The Topeka state journal., 1905-08-09
THIRTEEN DEAD.
Not So Many Killed as Supposed
in Albany Wreck.
All the Men and Women But
One Accounted For.

AlDanys N. Y, Aug. 9.-A thorough
search carried on since early morning,
has revealed the fact that all the men
and all but one woman employed in the
department store of the John C. Meyers
company, which collapsed yesterday,
are accounted for. About 80 cash boys
out of 75 have not vet reported but it
is thought scarcely possible that all of
them are in the ruins for the proper
ton of boys thus far known to be kill
ed and injured is small These facts
lead to the belief that the number of
deaths will prove considerably less
than was feared. The dead found thus
far number 13 and there is hope that
not more than half a dozen bodies are
still in the wreck.
Rescue Work Is Slow.
Albany, N. Y. Aug. 9.-This morning
found 200 men still toi1ing over the
wreckage of the John G. Meyers depart
ment store, where q hours ago occurred
the saddest catastrophe in the history
of Old Albany. Eleven dead bodies,
many of them mangled almost beyond
recognition. have been taken from the
ruins thus far and one woman died af
ter being carried to the hospital. The
dead list which last night numbered five
ton of the following, all employees:
MARY McAVER, died at hospital.
| ANNA EASTMAN.
THERESA SPANNBAUER.
ETA SPRINKS.
GRACE B. ERNER.
HELEN MALONE.
JOHN E. POWERS, cash boy.
A days work by skilled hands from
the Wrecking company of Delaware and
Hudson. railroad has resulted In remov-
ing barely half the debris.
Shortly after daybreak the searchers
found the twelfth body. 1t was Miss
Helen Malone, young girl who shared
the cashiers office on the main floor
| xrvi4I D,7I1v ~
and Alice Sharp and was crushed be-
meath the same girderse that killed her
three companions. Others in the list
were carried out of the ruins between
the hours of and 5 o'clock this morn
ing.
The injured in the hospitals are do
ing well with two exceptions, Miss Ella
J. Donahue. who was one of the first
survivors to be taken out of the wreck,
has several of her ribs fractured and is
injured in the spine and may not live.
Mrs. Borst of Window, Mimi, who was
one of the few shoppers injured, is also
reported to be in a critical condition.
She has been visiting Mrs. Richard W.
Brass, wife of a we'll known attorney. Mrs.
Brass was also injured but after being
in the wreckage several hours was re-
moved without serious injury The only
addition to the list of injured is Thomas
Rogers, a fireman who was painfully,
though not seriously bruised and cut
while at the work of rescue.
so Women Missing.
| 1t is thought that none of those still
in the wreck can be alive. Fifty wo-
men employees are still unaccounted for,
and as the firm has a complete list of
them, grave fears are expressed for the
safety of the majority. A large per-
| centage of these in the, central portion
| of the building which collapsed, were
| women.
| The number of men unaccounted for
is about the same but the loss of firms
books makes anything like a complete
record of the male employees inacceSsi-
| BILE. 1t is thought that nine-tenths of
the bodies remaining in the ruins are
those of women.
Now that the first shock of the
horror is passed, the people of Albany
have begun to ask who is responsible.
Mayor Gaus, Chief Higgins of the fire
| department and Commissioner Canlin
of the public safety department be-
| lieve the accident was caused directly
| by workmen excavating beneath the
basement floor, who undermined one
of the key brick piers in the center of
! the building, and the view is generally
shared. The mayor said: IF any
person has been guilty of negligence
to which this accident is due, he will
be punished. Every guilty person will
| be prosecuted as soon as we have
| placed the responsibility for this dis
aster which is the worst of its kind
that has ever befallen the city,.
An investigation will be begun as
soon as the work of rescue is over.
The work under way when the COL
lapse came was in charge of Con-
tractor John Dyer, jr. OF the 81 men
employed by him on the building
every one escaped In view of the
fact that nearly all of them were in or
under the basement in the center of
the structure, their escape is almost
miraculous.
Shortly after 10 o'clock the thirteenth
body was found and identified that
of Miss Winifred Kelly, by her father
who had watched by the wreckage all
night.