The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-03-21
THREE SCORE LIVES PLOTTED
 OUT IN TERRIBLE EXPLOSION

and reached the street, others ran so | the windows. the fire escapes in many | cases having been torn away by the | explosion. In desperation many jump | ed from the second and third story windows to the ground and were l dangeriously injured. The crush on
 the stairways resulted In numerous minor injuriea.
 Scarcely had the rear portion of the structure collapsed when a tongue Of ! flame started up from the boiler pit, | and reaching out as 1t ascended, com municatej with the spiintered wreck aga and. immediatly afterward, with the standing walls. Soon the entire factory was in flames Instant death was the fate of a ma l jority who went down with the floors that collapsed. A large number of men and women who were working near the supports were alive after the floors and walls fell. From these un- fortunates thrilling cris of anony and terror went up. Almost all had been caught between broken timbers, light CT wooden wreckage and heavy pieces of machinery A few persons sue ceeded in extricating themselves from the wreckage. but more were roasted | to death. By this time nearby citizens had ar rived to assist the employees who es- capped in the rescu of tehir follows. This task became monentarily more difficult and perilous. for the heat from | the fire was almost unbearable. By the use of long piecs of timber the res- cuers were able to raise parts of the wreckage and thereby release some of the imprisoned men and women and then by rushing into the smoke, pull them from the ruins.
 Acts of Heroism. Then it was that acts of sacrifice and heroism were, seen. One man whose legs were caught under an iron beam, cried to the rescuers that they could not extricate him and to help | the girls behind him. Stretching out his arms he lifted several girls. one bv one. and passed them to the rescuers. Then the fire reached him and he died. A woman who was entangled In shoe machine cried out that she was dying and commanded the rescuers to attend to others who might live. She begged to be shot. Soon the flames | enveloped her.
 | Among the first to arrive at the | scene was Rev. J. O'ftourKe .curate of St Margaret's Roman Catholic church. At the risk of his life he removed sev- en persons from the ruins before the | fire had reached him and was return | ing for the eighth time when he faint ed from the effects of the smoke and | shock. Father ORourke administered | the last rites of the church to many l Catholics both to those who were saved and some who later perished. At midnight list of missing was given out at the Campello Police Sta ton. There is good reason to believe that all were killed, as every effort | has been made to locate them. The list | follows:
 ,. Andrew Johnson, John Ludell, Jennie IZiles, Almorane Hallett, Miss Georgia tEmerson, Miss Mary Fitzpatrick. George Burgess, Barnabas Lewis. David w. Rockwell, engineer; Hannah Lindberg. Sadie Hickey, J. Victor Turner, Arthur
 Pray, Alderman George A. Monk, Jes- | sic Chandler of Whitman, A. F. Nelson, Bror Lundell Samuel Lovetoy, Mrs. Stella Kelley. Mrs. Clara Atwood. Rich ard Spriggins. Mamie O'Connell Ma mic Leonard, W. R. Armstrong. Kate Kelly. Louis Hickey, Granville Hoppin,
 Miss Burgess, Linus Burgess.
 The disaster was attended by one
 mystery which the police had not clear ed up at late hour. This was the in-
 applicable disappearance of Davis w.
 Rockwell. the engineer in charge of the
 boiler which exploded. During the day
 Rockwell was reported as badly in-
 jured and as having been taken to the
 fire station near by Shortly afterward
 report reached police headquarters
 that he had died.
 Later on. however. the police could
 not locate his body and it was believed that his injury and death had been
 confused with that of another person.
 It was reported tonight that Rockwell
 had left the city, but City Marshal
 Boyden expressed the opinion that the
 man had been killed
 Father O'Rourke's Tale. Father O'Rourke helped in the work
 of rescue until his shoulder was dis
 located and he tainted from exhaus- | tion.
 Father O'Rourke said
 Pinned beneath heavy pieces of ma 1 chinery, timbers and twisted coils of
 pipe were many poor men and women
 suffering terrible agonies.
 | Tn order to reach these suffering l people, we had to crawl through the
 debris and with the aid of a large tim
 Der we raised the wreckage which held
 fast several men and women. In this
 manner and by brute strength we pulled out seven employees.
 By this time the flames were almost
 upon us and we were about to flee for
 safety when one poor fellow begged
 that last effort be made to save him.
 Three of us grasped the man by the
 shoulders and arms and pulled until
 suddenly he cried. My God, my leg is
 pulled off
 Tt was terrible. especially so be-
 cause a moment later with our cloth
 ing scorchng, we were ordered away by
 the Chief of the Fire Department, and
 were compelled to leave the poor fel- low to his fate.
 Just before leaving I saw at least
 fifteen of the imprisoned operatives,
 some already suffering untold agonies from the flames which were cooking
 their flesh and others watching with
 terror-stricken eyes the fate of their companions, knowing that moment or
 two would bring to them similar suf- fering and then death"