Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-20
THEIR TOMB ON FIRE
Fifteen or More Buried by
Cave-In After Explosion.
TWO BODIES RECOVERED
One Was Man Who Lost Life Help
ing Woman to Safety.
FOUR ESCAPE BY A MIRACLE
Leaking Gas Takes Fire In Excava-
tion and Banks Fall Upon
Workmen.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star
NEW YORK. November 2O-At lea st
fifteen workmen and perhaps others
were buried under tons of earth and
timber shortly after $50 o'clock this
morning when terrific explosion in
a deep excavation near the corner of
Gold and Front streets. Brooklyn,
caused a cavern of the embankments
on either side. and brought down the
heavy bridge work that had been laid
for traffic in the street.
To those who arrived on the scene
shortly after the explosion it looked
as If all those who were buried were
probably killed. Two bodies were
taken out within five minutes. There
was heavy work ahead to get to the
men who were under the debris.
The explosion shook the neighbor-
hood for blocks around. Small wooden
buildings facing the excavation threaten
ed to fall. For this reason all the in
mates We're hurried to the street.
Fire followed the exlosion. 1t was
feared that those under the earth and
lumber who might have escaped death
from injuries or from suffocation would
die from burns
May Be Twenty Entombed.
The first estimates of those buried in
the cave-in had 1t that there were six
carpenters. the foreman of the job. whose
name was said to be Charles Schinemey-
er; a foreman from city department and
seven or eight Italian laborers.
Several pAssers-by. some of them wom-
en-. were carried over when the embank-
ments fell with the shock. 1t is believed
these were saved.
One man. however. who went to the
rescue Of . woman who was caught in
the landslide was himself burned to
death. After rescuing the woman he fell
back into the Names himself.
When he was taken out he was burned
almost beyond recognition. His neighbors
said he was Samuel Prout. whose home
was at Front and Gold streets.
Soon after Prout's body was taken out
that Of another man was dug up from
near the surface. 1t remained unidentified
for the time.
The known dead and some of the miss
ing follow:
Dead: John Prout and an unidentified
man.
Missing: Felix Green. Charles Nelson.
Jacques Aramondo, Christian Collins, Gus
Anderson. Emil Bachmon. Charles Far
reli. Gus Lane, Domenico Swino and
Charles Schiffemeyer.
Gas Leaks Through Night.
Gold street between Front and York
had been dug up so that a new trunk
line sewer might be laid. The excava-
tion made was about twenty feet deep
and the water pipes and gas mains had
been shored up. Although there was a
strong odor of gas in the neighborhood, it
did not seem to be any stronger than
that which usually follows such work.
Apparently. however. the gas pipes must
have leaked considerably during the
night. The gang of workmen went into
the excavation and under the heavy
wooden structure at the street level as
usual this morning.
They were working along as usual when
suddenly there came a great roar and
sheet of flames shot into the street. The
earth tremoied and the wooden houses
shook until their windows were shattered
Almost simultaneously with the eXplo-
sion there was another crash. 1t was
caused by the caving in of the earth on
both sides OF the excavation and the fall
ing of the heavy timbers that made up
the bridge at the street level.
The block is thickly populated. Several
persons were passing on the sidewalk at
the time. Some of these were caught in
the landslide and hurled toward the
flames from the gas that were still leap
ing high in the air.
Most of them scrambled back. A few
were unable 10 do SO. 1t was while
saving one of these, a woman, that Prout
lost his life.
School Children Frightened.
Just around the corner is st. AIMS
Parchial School. in which there were 800
pupils They had just about been seated
at their desks when the crash came. With
difficulty they were prevented from be-
coming panic stricken
Fire alarms and calls for ambulances
were sent out. Soon the fire apparatus
and several ambulances were at the
scene The street seemed all ablaze. for
the gas. coming in greater volume after
the main had been broken. was pouring
through the crevices in the earth that
the timbers made.
Chief Lally of the fire department. on
his arrival, sent out call for 100 trucks
and as many workmen as could be found
TO dig out the entombed men. Within a
short time Contractor Hohalon had a
score of teams there. Men were digging
into the earth while lines Of hose played
water on the flames around them.
Reports were many about persons VINO
were near the scene of the accident and
had not been seen after the explosion. 1t
was said that a woman and three children
were not accounted for.
Houses May Yet Fall.
Fifteen or twenty houses on the block
are in such danger of falling into the
trench that the occupants have been
moved out by the police. The most i'll
tense excitement prevails for blocks
around the scene of the accident. and the
streets are filed with wailing women and
children who have been unable to get any
word from relatives who were in the
vicinity when the explosion came.
Four men who were buried in the cave
in escaped by crawling through a sewer
which opens into the East river.
II required all the efforts of the police
TO keep the crowd back out of danger
and to keep them from interfering with
the frefnen and others who were endev-
oring to reach the imprisoned men.
The supporting timbers were ripped
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