The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-02-07

Corrected List of Victims of the
Butcher Shop Explosion.

CHICAGO, Feb. ct is believed thai
eleven is the correct number of people who
lost their lives by the explosion of gas
in the Troestel butcher shop'at S76 Twenty
second street last night. The bodies,
charred past human semblance in the ma
jority of cases, lay at a nearby morgue to-
day, while fremen, assisted by labOrerS,
still dug in the ruins on the bare possibility
that more bodies might be under the debris.
Fire Chief Musham to-day declared his be-
lief that the explosion was that of a pocket
of gas. A force of laborers was put at
work at daybreak tearing up and repairing
the gas pipes which figured in the two ex-
plosions that followed that in the butcher
shop. When the coroner learned of it he
ordered the work stopped. 81 want no
changes in present conditions made, unless
necessary, until 1 have investigated fully to
discover if negligence was in any way re-
sponsible for the loss of life,' said he. Fol-
owing is believed to be a correct list of the
dead:
TROESTEL. OTTO. owner of butcher
shop.
TROESTEL, AUGUSTA, wife of above.
TROESTEL, OTTO, JR., aged eleven
years.
ANOLNo 11s sA~N@'~hp oooA AAAAAC gNoASs
TROESTEL. LENA, aged seven years. =
TROESTEL. MINNIE, aged six years.
TROESTEL (baby), aged two years.
TROESTEL, FRED, nephew of Otto
Troestel.
KNEIPP, SOPHIA, niece of Mrs. Troestel.
ROSENTHAL, MARY, aged thirty-two
years; a neighbor visiting shop.
GIERMON, OTTO, TroesteTs assistant in
the shop.
The most graphic story of the accident
was told by ]. Pauly, of eco Twenty-secOnd
place, who stood across the street when the
building went up. The first thing 1 knew"
he said, Il was blown against a telegraph
pole. L was facing the market and it
seemed that the whole building rose up in
the air at once and then collapsed into the
cellar, a heap of ruins. L ran across the
street and as 7 crossed the car tracks 1
could hear the cries of the people impris-
oned in the w~reckage. Almost Immediately
the flames burst out all over the place and
it seemed that everything was on fire at
once. Then 1 caught sight of a man crawl
ing out from the basement. He did not
seem TO be badly hurt and called for help.
/ recognized him as the SauSagemaker
Troestel had hired a few days before. L
DO not know what his name is. A man who
IdH Al III ANVIL u lClp Hlll dIQ DG-
tween Us we got him to the street. He was
able TO walk and went away at once. The
first explosion in the building disconnected
the gas mains and they caught fire at once.
The fire seemed to follow the pipes and five
minutes later the manhole west in Archer
avenue blew up with a report as loud as the
first. The manhole to the east followed in a
few minutes. We could hear the cries in
the basement growing fainter and we had
to allow the sufferers to die without doing
anything to help them"
]. c. Kleiner, proprietor of the drug store
at Archer avenue and Twenty-second
street, was a witness to the explosion. He
says that no one came from the butcher
the front of my store when the explosion
occurred Mr.. Kleiner said. II was just
looking down Twenty-second street when
the building trembled- / saw the entire
front of the butcher shop fly out into the
street. and instantly there was a flash of
flame. / turned to the telephone and called
I'D several doctors and told them of the dis
aster. All of them responded. AS | turned
TO look down the street again l heard the
fire department coming. Then the man
holes began to explode and one by one the
caps were blown high into the air. The
force of the explosion was so great that
I do not believe a person in the butcher
shop or the fat above escaped"
on Monday Otto Troestel insured his life
for 5000. making his wife the beneficiary.
Yesterday Mrs. Troestel called on the in
surance agent and asked if the oldest two
children could be insured. She said she had
a presentiment that something would hap
pen. The agent was instructed to write
policies of $4,000 each.