Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-08-15
TEN NET AWFUL DEATH IN
FIRE TRAP IN CLEVELAND.
ANOTHER DISASTER ovERTAKEs
THE tLL-FATED WATER
DIRK TUNNEL.
DIED LIKE RATS IN A CAGE.
MEN WHO WE'RE INPRISoN-
ED IN THE TUNNEL.

ably fatally injured.
In addition to a large number of
workmen who were in the crib. eleven
others were at work In the tunnel lead
ing from It, two hundred feet below the
bottom of the lake. AS air which was
pumped from the crib to supply the
men working In the tunnel was cut off
as a result of its destruction. 1t was
at first supposed that the men had all
persisted.
Subsequently, however, nine of the
men in the tunnel were rescued after
heroic work upon the part of their
fellow workmen.
At this writing 1t is said that two
men are still in the tunnel, but those
rescued state that one OF these. Victor
Kaufman. of Canton, is dead.
Following is a
List of the Dead and Injured
so far as known now:
JOHN MARTINA, drowned.
MIKE SNYDER. drowned.
ARTHUR HASTY, drowned.
VICTOR KAUFMAN, Canton, suffo-
Gated.
FIVE MEN, names unknown. burned
to death,
Injured:
JOHN LEE. broken back.
o. BRADDoCK, frightfully burned.
Fire and harbor tugs with rescuing
parties on board reached the crib soon
after the flames broke out, but when
they arrived the structure was a seeth-
ing mass of flames and all hope of saw
ing 1t was abandoned.
Men Could he Distinguished
swimming and floating In the water
shouting for help. Others were cling
ing to ropes which they had hitched or
tied to the ~rafters, but the flames were
burning the ropes away, while the
men were stark naked, and one by one
they were falling into the lake.
The tugs eircled around the burning
crib, picking up men from the water.
and meantime playing heavy streams
upon the flames.
After an hours hard work. the flames
were diminished enough SO that the
iremen could climb upon the charred
steps and fight the fire from the inter-
ior. Then the horror Of the calamity
was first realized. Everything was a
total wreck. While the fremen were
pouring water on the flames there was
a roaring furnace beneath which could
not be reached. But the firemen chung
to their places and fought every inch
OF the way until the fire was under
control. After two hours OF hard
work, five charred 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 to almost nothing. All
that could be found of 1t were a skull
and some bones. The bodies of two
other men lay close to those that were
on their knees, and it looked as though
they never knew what happened to
them. They must have been suffo-
Gated before the flames reached them.
As soon as the five bodies were dis
covered 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 i'm
prisoned in the tunnel. whose aid sup
ply had apparently been shut off en-
tirely by the burning OF the COM
pressed air machinery. At times 1t
was thought that
Voices Could be Heard
down below and the life savers and
the fremen peered down with ears in
tent, but the sounds ceased again. At
the mouth of the shaft 1t was like a
furnace, and the iron work was red
hot from the flames.
The water that was thrown on 1t
turned into steam at once but finally
after a deludge OF water had been
thrown on the smoldering shaft en-
trance, a voice was heard from the
bottom, calling for help.
"For Gods sake throw down a
rope. throw down a rope" a man call
ed.
A line was quickly dropped down
the shaft and as 1t frightened a shout
Of Joy went up from those about, for
it was quickly observed that the man
at the bottom was able to grasp 1t.
He yelled again to the rescuers to
pull him up. Slowly and carefully he
was raised.
His Panid Face,
covered with slime, his staring eyes and
heaving chest, told of the horror he had
gone through in the hours he had spent