever, several people residings in the
adjoining building, nearly all Of which
were badly damaged. The most con-
servative estimate by the police con-
cedes that at least three, dead or alive,
are still in the ruins; yet the search
for bodies in the ruins came to sud-
den end early in the afternoon and
the work of rescue was entirely aban-
doned.
The cause of the cessation of the
search was dispute between the fire.
men and police as to who was respon-
sible for tie recovery Of any bodies
which might be concealed beneath the
debris. The fremen said they had
reformed their whole duty, and gath
ering up their hose they retired from
the scene. The police said it was not
their work to dig for bodies, and no.
body else volunteered to do the work.
The trouble was brought to the atten-
tion of Police Inspector John D. Shea.
in whose district the accident occur
ed, and he held that the search prop
erly belonged to the fire department.
Both the police and firemen remain
ed firm and refused to continue to
search for bodies. While the fremen
maintained that all the bodies had
been recovered, the police asserted
that this fact had not been established
and Police Lieutenant OHara said
that the general understanding was
that more bodies were in the ruins.
While the fremen and police were
arguing and explaining their respective
sides in the matter, the city building
department stepped in.
Building Inspector Kiolbassa sent
a deputy to the scene of the catastro-
phe and a notice was sent to Jackson
Bros, agents for the property, to i'm
mediately begin the work of pulling
down the walls and clearing away the
debris. Jackson Bros. were given
two hours to comply with the order,
their failure to do so to result in the
building department performing the
task. The real estate firm soon had q
number of wreckers at the ruins and
the work of pulling down the walls
was Immediately begun. This opera
tion made it impossible to continue
the search for the bodies for the time