Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-06-22
Causing Dozen or More Deaths
at Paterson, N. }.
Buildings Wrecked and The Survivors
Horribly Burned and Bruised.


~. d. L liz cause VI tIie cAplOSlOn is not
known. The property loss will not ex-
ceeed $35, 600
The known dead are:
Mrs. Lucinda Adamson.
Mrs. Charles Williams.
Charles Williams. cripple
Harold Rittenburg. IS months old.
son of the keeper Of the fireworks
store
Henry Elsasse, six weeks old.
The missing and almcst certainly
dead are:
Mrs. Bert Bamber.
Charles Bamber. 6-months-old child
of Mrs. Bert Bamber.
Mrs. Andrew Elvina.
Mrs. Mary Elsasse.
Joseph Elvin. 2-weeks-old child of
Mrs. Andrew Elvin.
Mrs. Burns.
Clarence Burns, 6-years-old son of
Mrs. Burns.
| Mrs. Anne Fcnteman.
| Mrs. Annie Lannigan.
| Two nephcws of Mrs. Lannigan.
names unknown.
| There We're also several injured.
| The explosion occurred shortly after
noon. and when many Of the occupants
of the building were out for dinner.
The building in which the explosion
| took place is frame tenement house,
| four stories high, with stores on the
ground floor. The middle store was oc-
| cupicd by Rttcnburg Ten families
occupied flats in the building.
Had the explosion occurred half an
hour later a death list of hundreds
| might have been rolled up, for adioin
ing the wrecked building was No. 3
| school in which We're hundreds of chill
dren. Not only WAS the school dam
| aged. but large quantities of wreckagc
| were hurled into it. AS ii was some of
| the school children playing near the
school house were injured.
| So great was the force Of the cXplo-
| sion that a boy playing in the street
| half block away. was lifted from his
| feet and hurled against an iron fence
| and one of his legs broken. There was
| Il trolley car in front of the building
when the explosion occurred and the
| burst of flame sCorched the sides of
| the car and singed the hair of the pas
sengers.
| Those who were upon the upper
floors of the building We're either
stunned and then burned to death or
found escape cut off and were suffocat-
| cd After the first explosion there were
| q series of smaller ones and then came
the second big explosion which was
mutiied and deadened and probably
| occurred in the cellar
| Every building in the neighbOrhood
was stripped of glass. Families seated
at dinner were thrown from their
chairs to the floor. Then there was an
exciting scene in the streets. Parents
| lost control of their children and We're
soon rushing about looking for them.
Rumors spread that a score of little
ones were being carried away from
| the ruins by the police wagons. the
ambulance and grocers' wagons, which
We're pressed into service.
| Meanwhile the flames were bursting
from every part of the tenement build
| ing. woman appeared at one of the
| windows. a mass of flames. She leap
ed out and fell through the fire to the
yard below. She was dragged away but
| it was too late, for the flesh was drop
ping from her bones. Later it was dis
covered that she was Mrs. Williams,
| who is numbered among the dead.
Mrs. williams husband was Grip
pie. His wife is supposed to have re-
manned longer than she could with
safety in an effort to save him. He was
found burned to a crisp on his bed.
Mrs thinner, motherin-law of Rit-
tonburg. is known to be dead 1t is said
she was standing at the rear of the
store talking to a travelling salesman
when the explosion occurred What
became of the salesman is not known.
One of the worst finds among the
debris was the head of an adult. The
hair is burned off and the features UNI
recognizable. So far it has been i'm
possible to tell the sex. The remainder
of the body has not been found.
Daniel Dooley was in the yard when
the explosion took place. He saw the
two Rittenburg children in the rear
room and rushed into the flames for
them He got one of them and carried
1t cut and tried to go back for the
other. but the room was then one mass
of fire Dooley was badly scorched in
rescuing the first child.
From the front of the building. Mrs.
Jessup and her husband jumped to the
sidewalk. They were seated at dinner
and together they ran to the front win
dow and lcaped.
Others of the tenants were meanwhile
hanging from the windows. The fircmcE
came within a few minutes. and 70 per-
sons were rescued. Mr.. and Mrs. John
McGlonc escaped to the top story of the
tenement McGlone then climbed out of
the front window and hung on with one
hand. while he held his wife with the
other until a life net was secured. Then
he dropped his wife into the net and fol-
lowed himself. Both were badly burned.
While the firemen were endeavoring to
distinguish the flames. the upper portion
of the building. wrecked by the force OF
the explosion. sagged outward and fell
,,non th,, heads of the men. Two streams
of water were instantly turned on the
wreckage. out of it in moment crawl
ed Capt Allen and Fireman Delaney.
CONTINUED on page %