New-York tribune., 1910-12-20

6remen. helped by the police. was de
voted 70 uncovering the dead and in
Oured.
At first It was thought that many wer.
buried IN the ruins of the power house
but it turned out that only six mer
were working there Two were killed
ind four We're seriously injured.
The body OF Charles Roberts OF No
2a< East SEA street. a shipping clerk a
The transfer station of the Adams Expire:
Company. at Madison avenue and 4stf
street, was dug out Of the pile Of wreck.
age in East 5oth street Roberts was or
Z his way TO work when the building fell
! On him
The body of Edith offner. t7venty-nin
years old, who was employed as Ste
! nographer in The Cosmopolitan Mag.
azine." was found wedged under the
fender Of the demolished Lexington ave-
nue. car The body was badly mangled
She was walking along the west side Of
1Axington avenue. On her way to work
close TO the centre Of the explosion. when
the full force Of it struck her and blew
her under the car
Thomas Sta<g. the watchnlan, who oc-
( cupied small Office in one end Of the
eub-station powerhouse, was literally
blown 10 pieces when the building was
destroyed. Y B Livermore. e transpor-
! cation inspector for the New York Gen.
Eel. was standing in the terminal yards
with Patrick Jordon. a lahorer, and both
were blown hundred feet or more from
where they stood and instantly killed.
E'wo men. who were standing near them,
Escaped with small injuries
Killed by Flying Beam.
C. MeMarro~. q member of the third
tzil gang working near the sub-sta.ion,
was killed by ;. nyins beam Several Of
his gang mates were badly injured BIZ
the debris which filled the air after the
Hxplosion. The body Of the Italian la
bcrer, Nicholi Geluchi. who was struck
down while a work in the sub-station
building, was dug out of the ruins.
As soon as the dead had been
enoked after and the scores Of injured
treated. Coroner. Holtzhauser and Fine
aran. helped by three Of the deputy as
eistants Of District Attorney Whitman S
etaH.- and the police, began sn investiga-
Non by examining score Of witnesses
at the East 51st street police station.
district Attorney Whitman end Fire
EonnHissioner Waldo had both previously
epent several hours at the scene Of .he
disaster. The Fire Commissioner and
khe New York Central officials conducted
an independent investigation during fhe
afternoon
After an investigation in the East 51st
etrset station First Deputy Police CON-
missioner Driscoll went with Assistant
District. Attorney Rubin ard Coroner
Eoltzhauser to the scene Of the accident
and conducted an examination on the
ground to verify the stories Of the wit
nesses. Two Police Department pllotog-
raphers and the official photographer of
the Corporation Counsel's Office went
Xith them 10 make pictures.
dr. DriscoH came out Of the excava-
tfon after half an hours work with
measuring sticks, and said:
we hevs satisfied ourselves tha: the
Pintsch gas main. The pipe was brok-
en- in backing in a train OF empties and
sparks from the third rail ignited the
gsS.
These tracks for the storage of cars"
CsHluissiener Drisco1l continued run
80 within about four feet Of the piers
that support the wrecked building, and
the bumpers are there. Four feet from
the outer side Of the piers there are four
tiers Of pipes. The top one is for water.
the next for steam, the third for air. and
tns bottom one. about two inches from
Che ground, is 3-incb gas pipe.
Motorn1sn Overran Bumper.
.When the enpties we're run in on
track No. 1s this morning. Which is the
Sourtf track from Lexington avenue, and
right in front Of the second pier Of the
Building. the motorman oyerran the
bumper and knocked it off 10 the left.
a pile Of lumber had been left between
3iae b1irnrer and the tiers of pipes. The
car crashed into this pile Of lumber and
Grove il back into the pipes, breaking
The gas pipe. You can see part OF the
Humber unaer the end Of the car now.
That happened at 1:53 o'clock. The
s4rotorman went out into the yard and
told the yardmaster about the accident.
ter that he thought pipe was broken
Nhe yardmaster says that nothing was
said about a broken pipe
Under the building there was the
1,ace where the yardmen gathered to re-
Eeive their instructions for the days
Nork. There was quite a crowd Of
4hern there at about that time. There
seems to have been nothing done to
warn the men or to have the gas turned
eft. The -.aotorrnan and the yardmaster
,nsy that they were walking back to see
about the accident and were about two
blocks away when the explosion oc-
eurreo.
I'VE think that sparks from the third
rzii isnited the gas. after it had been
6owins from the break for half an hour
fhe clock IL the firehouse stopped at
e-22 O'Clock and fixed the time OF the
explosion AT any rate, the gas seems
70 have filed the building, and when it