Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-03-03
BURIED IN RUINS.
Steel Skeleton on New York
Hotel ColIapses.
Five Persons Are Killed, Eight or
Ten Missing.
Score Are Iniured-Aceident Due to
Criminal carelessness.

H.,
are known to have been killed, about
&; score injured and eight or H. all OIL
whom are believed to be dead, are
missing through the collapse, TINS al
ternoon. of the steel skeleton of the
Hotel Darlington, a 13-story apartment
house in course Of erection at No. %
West 4Gth street. the steel framework
had been erected as far as the llth foor
and the structure was SWarmlnS Win
ironwOrkers, masons and laborers, Who'
without an instant's warning, the up
per floor sagged and collapsed and the
whole structure fell with q crash that
was heard for blocks and shook all the
buildings in the vicinity. A portion oi
the steel frame fell upon the rear Oh the
Hotel Patterson on West ATTN street,
crushing In the wall OF the dining
room and killing Mrs. Ella Lacey
Storrs, the wife OF Frank StOrrs. Il
wealthy resident Of Rye. Westminster
county as she was sitting at luncheon
with the wife of the Rev. Minot j.
Savage. pastor of the Church of the
Messiah. who escaped unhurt.
The other dead, so far as known, are:
Frederick Morrills. foreman of the
RoebIing Construction Co. and three
unidentified men, apparently litborers.
The more seriously injured were la
borers on the building, excepting Err
nest Meier, a waiter employed in Hotel
Patterson.
Among those missing is Frank j.
Allison. of the Allison Realty CO., the
builders of the hotel, who is known to
have been in the building when it fell.
L, IN, ha nf q
dead and rescue those imprisoned in
the wreck were begun by the firemen
Immediately after the crash and the
work of searching the ruins will be con-
tinued all night. Owing to the enor-
nous mass of metal wreckage days
may elapse before all the bodies are re-
covered.
The cause Of the disaster generally
accepted is the overlooking of the
floors. Foreman James Halpin in
charge of the iron workers, stated that
there was a large quantity of cement
and other building material on the fifth
floor and in the ninth floor were So
iron beams which were to have been
used in constructing the remaining
floors Of the building.
That criminal carelessness is charge
able to somebody is shown by the fact
that the building department had
placed repeated violations against
the building. the last one being filled,
TO-DAY, at the instance of Inspector
Charles French, because the side walls
We're more than two stories in advance
of the front walls and the floor beams
were not properly bolted and tied
In spite of this and previous warn
ings. those responsible for tn" con-
struction of the building went ahead
regardless of consequences. Adjoining
the collapsed building on the west is
the fOur-StOry brOWnStonc residence
of Harold Brown. Some of the huge
iron beams struck the side of the house
and stove holes in the wall and roof
and diSlodged n part of the brOwnStOne
front which was thrown to the street.
The occupants escaped uninjured. ON
the east side is u hOus" OCCUPIED by
A. Walpole Cragie az Il school for boys.
Tho pupils had gone home to luncheon
Il few minutes before the crash oc-
'u~r"1. Some of the beams struck the
house. tearing off n portion of the roof
and smashing holes i'm the side walls.
Mrs. Storrs. whose husband is in Lon
'lbIl, WIS SlttIlS 1T 1lIltiltoll WIFI .fTS.
Savage when the crash came and she
and Meier. the waiter. were instantly
buried under the debI is of the roof and
pinned to the floor by a mass Of fallen
bricks. Mrs. Storrs was breathing when
extricated, but died within few min
utes. The waiter is believed to be ia
tally injured. The other occupants of
the dining room escaped unhurt.
Records Of the building department
show that from the beginning to the
end there has been n constant contest
between the building department and
the Allison Realty Co, the contract ors
and owners of the property. Amend
Inent after amendment to the plans
We're filed. and the engineers of the
building department time and time
again disapproved Of the suggestions
made for the betterment both by the
owners and the architects.
The building department explains
that as the building was under con-
struction 1t possessed no power to sum-
marily stop the work.
Patrick Murphy. the engineer of the
hosting engine. and six workmen We're
arrested and held as witnesses. Rep
resentatives of the district attorneys
office examined the wreck. tonight. and
began an investigation to place the re-
sponsibility for the disaster.
The Hotel Patterson was shaken to
its foundations and the fire ESCAPES
on seven stories We're torn from their
fastenings and all the windows on
these floors We're smashed. The occu-
pants of these apartments hastily quit
the building. Rev. DIR. Minot j. Savage
was i'll in his apartments in the
front of the hotel at the time Of the
collapse.
AT ii O'Clock tonight. the contractor
in charge of the wrecking work says
that his men had discovered seven
bodies and two Were pinioned in the
wreck on the east side OF the building.