The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-08-15
FEARFUL ALTERNATIVE THAT
CONFRONTED WORI[MEN AT
WATERWORKS CRIB
TWELVE MEET THEIR DEATa
Twenty-Odd Men Rescued by Tn.
That Raced From the Harbor
TO the RIazinE
Structure
CONTRACTORS ARE TO BLAME

men We're burned to death, four were
drowned three. and possibly four. were
sufocated and several injured as the .a-
suit Of a fire which destroyed a tenn
porary waterw6ks crib two miles on
the Cleveland haroor early today
The dead. so far as known:
ARTHUR HASTY, drowned: body re-
covered
MARK SNYDER. drowned.
ARTHUR HARTIiIGS. burned.
PLG MINER JONES. suffcocated.
JOHN MARITIME. drowned
JOHN kOWOLSkY drowned
FOUR UNIDENTIFIED MEN. burned
The injured, so far as known:
fatal ''-N'
Q. Braddock, burned about hands ana
Charles Smith, overcome by gas in tun-
David Kelly, rescuer; overcome by. gas.
Still imprisoned in tunnel:
doa6 victor Kaufman, Canton; pro5abiy
John Enging. probably dead.
Adam keet probably dead
IWenty-six men obeyed the order n
manager q. {. Van Dusen when the
ldlhes broke out, and took refuge I'm the
water on floating pieces of vreclsp.
-Four of them lost their hold unon tE5,-
iran hoats and sank beneath the waves
RACED TO THE RESCUE
The crew Of the tug J. r. Sprangle
heard the fire whistle blown from tbe
CRIB and raced 10 the scene from the
harbor She picked up eighteen Of the
survivors who had drifted to the vet
OF the crib on their floats OF boards and
wreckage.
van Dusen and three of his men were
hanging in the water from a two-fncb
line suspended from the crib Just 7s
the line was burning away above tho
men hands a yawl boat from the barge
Wilhelm, manned by two men. dasbed
into the veil of heat and smoke that en-
Neloped the crib and rescued the four
men on the rope at the risk Of the boat
men lives. The men picked up in the
water were brought to the city on the
tug Sprankle. They were naked ey-
hausted and badly burned Many OF
them were cut by falling tmbers The
crib is a total loss
1t was a frame building 200 bv 20 feet
the sides sheathed with iron
II contained valuable machinery II IL
now a charred, shapeIess mass of wreck
age and mingled with the Dlackeueu
tImbers are blackened, rusted and twist
ed pieces and plates of iron and steel
The crib and machinery were the prop
erty Of Smaller & Schoninglau. con-
tractors Their loss will exceed $500 700
Fire and harbor tugs with rescuiug par
ties on board reached the crib soon after
the flames broke out but when they ar
rived the structure was a seething mass
OF flames and all hope of saving it was
abandoned.
Men could be distinguished swimming
and floating in the water shouting t1r
help Others were clnging to ropes
which they had hitched or tied TO the
rafters, but the flames were burning the
ropes away, while the men who were
stark naked one by one were seen fallias
into the lake
FOUGHT THE FLAMES.
The tugs circled around the burning
crib, picking up men from the water.
and meantime playing heavy streams
upon the flames
After an hours nard work the flames
were diminished enough so that the fire.
men could climb up the charred steps
and fight the fire from the interior Then
the horror Of the calamity was first re-
allied. Everything was a total wreck
While the firemen were pouring water
on the flames there was a roaring
furnace beneath which could not be
reached But the iremen chung to their
places and fought every inch of the way
until the fire was under control After
two hours Of hard work five charrei
human bodies were found burned beyond
recognition. TWO were in the attitude
of prayer They must have been
awakened by the fire but could not
escape. They were caught like rats in a
trap. One body was burned 10 alm-s
nothing All that could be found Of 10
was a skull and some bones. The bodies
Of two other men lay close 70 those
that were on their knees and ii looked
as though they never knew what nap
pened to them They must have be
.H#sI I.Esf
them.
AS soon as the five bodies were discov-
cred the tug Kennedy returned TO the
harbor at once and notified the coroner
of the discovery. While this was going
on ways and means were being devised
to reach the men imprisoned i'm the tuu-
mel whose air supply had apparently
been shut off entirely by the burning VI
the compressed air machinery. At times
it was thought that voices could be- heard
down below and the life-savfrs ana the
firemen peered down with ears intent,
but the sounds ceased again AT iAe
mouth Of the shaft It was Ike a furnace
and the iron work was red hot from the
flames.
The water that was thrown on it turu-
ed into steam at once.
SAVED FROM THE TUNNEL.
FINALLY after deIuge Of water had
been thrown on the smoldering shaft en-
trance. voice was heard from The bot
tom calling for help. A line was quickly
dropped down the shaft, and as IL tight
ened a shout Of JOY went up from those
about Slowly the IAN was raised. u
was william Curry u Canton. His pal-
lid face, covered with slime. his staring
eyes and heaving chest told of thV horror
Of the hours he had spent in the tunnel
As soon as ne could gasp Curry saidi
They are all at the bottom Of the shaft.
Hurry up.
In quick succession seven others we've
brought up from the foul and sitting
air Of the tunnel All were in most
pitiable condition. They reported that
two other men were lying unconscious
at the bottom Of the shaft. A workman
volunteered 10 rescue these men, ana hs
was quickly lowered into the shaft.
In a few moments the unconscious men
were brought up, more dead than alive.
The tunnel which has been under
course Of construction for several years,
and is stlI far from complete. has been
the cause of the loss Of more than thirty
lives
FouI years ago an explosion iu the
shore section Of the tunnel resulted in
the suffocauOn Of eighteen men Two
years ago, in a similar accident several
more men We're killed near the scene W.
today's catastrophe. which adds az leasr
ten names 10 the death list.
The fire today was due 10 an overheat-
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