Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-21
BR0CKT0N DISASTER
Terrible Loss of Life Casts a
Gloom Over City.
SEARCHING FOR BODIES
SIS VICTIMS RECOVERED FROM
THE RUINS so FAR.
Latest Figures Show Between so and
100 Persons Are Yet Missing
Further Details.

| BROCKTON, Mass. March 21.-A reali
| zation of the extent of the disaster which
| had come to the city of Brockton yesterday
! in the wrecking of the great wooden shoe
| factory of the R. B. Grover Company ant
| the ensuing terrible loss of life came more
clearly to the citizens today when they
awoke to a full knowledge of the horrors
attendant upon the catastrophe. All night
long the work of searching for the bodies
of victims of the explosion and fire contin.
ued with unremitting zeal The work was
not rewarded after midnight by the finding
of any additional bodies until seven oclocl
today, when the remains of a human be-
ing were found in the boiler pit Consider
ing the mystery attached to the disappear
ance of David w. Rockwell, the engineer
who was in charge of the boiler which ex-
ploded, the police believe the body found
today was that of the engineer. Rockwell
was reported to have been rescued yester-
day, badly injured and later to have died
but the police were not able subsequently
to locate his body. 1t seemed more likely
to the police today that Rockwell, near as
he was to the exploding boiler, was among
the first to meet death.
One of the Oldest Workmen.
The body of Stephen Snow, eighty-three
years of age, one of the Oldest workmen in
his son.
The finding of the remains supposed to
be those of the engineer made the fifty
fourth body thus far taken from the ruin
ed factory. The figures at hand early to-
day showed that about 260 persons who
were at work in the factory when the
explosion occurred had been accounted for
and that between fifty and one hundred
persons are missing.
Mayor Keith issued a notice today re-
questing every clergyman in the city to
meet with him at o'clock this afternoon
public funeral services for the victims Of
the accident. suggesting Thursday after
noon as a desirable time for them to be
held. He added also that 1t seemed best
to bury those bodies whose Identification
would be impossible in the city cemetery
at Melrose.
Mayor Keith said the raking over of the
ruins would be resumed today with a larger
force of men at work. He expressed the
opinion that perhaps a considerable number
of bodies would be found in that portion of
the plant not yet explored.
Searching Boiler Pit.
more careful search of the boiler pit
in which the remains were found today re-
suited in the finding of a watch, the rub
ber heel of a shoe, and a torn piece of
clothing. all of which, when shown to Mrs.
Rockwell, the wife of the engineer, were
identified by her as belonging to her hus-
band. Then the police found part of a
chair with a pelvis of a human frame in
1t, from which they inferred that Rockwell
was sitting beside his boiler when the eX-
plosion came and was killed instantly The
police are satisfied that the report yester-
day that the engineer had been taken out
alive was due to the confusion of Rockwell
with another emplOye
With reference to the cause of the blow
ing up of the boiler, Josiah E. Gibbs as
sistant engineer at the Brockton sewage
station, who was with Engineer Rockwell
the accident occurred, said to-day that
when he left Rockwell the steam was below
the safety limit and there was plenty of
water in the glass, but he was running the
old boiler.
Failure to Report Escapes.
The police today, in explaining the fail
ure of a number of employees to report their
escape, cited an instance which indicated
to them that many of the workmen were
dazed after the explosion. Joseph Jones,
employed in the stitching room, escaped with
scarcely more than a few bruises.
In a confused state of mind he walked to
another shoe factory in the city, applied
for and was given employment, and in a
mechanical sort of way he worked through
out the day. Not until he returned to his
home and found his family grief-stricken
, ana mourning MIN as Qedu was the man s
brain sufficiently clear to enable him to tell
the incidents of the day.
When the boiler ploughed it's way up
ward through the factory, many opera
tives were blown to pieces, it is believed,
and this is offered as accounting in part
for the discrepancy between the num-
ber of bodies recovered from the ruins
and the number reported missing.
At the temporary morgue today, where
the bodies of che victims rest, the scenes
of grief of yesterday were repeated,
many persons seeking to identify
missing relatives from the .eharred re-
mains, which are almost all headless
and many of which are limbless.
Evidences of Desperate Fights.
The fingers of many of the victims are
worn down to the second joint indicat-
ing desperate efforts to release fettered
limbs before the onward rush of flames
reached the victim.
At the Brockton City Hospital and the
relief hospital today, it was reported that
all of the injured passed fairly COM
Portable night and were doing as well as
could be expected.
r. b. Grover Company, said today that
he was in the boiler room of the factory
talking to Brockwell the engineer, yes
terday morning. Il had been back in my
department. he said, for about five
| minutes when the most horrible noise 1
ever heard came to my ears. The next
thing l knew was out in the street"
Mr.. Howard said the engineer con-
yersed in his usual manner and appeared
perectly capable of attending to his
duties.
Only Ashes Of Victims Remain.
Medical Examiner Paine, who has been
at the ruins of the factory almost continu-
ously since yesterday morning, today said
he was convinced that nothing but ashes
remains of many of the operatives who
were caught in the factory, so that un-
doubtedly many victims never will be ac-
counted for.
A large force of men is carrying on to-
day a systematic and thorough search OF
the ruins, raking over every inch OF
| ground and pulling away every beam and