Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-25
TEN OF THE INMATES DEAD
Fireman Nearly Caught by the Fall
ing Walls.
WERE SOME CURIOUS REscUEs
Old Man Taken, Just as It Fell, From
a Ledge Forty Feet Above
the Ground.

NEW YORK, June 25.-Seven persons, six
Of them members of one Italian family,
were killed early today in the collapse of
a ramshackle tenement in the downtown
Italian quarter. Three other members Of
the same family, including the father and
mother, are in a hospital painfully injured,
but will recover. There were some exciting
scenes Immediately following the accident,
one of which was the rescue Of an old man
from a two-foot ledge, forty feet from
the ground, this portion of the fallen build
ing having adhered to the adjoining struc-
ture long enough to permit the firemen to
get to the scene, raise a ladder and take
the man, Jacob Reigler, safely to the ground.
Then it also fell into the ruins.
The collapsed building was a four-story
affair built over fifty years ago, and was
located at the corner of Walker and La
fayette streets. 1t belonged to the Moses
Taylor estate, and for some days has been
in a dangerous condition because of ex-
cavations for a new building on the adjoin-
ing premises. 1t had been shored up, but
the constant rumbling Of subway trains a
block away was too much for it in its
weakened condition and it fell in finally at
2 o'clock this morning. Most tenants,
warned by an ominous creaking, fled from
the building a few minutes before it col
lapsed.
List Of the Dead.
The dead are:
Tony Torchino, seventeen years old; Ma
mie Torchino, twenty-one; Lille Torchino,
nine; Fred Torchino, ten; Susie Torchino
thirteen; Edward Torchino, two, and Cosmo
Belucci, forty years old, ledger.
Tomasso and Amelia Torchino, father and
mother of the unfortunate family, and an
other son, George, nineteen are suffering
from scalp wounds and contusions,
The dead were buried under tons of debris,
and it was not until the firemen and volun-
teers had worked for four hours that their
bodies were recovered.
Arrested the Contractor.
George Blumenthal, the. contractor who
had charge of the repairs and snoring up
the building, was arrested, charged with
homicide That many more persons did
not lose their lives in the collapse of the
old building was due to two of the younger
occupants of the house having attended an
Italian celebration last night. The bows
reached home shortly before o'clock this
morning, and, warned by the severe shaking
and creaking of the house. ran through the
building and warned the sleeping tenants
OF impending disaster. Dozens of persons
ran into the streets in their night clothing
and many of them had scarcely gained the
street before the crash came. Five min
utes later scores of iremen We're at. work
tearing away at the piles of brick and
broken timber in hope that some of the
buried persons might be taken out alive
Over them tottered the remaining wall of
the Lafayette street extension, cracked in
two places, and threatening to fall on the
rescuers every moment
Torchino's Escape.
After few minutes tearing at the timber
and bricks the firemen heard low moan
and, in the dim $ght, saw a mans. hand
moving convulsivcly. One Of them caught