Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-08-09
WORKMEN NERE NAMING REPAIRS
Between Twenty and Thirty Met Death, the Majority Being Girls. Building Was an ola One, but
 Considered Sound.

bectlOH oI tHe DIE department store oI the John c. Myers company, in North Pearl street, collapsed, carrying down with it over 100 persons. Caught in 6 chaos of brick, plaster and wooden beams, between twenty and thirty men, women and children met death in multitude of horrible forms. With few exceptions those caught in the rIiin were employees, and a large ma jority of them were girls
 The catastrophe occurred shortly aft CT the opening hour, when barely a score of shoppers were in the store. 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 were saving at q wooden floor beam.' said he, which | runs underneath one of the central pill lars in the middle of the store. Exca- vation for the cellar was going on about the base of this pillar, and I believe that jarring of the beam be ! meath it displaced the foundation of ! the pillar The first thing I knew two of the counters near the place where the men were working began to sag, and several pieces of glassware slid 1 of on to the floor with a crash. I Ityelled to my clerks to run for the front l of the store. The words were not out of my mouth when there came creak- 1 ing, and everything around us began l to fall The wreck came slowly. how ever. and think every one in my de- partment escaped, as well as the work men,"
 The pillar which gave way supported the ends of two giant girders, and when it fell the main support of the central part of the building was gone. | With noise that could be heard blocks away and which shook the adjoining buildings like an earthquake, nearly half of the great structure, from cellar to roof and extending from one side wall to the other, came grinding down. Into this cavernous hopper slid scores ] of employees who were working on the floors above and lacked the warning 1 which enabled those in the basement to escape Many, however. were ap- prised of the danger by falling plaster and saved themselves by rushing to the front of the store or to the fire escape in the rear.
 i Clouds of dust which shot out of the front entrance caused those outside to believe that the store was afire, and a 6re alarm was immediately turned in When the fire department arrived they had plenty to do in resculng those who ! were pinned under the top wreckage They were joined by scores of volun- teer rescuers. and within an hour fiji. teen or twenty persons were carried out, none of them fatally injured. In a short time the city's entire hospital and ambulance force was on the scene aided by half hundred doctors from all parts of the city. ....
 The volunteer rescuers and the fire men kept up the work until exhausted
 when their places were taken by a wrecking force numbering 300 from the New York Central and Delaware and Hudson railroads. These delved in the ruins all night. but the work of rescue progressed slowly. Fortunately the wreckage did not take nre. Some hundred persons are still unaccounted for, but fifty of these are cashboys, of which the firm has no record, and the loss of the payroll makes 1t difficult to get anything like complete list of many others In all the company has 400 employees. but fifty of these are away on vacations.
 The building which collapsed stand. in the heart of the shopping district al 80 and Al North Pearl street. It is owned partly by the company and partly by the estate of the late David Orr. The loss to the company is esti
 mated at between s2O0,oO and $500. 900. The building was very old one but until now considered perfectl, sound. Extensive repairs were undel way when the catastrophe occurred.
 After the death of it's founder. Johr c. Myers. two years ago the business was conducted by company consist ing of George r. Hilton. H. King Sur dee. Edward F. Hackett and Rober NJ. Chalmers. Mir. Chalmers was taker
 from the ruins with slight injuries
 About a month ago the firm was lncor porated as a stock company.