Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1905-08-17
FLOORS GIVE Way
MANY PERsoNs BURIED IN THE
DEBRIS.
PROBABLY TWO DOZEN KILLED
Fifty-six Rescued Thus Far, Six OF
Them Dead and Others Badly
Wounded-A Majority Of the Vic
Tins Are Girls.

ALBANY, N. Y.--The middle Sec
ton of the big department store OF
the John G. Myers company in North
Pearl street collapsed early Tuesday
carrying down with 1t over 100 per-
sons.
Caught in a chaos of brick, plaster
and wooden beams, between twenty
and thirty men, women and children
met death. Twelve hours of frantic
work on the part of an army OF res
cuers disentangled fifty people, six Of
them dead and many OF the rest badly
injured. Three more bodies were in
sight at late hour, but many hours
work will be required to get them out.
Anything like complete list OF the
killed and injured will be unobtain.
able until the workers have made
their way to the very bottom Of the
mass Of wreckage.
With few exceptions, those caught
in the ruins were employees, a major
ity Of them girls. The collapse &C.
Cured shortly after the opening hour,
when barely score of shoppers were
in the store. A clock found in the de-
bris had stopped at S48, showing
when the crash came. The best &C.
count of what probably caused the
ruin is given by the head of the crock
cry, glass and drug department, which
occupied the basement. He said:
"Workmen were saving at a wood
en- flour beam which runs under the
northern end of the central pillars in
the middle of the store. Excavation
for a cellar was going on about the
base of this pillar. and I believe
that the Earring of the beam
beneath the pillar displaced the
foundation of the pillar. The
first thing know two of the
counters near the place where the men
were working began to sag and sew
eral pieces of glassware slid off onto
the floor with crash. I yelled to my
clerks to run for the front Of the
store. The words were not out of my
mouth when there came creaking
and everything around us began to
fall. The wreck came slowly, how
ever, and think everyone in my de-
partment escaped, as well as the
workmen."
The pillars which gave way sup
ported the ends of two giant girders
and when it fell tho 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, nearly half
| of the great structure, from the eel
| lar to the roof and extending from
one side wall to the other, came grind
ing down.
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.
| ALBANY, N. Y.-The collapse OF
the John G. Myers company depart
ment store which resulted in the
death of thirteen persons, and prob
ably the fatal injury of two others
will be Investigated by special com
mission.
To avoid the possibility OF a pre-
JUDGED inquiry, Mayor Gaus decided
that all the Investigators shall be out
of-town men.
The discovery that the thirteen
bodies already taken out will account
probably for all the victims of the &C
cident is a surprise to Albanians. who
until yesterday expected that at leas
dozen more mangled forms were
buried beneath the ruins. So sure art
the wreckers that no more bodies arr
there that they have suspended theil
search.