davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20
AN AWFUL SCENE
Men and Women Alike Were Beside
Themselves with Terror.

The crash Of the, falling walls could
be heard for blocks. Desk Sergeant
Maeder and Detectives Gallagher and
Bahan were at police headquarters and
felt the shock. They at once suspected
that it was the falling walls, and the
two detectives ran to the scene. - g.
"It was the worst sight [ have ever
witnessed,' said Detective Gallagher.
"When we reached the scene the fire
was eating up the woodwork in the
debris, while from beneath could be
heard the cries Of the victims. Women
were running historically about the
street dressed only in their night
clothing, while many men were on the
verge Of hysteria.
1T was not a time for sentiment,
and, altho the walls of the ruined
building hung threateningly over the
ruins, we ran in. to see what we could
do toward helping the injured. We
found Mrs. Boyce in the basement and
soon had her out and carried her into
warm place. We then went back and
found Charley Tuck and another fell
low carrying out Mrs. Crocker and her
daughter, Mrs. Williams. About the
same time the firemen reached Mrs.
Murray, and the central patrol took
her to the city hospital.
"We stayed there as long as we could
do anything to help them, but Fire
Chief Canterbury soon took charge Of
the rescue work, and we helped the pa
trolmen keep back the crowd. -
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20
The Fashion Center.
The great Plymouth Clothing House.
TURN JEWS FROM .
CHRISTMAS: RITES
Orthodox Congregations Appeal
to Jewish Parents to shun 1
- Christian Festivities. I +
New York Sun Special Service.


New York, Dec. 2o.-The Union Of
United States and Canada, thru Rev.
DR.. H. Pereia Mendes, president, has
issued this appeal to Jewish parents to
keep their children away from Christ
mas festivities where they hear stories
about Christianity:
3 Warning-Festival chanukah, which has
Just passed again, has stirred us with the
history Of those who gave their lives in
the defense of our beloved faith. Those
heroes and 1eroines will have given their
lives in vain if, in spite of all efforts to
the contrary, Jewkish children are so
false to their God as 10 permit themselves
to be bribed from their allegiance. e
The season of the year is upon us when
there are those who! call themselves our
friends, altho they are not of our faith.
BY these attacks are made in the form
which are distributed usually after gath
ering around the so-called Christmas tree.
This tree is associated with the Christian
festival Christmas, 1T stands for Chris
,tianity. 1t is typical of Christianity.
We appeal to the children of our faith
to hold themselves aloof from gatherings
to which they may be invited where in
they honor the Christian Christmas fes-
tival they will have (to quote from one
most noted of these "candied friends" Of
ours) to listen to- stories Of the Christ
child who many years ago was born into
the world to show His own people and all
people forever the love force OF all ages.
the only one that has the power to bridge
over all differences of earth and lay hold
on eternity. This is ali outrageous at
tack upon our right to bring up our chill.
dren in the religion for which our parents
suffered and died. 81
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20

men and women on their way to work
stopped and endeavored to make close
examination in spite of the danger. By
8 clock SO many thronged the streets
that the police were compelled to rope
off the district and to bar from Fifth
street everyone not engaged in the res
cue work.
After that nothing but the bulging
front wall could be seen, but the steady
stream Of curious ones kept up and
gradually increased until the noon hour.
The crowd continually changed and as
some went away to their work their
places were Immediately taken / by
others who had obtained a few spare
moments to satisfy their curiosity.
At no time during the forenoon was
there less than l,5OO persons inestthe va
cant lot across Fifth street from the
Boutell ruins. They crowded il close
to the New York Life building Ard sIaid
little he'd eto the warning Of the fire
men, who said that the tottering front
wall Of the Peck building was likely to
fall at any time. Had it fallen hun
dreds Of lives would have been lost
The entire district was well policed
and the crowd, tho anxious to. get q
good view, maintained excellent order
and there were no attempts to disobey
the orders of the officers. wv
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20
HOW THE DEAD WE'RE FOUND
Lillyblade Crushed-Anderson an
Hamilton Probably Frozen.

~-NS~~~~SSS~~
Shortly before 8 clock the firemen
came upon the body of a young man,
apparently about 80 years old, and
thought to be Joseph Violet, an
employee of the Daniels Linseed Oil
company. The body was found in the
center of the basement, directly under
the room he had occupied. It was
and other debris, and was horribly
crushed, altho not mutilated. The young
man s clothing was found near him, the
body being attired only in night robe
Death undoubtedly came instantly, as
thcre was an enormous weight on his
have lived but few minutes The body
was taken to the county morgue.
Half an hour later the fremen found
the bodies of Hans Anderson and John
G: Kenion, both in a sitting posture.
They also had fallen straight down, but
. their backs We're against it. Appear:
anees indicated that they had ,grappled
timbers had formed a protecting roof
over their heads and each had more
than a square foot of breathing space.
Anderson and Kenion were the ones
who, for more than two hours after the
crash, kept talking to the dremen tell
ing them they were all right if help
soon came. But try as they would, the
fremen could not d ig thru the nine feet
of debris in time to save their lives.
Before they lost consciousness they
told the fremen that they were not in
siured, and that their only danger was
Sfrom freezing. A few minutes later
Anderson cried out piteously for rescue
and then began raving. There were
no marks on their bodies to indicate
that the fall had killed them and Coro-
ner Williams said that death was un-
doubtedly caused by freezing.
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20
PLAY JACKSTRAWS WITH DEATH
Firemen s Efforts to Rescue Anderson
He Sings Deliriously.

Hans Anderson who roomed upon the
second floor was pinned down by beams
across the lower part of his body. For
a time he pleaded piteously with the
fremen to take him out. They could
hear his every word and dug as fast as
they could in the direction Of his voice.
Great care had to be taken as the re
moyalI of some one piece of debris might
that the whole mass would settle and
crush the life out Of some hapless vic
tim. -.
It was like playing jackstraws with
DEATH
Anderson's pleadings became more
more agonized. Then his sentences grew
broken, the note of pain and feaer
passed away and he began to sing in
the language Of old Sweden. A merci-
full providence had robbed him Of rea-
son and he no longer appreciated his
horrible dilemma.
About six o'clock his voice grew
fainter and fainter and finally ceased
altogether.
Then the workers knew that their ef-
forts had been in vain for the man was
dead. -
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20
LYMAN ABB01T'S
CRITICS CAUSTIC
He Is Called Infidel and Arch.
Worker of Harm to Moral
World. :: - 49,
New York Sun Special Service.

Pittsburg, Pa, Dec. 2O.-The sermon
Of DR.. Lyman Abbott Sunday to Har-
ward students excited Pittsburg greatly.
He was called an infdel, and also ina
ginatively pictured compositely with
Bishop Potter as the devil. s. - 80 -
DR.. j. T. McCreary attacked Dr. Abb
bott viciously, saying in part as fol.
lows: ...,......--.: T.. &>; ~ S.:.5
"Any infdel can say that DR., Abbott
might be called an infdel, but we do
not use those words any longer. We
used to call a man liar, but now we
say he is prevaricating. His assertions
need draw no comment. Lyman Abbott
is an infdel; he does not believe in
Christianity: He simply speaks his be-
lief, and it is better for man to utter
his true thoughts. j.. ss.a
Rev. DR.. Wilbur F. Crafts of Wash
ington, D. c., who is in Pittsburg, was
even more bitter, saying: r.
elf / were to form composite pic
ture of the devil as an angel Of light
and of darkness, T could easily imagine
Lyman Abbott and Bishop Potter in
the composite. While both men are
clean and probably sincere, their ideas
work more harm to the moral world
than any two men living" S.
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20

and while the fremen were still bat
ting with the flames their attention
was attracted to the cries of the vic.
tins. Pierson went near the front OF
the building and heard Mrs. LeClaire
calling for help from her basement
prison, which was rapidly filing with
flames. He peered thru the smoke and
flames and saw the helpless woman In
the basement.
eve must get her out or she'll be
burned to death,'' said Pierson.
cit would be suicide to try to go
in there,' said one Of his fellow fire
men. "Let IS try to keep the flames
away from her and carry her out after
they are out.''
VNo, I won't wait,' said the fire.
man, and minute later he was on his
hands and knees, twisting and writh-
! ing thru the mass of debris, lost en-
tirely to the view of his companions.
| "I've got hold of her,, called out
get away some of these pieces Of wood
and I'll get her out. Be quick, for
it IS hot in here.''
| The rest of the firemen worked like
beavers, and they soon raised the prop
er pieces of timber and Mrs LeClaire
was free. Then slowly and surely
Pierson made his way back thru the
debris with the helpless woman, whose
clothing was already on fire. His com
panions cheered as he came out in
safety with the woman in his arms.
"It was one Of the bravest things
T have ever seen done,' said District
Chief Kehoe, in discussing the matter
today. cit looked almost like certain
death for that man to go in there, but
he would not let the woman die with
out at least trying to get her out
Pierson is certainly worthy of praise
for what he did,
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20

him Pinioned beneath the heavy iron,
he was unable to do anything to relieve
himself and so he called Justify for heips
When the fremen reached him., he was
nearly dead from exposure, but soon res
vived after stimulants were admins
Wiley Awoke in Terror.
IT think I realized what was occur
ring before I was fully awake" said
James Wiley, who occupied room on
the second floor Of the Belmont hotel.
:" It seemed as if my room had denuded
Itself Of it's plaster without any visible
cause. But heard the crash, the groan-
ing and c1eaking of timber, and I re-
allied fully the calamity that had hap
pened. [ made jump for the door and
tried to grope my, way to the street;
The hallway was filled with boards and
crawl under these to get out. When I
reached the door the fremen had
cleared the entrance and was able to
get breath of fresh air. It was one
Of the most terrible experiences thru
which / have ever gone and hope [
may never be compelled to go thru such
a thing again. - ['-..s
Knew There Was Danger.
wall from the frst,'' said Mrs. Carrie
BOyce TO i q y u r n a l, ''Dut you
know how it is-we get accustomed to.
danger and, as nothing happened, we
thought it was all right. Tie first thing
that awakened me was the sound Of
plaster falling from the ceiling Of my
room. When I tried to see what was
happening, I was glinded by the cloud
Of dust. If I hadn It been on the side
farthest from the falling wall I prob
ably wouldn't be living to tell the
story. ] was wandering about in my
room, trying to find my way out. when
| the fremen rescued me- >s
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20
CRUSHED LIKE AN EGGSHELL
The Hotel Was Old and Flimsey-A
Total Wreck.

CrOcker's hotel was the second and
third stories Of the three-story brick
building at l1S and 120 Fifth street S,
and adJoined the Peck building, which
It had seven rooms on each of the two
floors and when the crash came is known
to have contained fourteen persons,
seven on each floor.
All of the rooms were occupied ex-
cept room No. 2 on the second floor,
which was vacant and room No. 3,
left the building less than thirty sec
onds before the wreck.
Room No. l was on the second floor
of the hotel in the front corner next to
the Peck. building. 1t was occupied
by Mrs. Carrie Boyce, who was found
among the debris in the basement, by
taken to Hermann s drug store. She
escaped with a few bruises about the
face and head.
Room No. 9 was vacant, while No. 3
had been occupied by G. L. Smith,
hackdriver, who left minute before
the crash because he had a premonition
Of danger. Directly across the hallway
from Smith s room and at the end of
the hall leading from the stairway was
room No. 4, which was occupied by Will
liam j. Crocker, proprietor Of the hotel
Crocker was carried into the basement
and was rescued later by fremen.
The south half of the second floor fiat
was divided into three rooms. No. in
the southeast corner Of the building,
was occupied by Hans Anderson and
James Hamilton, both employed at Ron
6 was occupied by G. H: Kenion and
William Lilleyblade, while No. Z was
occupied by Peter Boldie, who was at
work when the crash came.
The third floor was a duplicate in ar
rangement. Of the second floor, and was
also occupied by lodgers, but the rooms
were numbered in! the opposite, direc-
! Room No. l on the second floor was
Is by "X}l5' Hoyt, fKv Who w Works i Nights hts;
and was not in his room; No. "A, by
Jennie Murray; No. 8, by Joseph Vio-
MtNevns Mi 31s;hTonM No. TO- No By 8 william A mri Emmer
mon, and No. II by William Braa.
The ground floor of the building was
divided into two storerooms, the west
section, known as 11S Fifth street S,
was occupied as tailorshop by Low
man 4 Duregrov, while the other Sec
tcrs of W. F., Trufant, jobber in tea and
coffee.
The building itself was three-story
brick structure, of light construction,
and was owned by the Sol Smith Rus
sell estate.
Immediately adjoining Crocker IS
hotel and occupying really another part
of the same building was the Belmont
hotel, which, was a duplicate of the
ruined hostelry. Part Of the debris of
the wall struck the Belmont hotel, and
the guests were not only badly fright
ened, but some received injuries in the
crash. From that building the officers
carried out Mrs. May Ritchie, who had
tired, Mrs. w. J. Crocker, who was
found wedged in between her bed and
the wall. Mrs: Evelyn Williams, daugh-
ter of Mrs. Crocker, and her 3-months-
old babe, all Of whom escaped without
further injuries than a few scratches
and bruises.
The ground floor of the Belmont was
occupied as follows Minneapolis
Transfer & Storage company at 122
Fifth street s, and B.. w. Barber, dealer
in wall paper, 124 Fifth street s..
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20
MACHINES TO SET
GOVERNMENT TYPE
Congressional Record Is Now Set
Under New System, After =
y j., Long Fight
From Tho Journal Bureau, Colorado Building,
WASHINGTON.

From The Journal Bureau, Colorado Building,
Washington.
Washington, Dec. 2o.-The type for
the Congressional Record, the daily re-
port of the two houses, is now, for the
first time, being set by typesetting ma
chimes, which were introduced into the
government printing office last sum-
mer. 1t is generally conceded that the
new system has resulted in an improve
due to wider spacing between the
words, which gives the pages cleaner
appearance. Typesetting machines
were approved by the International Ty-
biographical union years ago, but the
political ''pull' Of the government
printers has until now resulted in keep
ing them out Of the big government
printshop.5 Their introduction will cut
down the force Of compositors consid'
erablya :: ".= @x-+
Block to Tobacco Trust. a:zs5:,
The American tobacco trust is likely
TO- encounter opposition in it's efforts
European countries. The antitrust
commission at Frankfort, Germany, has
been bestirring itself, and as a result
numerous petitions have gone up to the
government from the several German
states, asking for government aid il
the fight which is being made against
the American trust in that country.
New Frauds in Milk. 49,.
A French chemist has discovered g
form Of milk adulteration which is
quite prevalent in that country, and II
is believed that it is being ->racticed il
larger or smaller way in the United
States. The chemist has found out
benzine will dissolve the foreign fats
in milk without affecting the natura,
fats BY. its use he has been able tc
ascertain that French milk dealers are
using pork drippings and cocoanut but
ter to bring their product up to the re
uuired standard" In numerous in
stances this practice has been applied
to milk whose natural fats have beer
extracted for butter or other purposes
Missouri Race for Toga.
There are five candidates for tht
place in the senate which will be va
Gated by F. NJ. %Cockrell next March 4
namely, Thomas K: Niedringhaus, r
G. Kerens, Major William Warner, Col
onel Richard Bartholdt and Thoma!
Parker. The first two are apparently
the strongest of the lot. Niedringhaus
with thirty-five votes pledged, is lively.
short Of enough to control the republi
can caucus. ~ ~ r -e....
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20
WHO THE DEAD ARE

John G. Kenion, whose lifeless
body was taken from the ruins TO-
day, was about 25 years old and
was a native of Hutchinson, MINI.
He served as private in the
Twenty first infantry, and was dis
charged at Fort Smelling. He mar
ried Minneapolis girl, but she
died three months ago. Since then
he has lived at the Crocker hotel:
He was employed as foreman at
at the Daniels Linseed Oil COM
pany. His brother has been noti-
fed of his death and will arrive
in the city tomorrow to take
charge of the remains.
Joseph Violet, aged 18, was a
native of Zimmerman, MINI. He
had been in the city about a
month, and in that time had
roomed at the Crocker hotel. He
was employed as a coachman. His
father has been notified, and will
take charge of the remains.
Hans Anderson, the third victim
whose body was recovered, was
about 80 years old and was en-
ployed by Nick Ronner as a stable
man. He came to the city from
Sioux Falls, where all his relatives
live. His brother will come to
Minneapolis to take charge of the
body.
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20
PIERSON'S HEROIC WORK
Truckman Crawls Thru Flames and
Saves Mrs. LeClaire's Life. y

Zone of the most heroic acts ever
performed by fireman in Minneapolis
was that Of Frank Pierson of truck
No. ], from station A. With the
flames burning fercely about him and
with the imminent danger of an ad-
thru the debris into the basement of
1l8 Fifth street S and carried out Mrs.
Maggie LeClaire, who was caught in
al trap in the basement. After his COM
panions had removed some Of the ee-
hris he brought out the woman and
sent her to the city hospital.
Truck No. i was one Of the first
pieces Of apparatus to reach the scene,
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20
Crocker's Charmed Life.

+. .-- t
After barely escaping with his life
from the fire which destroyed the Bou-
tell building last Tuesday night, w. j..
Crocker had still narrower escape
from death last night. His almost
miraculous escape in both instances
leads his friends to believe that he
holds charmed life., fs's5.
Crocker was employed as night
watchman in Boutell's store and was
on the fifth floor of the building Tues
day night when the flames broke. out.
He didn't realize his danger until al
most too late, and then nearly every
avenue Of escape was cut off. By some
way, he is scarcely able to sell how, he
reached the ground in safety.
Last night Croker was asleep in his
room at the head of the stairs on the
second floor when the crash came. He
was carried thru into the basement of
the building and radiator fell upon
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20
HOW CLARK WAS SAVED
He Noted the Walls and Wind and
Went Elsewhere.

A wise caution saved the life of
Charles Clark, who has rooms at the
Crocker hotel and was reported this
morning among the dead. Mr.. Clark
has house at 2908 First avenue S, but
as he is the foreman of the Daniels
Linseed Oil company, he lives down
town during the week SO as to get to
work early in the morning. Yesterday
afternoon he went to his room in the
Crocker house and on his way stopped
to lok at the Peck building walls.
"I don't believe they will stand q
heavy wind,' said Mr.. Clark to a by
stander.
In the evening, about IL o'clock, he
went to the hotel to 20 to bed, and he
stopped again to look at the walls. The
wind was blowing rather hard and he
thought that he would sleep with more
peace of mind if he went home.
When he reached home he told Mrs.
Clark that it was probably a case Of
"cold feet,' but that he had a
"hunch'' to get out of. the Crocker
hotel. This morning, just as he started
to work, the reports came of the dis
aster.
"Well, I guess I WASH It coward af-
ter all, - was all he said.
Charles Kenyon and William Lilly
blade, also employed by the Daniels
Linseed Oil company, were with Mr..
Clark in the afternoon. Mr.. Clark says
they stayed at the hotel last night.
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20
Did More Than Look On.

One of the first ones upon the scene
after the crash was W. E. Steele, who
had only yesterday noted from. the
Guaranty building the seemingly dan
gerous condition of the Peck building
walls. He lent assistance: to-. the res
,cued dodgers as opportunity offered. and
later, when all attention was draw from
e ssfer e' was theughtfS enough s to fore @
see the danger in the jar Of the passing
cars. It was due to his presentation
Of the case to the proper authorities
that the streetcars. were stopped be-
fore still a third calamity occurred.
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20
SAVED FROM DEATH
Sufferers Taken from the Ruins Were
Bruised and Chilled.

Mrs. Carrie .Boyce, who occupied room
No. l in the ruined hotel was the first
person rescued. She was found in the
basement, but fortunately had escaped
with only few bruises. While the upper
story Of the building had fallen over
her, it was diverted in such way that
the police had no trouble in getting her
out. She was taken out dressed only in
her night clothing and was carried to
street and Second avenue s, where she
taken to. a place Of safety. Her injuries
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20
FIFTY MILES AN HOUR

At 1884, when the wall fell, the
wind was blowing gale Of from
forty-five to fifty miles an hour.
Weather Observer Outram reported
this morning that at IL o'clock there
was wind Of about eighteen miles
an hour, which rapidly increased and
reached its maximum at the moment
the walls fell.
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20
ATTRACTED LARGE CROWDS
Ruins Viewed by Thousands Of People
This Morning.

Not since the great mill explosion
in 1873 has mass Of ruins attracted
such crowds as has the wrecked Crocker
hotel today. Shortly after daybreak
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20
AN AWFUL MISTAKE.

Chicago News. -
Wife--My lressmaker is getting altogether too
old fashioned to suit me.
: Husband-Why. my dear, your new royvn ia
strictly up-todate.
! .Wife-Yes, | know; but she actually sent 1t
home the day she promised 1t.
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20

consisted Of a few bruises and cuts
about the face.
Mrs. Jennie Murray, who occupied
room No. Il on the third floor in the
rear and directly adjoining the Peck
building, was taken out and sent to the
city hospital.
Shortly after the firemen started work
on the ruins, they heard a man in the
basement of the building. He, shouted
Justify for help and when the rescuers
signalled him, he said that he was not
seriously injured, although he could not
move on account Of being pinioned be-
meath radiator which had fallen on
top of him. He pleaded ito be taken out
and the fremen worked with a will to
reach him.
Finally, after digging thru fifteen
feet Of debris, Truckman Louis Larson,
Ack Foster and Frank Pierson, all Of
Station A, succeeded in reaching him
and took him out more dead than alive.
He was W. j. Crocker, proprietor of the
hotel
Crocker was taken out and carried
into a hotel on Second avenue S, near
Fifth street, where he was given restor-
latives none too soon. He was nearly
dead from cold and Exposure but the
physicians say that his sl fnjuries are not e,t
The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20
MOST WIVES no.

Houston Chronicle.
Mrs: McFluo-Do you read much fiction?
Mrs. Sleath-No: but I listen to good de-
of it-from my husband.