The San Francisco call., 1905-08-09
Middle Section of Bic De-
partment Store Caves In
and Score of Men. Women
and Children Are Killed
MANY YET BURIED
IN THE WRECkAGE
Rescuers Dig From Ruins
More Than Fifty Employees,
Some Dead. Many Badly
Hurt. and Are Still at Work

ALBANY. \. Y. Aug S-The middle
section CT the big department store of
the John Meyers Company on North Pearl
street collapsed early to-day. carrying
down with it over 100 persons. Caught in
a chaos Of brick. plaster and wooden
beams, between twenty and thirty men.
women and children met death. Twelve
hours frantic work on the part Of an
army Of rescuers disentangled fifty per-
sons, six of them dead and many OF the
rest badly injured. Three bodies were
Iu sight al a late hour tonight but many
hours work viii be required TO get them
out. Anything like a complete list Of the
killed and injured will be unobtainable
until the workers have made their way
10 the very bottom Of the mass of wreck
age. With few exceptions. those caught
ln the luin were employees, large ma
Jority Of them being girls. The collapse
occurred shortly after the opening hour
when barely a score Of shoppers were in
The store. A clock found in the debris
had stopped at twelve minutes before 9
O'Clock, showing when the crash came.
The best account OF the event that
probably caused the ruin is given by the
head Of the crockery. glass and drug
department, which occupies the basement
The wOrkmen We're saving at q wood
eu beam. said he which runs under the
northern end Of the pillars in the middle
o1 the store. Excavation for the cellar
was going on about the base Of the pill
lsI and L believe that jarring Of the beam
beneath il displaced the foundation of
the pillar"
MAIN SUPPORT BREAKS.
The pillars which gave way supported
The ends Of TWO giant girders and when
tLey fell the main support Of the central
part Of the building was gone. With a
noise that could be heard blocks away
and which shook the adjoining buildings
nearly half the great structure from the
cellar 10 the roof and extending from one
sidewalk 10 the other came grinding down.
When the TIRE department arrived there
was plenty to do IL rescuing those who
wtIC pinned under the top wreckage.
In a short time the citys entire hospital
and ambulance force was on the scene,
aided by half z hundred doctors from all
parts Of the city. The volunteer rescuers
and nrc men continued the work until
exhausted, when LLeIr places were taken
bS a Ureckins force numbering 800 men
tTou tie New YORK Central and Della
WaIe aud Hudson railroads. These deIved
III the runs all night bUt the work Of res
cue proceeded slowly. When darkness
came il was estimated that nearly fifty
persons stilI remained in the ruins and
that moi more than half of those could
survive the weight pressing upon them.
Fortunately the wreckage did not take
hre. Some I0O persons are still unaccount-
I'd for, but fifty Of these are cash boys
OF which the firm has no record. and the
Joss OF the pay roll makes il difficult to
gel anything like complete list Of
many others. In all the company mas 4JO
employees, but fifty Of these are away
On vacations.
BUILDING VERY OLD.
The building which collapsed stands in
the heart Of the shopping district at Nos.
o. and Il North Pearl street. Ii is owned
1artly by the company and partly by the
esJate o. the late David Orr. The loss 10
The company Is estimated at between $780,,
0pg and 800 600. The building was very
Old one. but unul now was considered
perfectly safe.
The names Of the dead thus far re-
moved from the ruins are: Michael
Fitzgerald. Frank Leonard, Miss Minnie
Ballard, Miss Alice i. Sharp. Miss Min
ME ?. Westfall, unidentified woman.
The fatally injured: Miss Helen Don
ahUe, Miss Mary McEvery.
The list OF injured, as compiled to-
night shows that thirJy-siX employees of
the company We're injured, three seri-
ously. Besides these. nve shoppers were
injured.
The scenes about the building were as
spitiable as those within. Several nun
and their suppIications as to the wei
fare Of the loved ones were heartrend-
ing.
II is reported that Robert NJ Chal-
mers, 4 member OF the firm. is missing
A clerk whom he was talking to when
the crash came, and who escaped, said:
He was at my side and then there
was the crash and 1 saw him no more"
TELLS HOW III HAPPENED.
Edward J. Horaine, one of the clerks
at the mems furnishing counters. was
among the fortunate ones to get out
without a scratch. He assisted in re-
moving about thirty girls to a neigh
boring store.
1t all appened in a minute, said he
Il was engaged in getting my stock in
shape and there were not a half dozen
customers in the store at that time
heard roaring and tearing sound, and
then the crash came. The shrieks that
followed drowned out every other
sound Many OF the girls sank behind
their counters and had to be dragged
out in a fainting condition"
The work OF rescue was soon begun.
Firemen and laborers worked with