Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1905-03-21
Fifty. five Bodies Have Been Re.
covered from the Ruins Of
' The Shoe Factory.
A HUNDRED PERSONS MISSING.
Five Minutes Before Accident Occurred
Steam Was Below the
Safety Limit.

Brockton, Mass, March Ala reali-
cation OF the extent OF the disaster
which had come to the city OF Brockton
yesterday in the wrecking OF the shoe
factory Of the II. b. Grover company,
and the ensuing terrible loss OF life
came clearly TO the citizens today, when
they awoke to q fun knowledge OF the
horrors attending upon the catastrophe.
All night the work Of searching for
the bodies Of victims of the explosion
and fire continued with unremttlng
zeal The work was not rewarded after
midnight by the finding OF any addi-
tional bodies until o'clock today,
when the remains OF a human being
were found IN the boiler pit. Consider
ing the mystery regarding the disap-
pearance Of David Rockwell, the engin-
eer who was in charge OF the boiler
which exploded the police believe the
body found today was that of the en-
gineer
a careful search of the boiler nit. In
which the remains were found, result
IL
Der 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 10
her husband. Then the police found
part OF chair with a pelvis OF human
frame I'm II, from which they inferred
that Rockwell was sitting beside his
boiler when the explosion came and
was killed Instantly The police are
satisfied that the report yesterday that
the engineer had been taken out alive,
was due TO the confusion Of Rockwell
with another employe.
The body Of stephen Snow. SO years
old, one of the oldest workmen In
the Grover plant was Identified today
hy his son.
The remains supposed to be those of
the engineer made the saith body thus
far taken from the ruined factory. The
figures at hand today showed that
about EGO persons who were al wprk IN
the factory when the explosion oc-
CURED had been accounted for and that
between so and 100 persons are miss
ing.
With reference TO the cause Of the
blowing up OF the boiler Josiah r.
Gibbs, assistant engineer OF the Brock
ton sewage station, who was with En-
gineer Rockwell at the Grover factory
five minutes before the accident oc-
CURED, said today that when he LEFT
Rockwell the steam was below the
safety limit and there was plenty OF
water In the glass. but that he was
running the old boiler.
The police today, In explaining the
failure OF a number OF employees to re-
port their escape cited an instance
which indicated to them that many OF
the workmen were dazed after the ex-
plosion. Jos, Jones, employed in the
stitching room, escaped with a few
bruises, In a confused state Of mind,
he walked 10 another shoe factory in
the city. applied for and was given em-
ployment, and In a mechanical way ne
worked through the day. Not until he
returned TO his home and found his
family mourning him as dead was the
mans brain clear enough TO enable him |
to recall the incidents OF the day. When !
the boiler plowed its way upward |
through the factory many operatives /
were blown 10 pieces, II Is believed. and |
this Is offered as accounting I'm part for |
the discrepancy between the number OF |
bodies recovered from the ruins, and |
the number reported missing
At the Brockton city hospital and |
the RELIEF hospital today Il was report. |
ed that all Of the injured passed a fair
~ comfortable night, and were doing
as well as could be expected.
Medical Examiner Payne, who has
been az the ruins OF the factory almost
since yesterday morning,
today said he was convinced that moth
ing but ashes remain OF many OF the
operatives who were caught I'm the fac
tory so that undoubtedly many victims
never viii he accounted for.
shortly after II o'clock, another body
The hfty-hfth. that of n woman, was
discovered IN the debris. body ut the
was Identified as that OF Gran
vile Hartwell 40 years old, an opera
tive who was prominent throughout
The city and a leader among the labor
unions.
Mayor Keith announced that the un.
Identified remains would be Transferred
10 the east Elm street theater building.
md that the public would be permitted
10 view these bodies beginning at y.
n, in order that all possible means OF
might be afforded