Arizona republican., 1905-08-09
DOWN
A Score or More of a De-
 partmeRt Store Dead
AN ALBANY ACCIDENT
Defective Constructive Work Said to be Responsible for the Slaughter and the Loss of FrOm Two to Three Millions in Property.

Albany, N. Y, Aug. S.-The middle section of the big department store of the John G. Myers company in north Pearl street collapsed early today, car rying down over 100 persons.
 Caught in a chaos of brick, plaster and wooden beams, between twenty and thirty men and children met death. Twelve hours of frantic work on the part of an army of rescuers, disen- tangled fifty people, six of them dead and many of the rest badly injured.
 Three bodies were in sight at late hour tonight. but many hours work will be required to get them out. Anything like a complete list of the killed and injured will be unobtainable until the workers have made their way to the very bottom of the mass of the wreck age With a few exceptions those caught in the crash were employees, a large majority of them girls. The col lapse occurred shortly after the open ing hour when barely a score of shop pers were in the store. clock found in the debris had stopped twelve min utes before nine, showing when the crash came
 The best account of the event that probably caused the ruin is given by the head of the crOckery, glass and drug department which occupies the l basement: "The workmen were saving | at a wooden floor beam" said he, 1 which runs under the northern end of i the centraP pillars in the middle of l the store. Excavation for the cellar 1 was going on about the base of this l pillar and I believe that the jarring of | the beam beneath it displaced the | foundation of the pillar"
 The pillar which gave way support ed ends of two giant girders and, when | it fell, the main support of the central part of the building was gone. With 1 a noise that could be heard ten blocks away and which shook adjoining buildings. nearly half the great struc- ture, from cellar to roof, and extending from one sidewalk to the other, came l grinding down. When the fire depart ment arrived it had plenty to do in rescuing those who were pinned under
 the top wreckage. In a short time thf city's entire hospital and ambulance force was on the scene, aided by hal a hundred doctors from all parts of tho
 city.
 Volunteer rescuers and fremen con ltinued the work until exhausted, wheT their places were taken by a wreckinl force numbering 300 men from the New York Central and Delaware Ss HudsoE railroads. These delved in the ruin all night, but the work of rescue pro ceeded slowly. When darkness cam , it was estimated that nearly fifty per
 sons still remained in the ruins an' . that not more than half of these coul' survive the weight pressing upol , them.
 | Fortunately. the wreckage did no take fire. Some 100 persons arc Stu unaccounted for. but fifty of these ar ? cash boys, of whom the firm has n t record. and the loss of the payrOl t makes it difficult to get anything lik
 a complete list of many others. | all, the company had 400 employees, 5u
 fifty of these are away on vacations.
 The building which collapsed stand
 in the heart of the shopping distric
 at Nos. 34 and Al North Pearl stree It is owned partly by the company an
 partly by the estate of the late Davi , Orr. The loss to the company is esti : mated at between s2,OOO.OOO and $3,
 OO0.OO0
 The dead thus far removed from tn
 ruins are: Michael Fitzgerald, Fran Leonard Miss Anna F. Whitbeck. Mis-
 Minnie Ballard, Miss Alice l.. Sharl
 unidentified woman.
 The fatally injured are Miss Hele
 DOnahue. Miss Mary McAvOy.
 The list of injured was compiled to
 night and shows that thirtysix em
 pIoyes of the company, were injured three seriously. Besides these, fiv
 shoppers were injured.