The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-03-12
CAJTSE LUNKNOWN.

The cause of the explosion has not been
determined with accuracy as yet and it
will probably require an official investi-
CATION to settle the matter. It is known
that the boiler was old, secondhand
affair, and there is no record in the Of
flee of the boiler Inspector of any tnspec-
tion having been made within the last
year. Pending the verdict of the cor
oner's jury, A. L. Doremus, the proprte-
tor Of the laundry is held in custody by
the police and it is the intention OF the
authorities to institute criminal pro-
ceedings against him, should the facts
brought out at the inqeust warrant such
proceedings.
The list of dead and injured was diff
ficult to secure Reports of the number
of dead in the ruins run all the way
from six to twenty. 1t is known that
thirty-siX employees employed in the
laundry had entered the place before the
explosion occurred because the AUTO
matte timer, found in the ruins, and
Which was not damaged, shows that
number of registered arrivals Two or
three We're entering at the moment of
the explosion. making an approximate
total of forty employees in and around
the building.
The list of injured includes, however,
several people residing in the adjoining
buildings, nearly all of which were badly
damaged.
SEARCH ABANDONED.
The most conservative estimate by the
police comedies that at least three peo-
pie dead are still in the ruins yet the
search for bodies in the ruins came to a
sudden end this afternoon and the work
of rescue was entirely abandoned.
The cause of the cessation of the
search was dispute between the fire.
men and police as to who was re
sp0nsible for the recovery of any bodies
which might be- concealed beneath the
debris. The firemen said they had per-
formed their whole duty, and, gathering
up their hose they retired from the
scene. The police said it. was not their
work to dig for bodies and nobody else
volunteered to do the work. The trouble
was brought to the attention of Police
Inspector John d. Shea, in whose dis
trict the explosion occurred, and he held
the search properly belonged to the fire
department
Chief Sweenie, of the fire department,
said that there was no friction between
his department and the police department
He admitted that the firemen had aban-
doEed the search for bodies Z Both the
police and fireinens remained firm and
refused to continue the search for
bodies.
While the fremen maintained that all
the bodies had been recovered, the po-
Ice asserted that this fact had not
teen established. and Police Lieut..
O'Hara said the general understanding
was that more bodies were i'll the
ruins. .g.s. -.
The fact of the matter, was that while
the firemenx and police were arguing
and explaining. their different sides In
the matter, the-.city building inspection
department stepped in. Building In
spector Kiolbassa sent an Inspector to
the scene and a notice was issued to
Jackson Bros, agents of the proprie-
tors, to Immediately begin work on
away the debris. The real estate firm
soon. had a lot of workers at the ruins
and the work of pulling down the ruins
was Immediately begun. This operation
made it impossible to { continue the
search for bodies, but 1T may be re-
newed tomorrow.
While this dispute was in progress
another clash occurred at the morgue.
Capt. John Rehn, of the Desplaines
street police station, asked Deputy Cor
cner Buckley to hold Mr. Doremus in
bonds until after the inquest had been
held. The deputy coroner. however, re-
fused to comply with the request and
declared it was up to- the police to
hold Doremus if they so osdesired, but the
coroner's officers would. mot interfere.
The captain argued thes matter, but in
vain. The controversy resulted in the
police declaring they would keep Dore-
mus under surveillance until the in