Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-10

under command OF Capt. Lew Paine
and Regular Quartermaster Austin, CO.
| operated with the Long Beach police
force and fire department in the rescue
and discipline work.
Thousands of people crowded to the
foped inclosure surrounding the scene
of destruction, and the most vigilant
efforts on the part of the guards was
required TO press them back from the
danger line. No one was permitted to
pass the rope fenC without signed
order from the mayor, and many ar
rests were made of people who violated
this rule.
Pleads Until Death Comes
Until long after noon the pleading
small voice of a man beneath the
mountain Of debris called to the res
cuers to save him.
Help, help help!' came the voice
like a trembling echo from afar, but
the rescuers could not locate his living
tomb. MY name is Fred -" came
a feeble answer in response to the
shouted inquiry for his name, but only
the feeble word Fred" was audible to
the ears of the listeners. Soon the wall
ing cries for help ceased ominously, and
the priest nearby uttered the words of
the Catholic prayer for the soul that
had gone. This is believed to have
been Fred Norton, whose body was
later taken from the ruins.
Few were the cheering incidents of
the day. but one occurred that even
amidst the gloom of lowering death
cast ray of hope to encourage those
waiting fearsomely for the news of
loved ones among the missing
Paul o. Butterfield, who had been
fettered beneath mass Of iron and
concrete several feet in depth, was
rescued from his Imprisonment and
walked away with only a limp to tell
of his wrestle with death. He appeared
to be free from any serious injury and
his escape was pronounced little short
of a miracle. The debris had been pre-
vented from crushing him by over
hanging steel girders and twisted pipes
that sheltered him in a narrow niche.
Mother Seeks Sons Body
When the mother of Albert Hartle,
who was killed in the catastrophe,
learned of the hotels collapse yester-
day morning she hurried from Comp
ton, where she works, and went to
the scene of the disaster. For hours
she walked in a circle about the
crowds of spectators asking appealing |
ly If any one could tell her how her |
boy was. No one knew and no one |
dared reply. The mother finally be-
came frantic with uncertain fear and |
cried out in wild hysteria. 1t was
thought she had gone insane from the
awful suspense and she was taken to
he hospital. There she became paci-
lied.
When the news of her boys fate was
aiken to her she wept pitifully until
ar into the night.
Bees for Her Son
An equally pitiful incident of the
was that of the tragic grief of
he mother on Bert Hubbard, 6211s
Cast First street, Long Beach. Even
while her boy lay stark and cold at
he morgue she waited anxiously,
by the ambulance to see if
Ter son was brought out among the
lead.
Everyone who came from the death
pile she would ask TREMENDOUSLY If her
BOY was hurt. No one answered fur
Lher than to say something hopeful,
and walk away quickly.
. The horrible secret was not revealed |
to her yesterday, and 1t is probable |
that the awful shock will come to her |
for the first time when she reads the |
of her boys death in the |
newspapers.
She was among the last to leave the |
wreck last night, and only left her
.ragic quest when friends promised to |
continue the watch for her boy
Architects See Ruins
An inspection committee composed of |
most of the members of the Los An
seles Architects and Engineers asso-
,iation were about the demolished
yesterday in an effort to de-
.ermine the exact cause of the catas-
rophe. Those forming the committee
we're Architects Morgan, Krimple, AL
bright and Whittlesey; Engineers T. f.
osborn, Irving Fl. Hellman, City Re-
Concrete Inspector Louie Par
Ser, Captain Friese, United States En-
yineer Thomas Fellows, Assistant
Building Inspector of Los Angeles and
z. III. Craig, superintendent for Austin
Brown, architects of the building,
w. S. Dabanspect, and Carl Leonardt.
Helman Lends a Hand
Mr.. Hellmaa was one of the first
Los Angeles men upon the scene OF
the disaster, and Immediately offered |
his services to the rescuers. He was
IN evidence everywhere about the build
ing and did invaluable work In assist
ing the rescuers
Architect Octavius Morgan, con-
sidered an authority on reinforced con-
crete work on the coast, stated yester-
day that he believed the cause of the
buildings collapse could be traced in
directly to Intellectual span oonstruc-
ton of the central portion of the hotel |
These spans were composed of hollow |
tile floor slabs, cemented with con-
crete.
Mr.. Morgan pointed out that the
north and south wings of the hotel had |
not collapsed at all, and explained that |
he considered this fact due to their |
of molenthic or solid con-
crete panels. The north and south
wings of the hotel were built according
to the architects specifications in the
original contract, but were altered In
favor of the tile floor by request of the
Kahn Construction company of Detroit,
Mich, which firm was awarded the con-
tract for the floors.
Mr.. Morgan said:
"Up to Kahn"
81 think it will now be up to the
Kahn people to prove their claims that
their mode of floor construction is su-
perior to the molenthic system.
Although I can discern many faults