The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1905-03-21
Sad Work Searching Burned
Factory In BrOcktOn, Mass.
WAS KEPT UP ALL NIGHT
Indications Are That Death List Will
Exceed eo-Prompt Efforts Made to
Start Relief Fund for
Families.

BroclSton, Mass, March 21 When the
search for the dead IN the ruins Of
the r. B. Grover shoe factory, which |
was burned yesterday following an ex-
plosion Of boiler, was temporarily |
suspended at half past FIVE o'clock this
morning, hfty-three bodies had been re-
covered. OF this number ten were iden-
tilted. The search was resumed at seven
o'clock
Medical Examiner Paine said this
morning that number Of bodies were
burned to ashes, ia his opinion, and
no trace would ever be discovered. Out
Of the estimated number Of 400 en-
ployees PSI have been accounted for
as getting out of the building. The
greater number Of these sustained in
juries.
The body Of Engineer Rockwell was
found this morning in the engine room
beside tie chair in which be had been
sitting. It was identified by nail
clipper and a watch. This makes eley-
en- bodies thus far identified.
Mayor Edward II. Keith personally
superintende8 the search aud Medical
Examiner a. r. Paine viewed each body
As ii was taken out
One Of the FIRST to reach the ruins
was tie Rev. James A. 0Kourke, curate
of ST Margaret's Roman Catholic
church. From his residence near BY
he saw the building tremble and then
burst into fames. He rushed to the fac
tory and helped in the work Of rescue
and he tainted from exhaustion.
Father 0'Rourke said last night
Pinned beneath heavy pieces Of ma
chincry, tinibers and twisted coils ~
pipe, were many. Oh, SO many poor
men and women, suffering terrible ag-
0uies.
@In order TO reach these imprisoned
sufferers We had to crawl through the
debris and with the aid eli d iarge
timber We raised the wreckage which
held fast several men and women. In
this manner and by main strength We
pulled out seven employees
@By this time the flames were all
most upon us and we were about to
fee for safety, when one poor fellow
begged that last effort be made To
save him. Three Of US grasped the man
by the shoulder and arms and tugged
and pulled until suddenly he cried; My
God, my leg is pulled off
"a moment later, with our clothing
scorehed, we were ordered away by the
chief of the fire department and we were
reluctantly compelled to leave the poor
man 70 his fate,
"Just before leaving / saw at least
15 of the imprisoned sufferers, some all
ready suffering untold agonies from the
flames and other watching with terror
stricken eyes the fate Of their eompan-
ions, knowing that a moment or tive
would bring to them a similar suffering
and then death"
Trying to Explain Cause.
Mrs. David W. Rockwell, the wife oi
the engineer of the factory, and whose
home was wrecked by the flying boiler
said last night:
aWhen my husband left home thii
morning he was cheerful and in gooC
health. For the past few days, however
he had been irritable on account of th'
condition OF the boiler He has sal,
many times Of late that lie had to pur
on the boiler pressure it was unequa
to, because the work in the factory re
quired it.
Il was in my kitchen about ave min
utes before the explosion occurred an,
happened to look over at the factory
At that time Dave was sitting on
chair near the window Of the boile
room. That was the last saw of him
turned my attention to some household
duties and few minutes later ther
was a terrible crash | was thrown i
the floor and portions Of the roof an,
ceiling fell down upon me- I did no
know until later that it was the boile
which wrecked my home"
When shown Mrs. Rockwells state
ment, Mr.. Emerson of the Grover com
pany said that the amount Of pressur
on the boiler was a matter in whic
the factory officials did not interfere.
Rockwell said Mr.. Emerson, too
his orders in this matter from the Hart
ford Boiler Insurance company and
he oyerworked the boiler he did it with
out our knowledge We do not eve
know why Rockwell used the old boile
this week instead of the newer one an
/ don't suppose we will ever find gu
for | believe the engineer is dead.
j. II. Kazar, state inspector Of boi
eTs, said:
ut is too early to definitely decid
the exact cause Of the explosion. III
fusible plug was all right, which woul
indicate that the explosion was NJ
caused by lack Of water AS to Il
other causes, it Is impossible to So.
There are many ways it might have o
CURED. For some reason there migl
have been an oyerpressure in the boile
but have been unable as yet to asee
tain concerning the pressure as ha'
been able to find neither the sten
guage nor the safety valve
Treasurer Emerson Of the Grover con
pany in second statement said th'