davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The evening world., 1910-12-19

TO st. Johns Church In FIfty-nfth
street, and st. Agnes's In Forty-third
street that all priests be sent INTO the
shaken district.
From the Cathedral Mgr. LAvelle
led a squad of his assistants. A few
minutes later. behind every group OF
workers up and down Lexington ave-
nue. stood a priest ready to bend over
the body of the victim as soon as he
was reached. Several OF them came
10 the station house, and while ono
or two were within. murmuring COM
tort and absoluton to the worst in
1ured victims. others went out into
the street and helped the few avail
able policemen calm the gr.ef-crazed
moo which surged outside. parted
every moment by the galloping rush
OF an ambulance or the footing of
Warren's providential automobile.
Injured Give Way to Dead.
When tho direct trips of the AM
balances to the hospitals were over
the Injured and dying in the station
house were removed to the hospitals.
The last of the injured was carried
out just as the first body was brought
IN. Patrol wagons were used for the
dead. who were laid in rows on the
floor. which had been vacated by the
injured.
h shocking condition of the dead
affected the clamoring hundreds who
were waiting for news OF persons sup
posed to " been hurt so that many
tainted and others went into parox-
ysms OF grief and horror.
Scene In Trolley Car.
Father McQuade was at breakfast
with several other priests In the clergy
house at the Cathedral when the shock
rocked the table before them.
Il am a better runner than most OF
my brothers," said Father McQuade
and distanced them 10 Lexington ave-
nue. ran at once to the wreck o.
the trolley car. When / got there there
was only one man in the car. He wa,
a policeman. and seemed to me to bs
dead. There were eight or nine women
Two were dead.
"One was Miss Mary B.. Pope, 8
teacher in Miss Chapin's private schoo
In East Fifty-eighth street. A splinte,
OF wood had entered her car. Il
scanned to me that II was not deepl,
Embedded and that II II were taken GU
she might become conscious 80 that
would he justified In administering tn,
last rites OF tho Church. But che wa,
quite dead. The splinter had rome deer
into her brain.
with fireman Leahy ! turned 10 de-
what I could for those who were in,
Jured."
The evening world., 1910-12-19
GIRL BLOWN ALIVE FROM WRECK.

Oh tn. sidewalk IA a derby hat broken in the crow and with a red smear
ION II. and Just above sticking down from thu sa@ginE ceiling. W as a twisted
chandelier to which still chung a sGap Of nsei. evidently a bit of Christmas
decoration. 1t vas sId that a youn GIRL a clerk in tht store. had escaped with
her life 1t didn't seem possible.
Seyenty-hve feet up Lexington avenue past thu corner. were the fronts Of a
lot OF ysloww ooden drawers, nm with metal handles on hem nd fag ments
of pastea labels tm adhrngt to their painted surfaces They looked like pieces
of drawers from a drug store. IN ct here "a no dug store nearer at hand
than a block away.
The twisted metal rod II n nbrena, With the handle intact. ut the ribs
gone, was bent at ar angle into q window jamb OF tho Chndrens Hospital at
Fifty -nrst street The front of an antique dealers shop between Fiuy-hrst
and Fiftysecord streets was entirely gone but a big Oriental rug that had
drew Tho eds of the rus out an pinned It down m so made a closed front to
protect his goods.
Dazed men n women. mostly theological students and future missionaries
we're still coming M of the Bible Teacher School, Just back Of the FIRE house
The explosion had caught them as they left the breakfast table, ana while nne
was badly hurt hardly m of them had escaped injury from whizztns needles
Of brohn glass an voneys of small debris Many were holding table napkins
to their bleeding aces. They stumbled ovs the wrthtns lines o rubber IRE
hose. splashed in tho puddle- and made their al southwark in a stream
The police opened the lines to let them through. and closedt them u . again a
the lasto of Inc procession passed.
There ws tremendous confusion II this time One police omcial would order
A lengthening II the FIRE lines nd another higher In authority would come
along a moment later and issue contrary Instructions, so tina the policemen
there seemed to be hundreds OF them-woudnt know what to "a. But the nre-
men. with Chief Croker TO hos them. we're keeping their ends better. Under
intelligent leadership they were fighting he Intermittent fires that constantly
broke nut nd shifting he wresckase In the hunt for more bodies.
The evening world., 1910-12-19
DEBRIS FL ING HIGH
AS CATHEDRAL SPIRE.
MRS. SA Us.

DR.. George +. Shrady lives In a hig
house at the northeast corner OF Fifty
first street and Lexington e Mrs.
Shrady to-day ave the following &C.
count Of the explosion:
II was IN the breakfast room when
suddenly there was a roar like the
olamor OF a battle. The house seemed
to rise from ITS foundations ard settle
back with a jar. Every window In the
house was broken: some were blown in,
some out.
The shock OF the conclusion was
stunning. | ran to a window and
looked out. A great mass OF debris
was rising and spreading, 1t ascended
to the height OF the twin spires OF ST,
PatTck's Cathedral. The abr was lit
orally laden with mud, dust. plaster
splinters and objects OF every con.
ceivab!e description"
The evening world., 1910-12-19

tie nd of he world had come That wa my nst thousht-that it "a the end
All about were tail houses with their fronts buised FAR nut of plumb. The
walls lear to the roofsw where was rapidly drying in tn warm winter sun
fame aust have extended upward md outward in q faniks spread. for even
n hundred feet way wooden doorambs and window sashes were scared black,
and in some instances crumbhng into charcoal
You could hardly make you way about the street for he broken glass n
the debris Pieces Of planking ter and twelve feet long n spnntred into
javenns were lying crsscross everywhere There were crunped sections Of
galvanized metal roofing rafting undsrfoot Across Firieth street thu house
brick work. '
Acros Lexington venue stood h crumpld and shaken quarters OF Hook
and Ladder Company o. . Three ions sticks II rafter. travelling together
the dormtory o m the second floor The end. proruded W the Uttered side
walk like pins stuck In pasteboard. 3 tightly were hey wedEed that two
strong men. showing from M inside. ouh not bulge them.
Just below this spot stood An utonobn that hd been crushed init was
a twisted mass o. metal and leather and rubber. jstb beyond that in turn
was he ruin OF tho stree cr where four victims met their DEATH. The roof
of the car ws dentd down lat am thu side were literally tono t' but thu
trucks stood upright and strangely enough. the whees wrs su fiat and
plumb upon the raik, -
There vas a ROY about tn In o an men were underneath It,. Juggling at
something. One OF the workers thought he had. found q body inside Hen finally
bearing two womens coats. three women's hat n a umbrella.
These he had found wadded tightly together under a seat How they came there
nobody coud guess.
There had been unit this morning n little candy shop or the ground floor
OF a house in Fifheh street directly facing the power house Wing. OF this shop
literally nothing "a left $ we'll Is one might Judge from tn BOX OF things
here. the contents had fir been blown o powder and pastered against the back
wall and hen wiped of again.. ~ by a tremendou suction pump. n tossed nut
into tn street through thu gaping hole wheret the door and tn single window
had been. ' .'
The evening world., 1910-12-19
JERSEY TROLLEY MEN RAISED
$500 MOtOrmen ana Conductors ~
Get q Cent an Hour More.

The Public Service Railway Company
of Newark, which practically controls
all the trolley lines in New Jersey, has
announced an increase of wages which
Affects $500 motonm and conductors.
900 a year.
At present the wages scale OF the
company for platform men Is q cents
per hour for first year men, ,! cents
for second year men, % cents for third
year men TO tenth year men and ~
cents for those who have been In the
company's employ more than ten years,
Each class viii be increased one cent
an hour.
The evening world., 1910-12-19

dozen newly landed Italians under the clustered leadership Of a priest In a nat
shoulders nd the tai of the immigration office on their coats They had eH-
IDENTIFY landed from a train somewhere Inside the fire line snd through a mis-
take had been nut MT into the street n steerod into thu zone of thu disaster
They wandered around bewtdered for nearly twenty minutes before a couple
OF policemen took hem in tw and heNed hem bads to the Grand Central
station.
Through the noises OF falHng bhck and hoarse commands m changing bells
n tho banshee-hke bleaung OF the fire. ngnes hundreds of wild stories Of
escapes and deaths were eng shouted, A policeman had had his ardrums blown
out ad vas left stone deaf A wouans head had been taken N by a bolt
wuSI that camo through a window were N was stung. All the babies In
one II the hospitals hat abound IN the ncghborhood had been blown ut Of
their Grill. Any sort OF tale found creience n a active circulating medium.
An acrd smel compounded of sroke-rcek n nae faint of used metal and
tons of floating dust poisoned the ar for blocks arodnd. That smell helped to
give u kcyrote to the whale pcture-th0; and tho look of azed intensity on the
faces in he windows Of hose who lad survived the horror
The evening world., 1910-12-19
WALLS BULGED ALONG AVENUE.

Nearing h corner where The expo.ion occurred, the evidences of the mighty
Gree OF the crash multiplied increasingly. Huge boards of the temporary side
walks IN the eastern sde of the avenue hankng the railroad excavations were
lifted bodily and stood up in, tue dir with the long steel spikes stucko out OF
their ends The broken glass was so thick hat It made a thick covering under
foot Into which ones feet mi over thc sds of the Shoes
Tradesbeope were trying with a sort oil feeble energy to drape torn down
dowa Walls wr buiged, some Inward n some outward. And always In the
When you can sinof full sight of the building wf,re te explosives were Sc,
OF II vas hard at hrt glance 10 realize that It had over been a building At Nj
x part OF the back wall stood jagged and broken aons the TOP nd swaying
as II ready % TALL backward fnot he ut below. where trains we're parked.
The side toward the avenue "a sone-no a bit of IT loft Where tie front
had been vas 3sta sloping wall OF broken brick. with a twisted, naked network
OF steel rafters Hng along the SLOPE, n through nnumerablo crcvices small
columns of moke were gushing. so that viewed ron the FRieh streets e the
ruin hd h look of a echarcoal burners kiln. To he westward, unsrarred
and undamased. reared tn tall sides of The powerhou. proper with its norm.
Out twin stacks standing high In the air.
o. Quit stand at the Lexington venue end M look through the she'll
o. III wrecked living from mi to nd. All it's fitting were ripped away ,IDv.
1t was Is empty n hollow a a shened pea pod o.. the rind of a wen.cmned
watermelon. he false flooring upon which II had stood a sunken to an anwle
81 twenty degrees n the giriers below were pressing upon the crushed roofs,
Down below there "A a nghmare tumble OF wreckage, so nrwoyc and
twisted I'M distorted OUT OF II original semblance that the eye could pick ot
no detail 1t was a maniac mhx-up. Ends of broken pipes. twisted ANA bent
roefr from the surface like snakes Orders were tied into knots Torn.put .rJs
Of cars proruded their spintored ends pankns upward. in chevaux lie frse
There was a rough suggestion Of barrcadca and brcastwork along TN. ades
wherelb brick m mortar m VOC m metal had been piled up in vindrows n,
the ground well from the exploding force. Viewed from the street leyel s,y
fets above. the figures oft the nremen ana laboers. half hidden as thew ro
by dust. N wrapped in smoke, seened unreal even umder The dszzuny sn
shine.
The evening world., 1910-12-19
GLASS STREWS CHILDREN
IN NURSERY; NOT ONE HURT
Ceilings Fall and Doors BioWn Down in ChMd!s
Hospital but None of the $50
Babies Are Hit,

There were 80 children in the New
York Nursery and Child's Hospital at
Fifty-flrst street and Lexington avenue.
but not one OF them was hurt. although
glass and plaster fell all about them.
The children were gathered in the
nursery on the second noor AT the time
of the explosion. There were 100 adults
In the house. nifty OF them being moth
ers. the others nurses and employees.
The nurses were having breakfast on
the first hoor when the building shook.
Windows fell out and doors were
wrenched from their fastenlngs. while
parts OF partitions were torn OF. The
nurses. headed by the Superintendent.
Miss Hunt, and Estellc Dixon, her as
The evening world., 1910-12-19
Window Blown In on a Patient in Dentists
Ch~air-Shoe Wrenched From Hand
of a Cobblcr.

bartender unconscious on the floor be-
hind the bar. lie had dropped o
shock and was unhurt.
Peter Schwanz, a cobbler. was sitting
nj . bench in the shoe store OF No.
400 Lexington avenuc working on a wo-
msn.s shoe. The shoe was piown out
of !hfp hand across the shop and through
a back window. He was unf1urt except
for siivers Of gisss.
Anss Mary Moore. proprietor OF a
laundry at No. COL Lexington avenue.
when sbe came to the place found the
fron knocked in. But II wa apparent
that iittie Tommy O'Connell, her de-
livery boy. had opened the store before
the explosion. There was no sign OF
him. She sent word to his parents that
he was either lead or hurt In looking
over the damage she opened a clothes
press at the back of the shop. Tommy
was init on the floor, whimpering gent
,y. lie said he thought It was the end
OF the world and that the devil would
not find him there az quick as out in
front. He had been waiting an hour.
George Burnett Of No. 5i7 Lexington
avenue told Of seeing a woman seventy
years old staggering up the avenue
through the dust n smokc carrying
a full grown girl bigger than herself.
The mother instinct n apparently
surged UP In the aged woman's heart
and had made her forget that the girl
was grown.
Within half an. hour after the ex-
plosion 'glass-put-in' mon. began to
BY noon there were a couple OF dozen
enterprlsing glaciers measuring n put
ting In windows n others we're ar
irving in wagons. In street cars and
on loot.
The glaciers found plenty ~ work 10
The evening world., 1910-12-19
LANTERNNEAR WRECK
OF GAS PIPE GIVES
NE w CL UE.

Fire Marshal Kelly and Assistant Fire
Marshal Kilgallon. investigating the
w%reckage his afternoon. picked up a
smashed lantern within three feet Of
the buffer around which the force Of
the explosion was spent. The wick OF
the lantern and the oil supply Indicated
that 1t had been used within a short
time.
Officials of the railroad had assured
the Fire Marshal that no lighted an
tern was carried around the wreck Of
the buffer after the gas pipe was broken.
The lantern was taken to Fire Head
quarters to be used as evidence.
The evening world., 1910-12-19

do: In fact they had more Jobs offered
tina they could accomplish. They hired
small boys to buy Rlas and putty at
stores In Third avenue and made their
W prices to property owners and
other sufferers.
The front door OF the house at No.
10 East Forty ninth street. occupied by
j. ii. Wynn n a block away, was
blown on It's hinges by the force of the
explosion. In the upper rooms ceilings
were Knocked down. A. J. johnson was
asleep on one of the upper floors. His
feet and legs were cut by glass from a
window.
William Grace has an antique shop
Mt No. 5l9 Lexington avenue. Not only
were his windows blown In, but the
glass prisms were blown from the chan
deliers and sconces hanging from the
ceilings and walls.
John Thomas. n man OF advanced age.
eating breakfast with his daughter,
Mrs. James =. Shea, at No. $50 Licking
ton avenue. received full In the face the
coffee pot from which Mrs. Shea. on
the other side OF the table. was nlllng
his cup. Mrs. shea was blown out of
her chair.
Miss Catherine Crews, a student in
the Bible Tea cheers Institute. was comb
ing her hair In front of a mirror In her
room on the fifth floor. The shock of
the explosion blew In the window and
broke the mirror. An open Bible on the
dresser was thrown TO the floor. Nearly
all the doc In the Bible Teachers
Training School were blown OFF their
hinges.
Walter Taylor, a dealer in parquet
floors. who was at his desk in his store
at No. 800 Lexington avenue. says that
the shock knocked over his chair and
himself n stretched lin nat on the
The evening world., 1910-12-19

thing took hold of me and tossed me Ike
a chip"
Witnesses OF the scenes attending the
destruction Of the trolley car say tina
Kelly. despite his broken leg, worked like
a wild man at the wreckage until me
tainted. Deputy Police Commission, r
DriScoll visited the wounded policcman
Mt the hospital and ordered that he GO;
the best possible surgical attention, We
though 1t should be necessary TO call VI
outside professional skill. Kelly's wife
was sent for and was at his bedside
when no regained consciousness.
Although he IL badly hurt he has =
good constitution and a lot of grit, and
these factors may pull him through.
The evening world., 1910-12-19

Taft to-day relative 10 the reappoint-
ment OF William J. Youngs as United
States District Attorney for the eastern
district OF New York, Mr., Youngs is a
close personal friend OF Col. Roosevelt.
He has been In once for two terms. and
It was said to-day that he would be
named again by President Taft.
The evening world., 1910-12-19
ODD INCIDENTS DUE TO THE PONERHOUSE WRECK

Queer things happened 10 nearly
crerybody tr!thin a mite Of the err
piosion. Human nature ioorked It.
SELF oHt IN odd ,UdDs. Here are q
fcD Of the incidents ,9hich couoht
ths oft sntion Of The Eusriro World
reporters!
The students OF the Bible Teachers
Training School across the street from
the sub-station were at breakfast In
the ground floor dining room. Every
window was blown against the backs
and faces of the students at the row OF
tables nearest the street. The students
on the other side Of the room staggered
to their feet and first realized the dan
ger OF tho others BY seeing the table
linen all along the stricken table turn
Ing red before their eyes. There was
a rush TO bandage the hundreds Of cuts
and scratches and then those who were
not hurt went out to help the victims
who were imprisoned in the ar.
The operating chair OF Dr. Pimento,
a dentist OF 10. I1s West Forty seventh
street. Is on The Lexington avenue eide
OF his apartment. He had a patient In
the chair and was preparing to remove
a tooth.
STEADY" he said to the patient. at
Min only be a second"
He reached for the tooth with the
forceps. Just then the window-sash.
glass and all came in. Splinters OF
glass stuck up In the patients face.
Or. Plmenta pulled them out despite the
patients struggles. But when the
patients face was clear OF glass he
pulled his hat from under the debris
and firmly and hastily walked out. HIS
tooth didn't hurt any more he said.
Fred sturh. the proprietor Of a saloon
At No. AZ Lexington avenue. had just
started his two little boys for the public
school opposite the wrecked power
house. He was not dressed. The shock
knocked him down. lie thrust his legs
into his trousers and. In his nightshirt,
with his feet bare. a out into the
street and found the boys. unhurt. When
he returned to the saloon he found his
The evening world., 1910-12-19
AT THE SCENE Of DEATH
AND HAVOC IMMEDIATELY
AFTER THE EXPLOSION
Victims and Wreckage Strewn Along
Streets Between Mud-Spattered,
Windowless, Bullying Walls
Rescue Corps Fights Crowd.

The writer Of this n Evening World reporter. reached the corner OF Fueh
street IN Lexington avenue a very few minutes afer he explosion occurred
Coming nut oil the subway at the Grand Central station you would never
have guessed that anything out OF the ordinary had been happening less than
half n mile away. The eddying tides otc city NE flowed on N oasingiy. hut the
moment yu swung around the corner into Lexington avenue on began to ind
Yourself within the zne of disaster
s~minrly he main volume Of the explosion rad been confined to the .tIp
running north n south along the rocky backbone of Manhattan Island. For
e-s III Ind suMnHl
The evening world., 1910-12-19
wREcKAGE sTREwN HALF A MILE.

As far south as Fortysecond street the sidewalks were Uttered with the
spuntered fragments of blown " window glass and the sides Of houses wue
cru,ted with drying street mud, like the walls Of a Mississippi River levss town
after the spring rise has subsidized. The air " as camorpus' witt the shfsks oil
ne engines and he ringing of anbulanc bells. Paoons of policemen seat from
far way precincts were marching ~ thc siushy centre of lexington avelne 4.
military formation. Ever tme the outlying skrnish posts of III pnt< lines
opened to lets newly arriving squad Of reserves throush here wal "A ruh from
III ROY massed without to get in.
The first survivor the writer ,aw-auyway he supp~ss she was n survivor
face She was running down the middle of tn sloppy road obnvous of the
fire apparatus. the patrol wagons and the other city vehicles hat changed
past her She ran into a drug store am begged a clerk to ret somebody or
oher on the telephone N tell that her mother had beer hurt. A. he gay
certain m which could not be heard she collapsed N a faint a lnle knot
Of people stood about her staring stupidity at the liner ngur lying on the
noor
A motor ambulance swung into position alongside III de entrance to the
emporary ernina Of the Central lines at Forty sixth street Almost before Al
matted W policemen. a station hand nm a reman showed heir val through
The swinging doors bearing a strct,her on which "A laid = still figure. covered
with a gry hospital blanket This victim must have been live, for there was
- lifted INTO the back nd OF h wagon. ..
The evening world., 1910-12-19
VISTA OF WRECKAGE.

f,om t' point up tn avenue was me lons vista o wrskas all t~htytx
nutsy 10 the horror of Inc thing There vas scarcely whole PAM OF window
glass to Pc seer. Nous. after house showed the window casinos hollow and
Empty, like ~ Iocke In skulls Women with hawls wrapped around their
heads stood In these window openings looking out with . sort of stunned, dazed
hxty. The human keynote Oft he picture seemed to be bsnumhGnent
All along h way men and women IN children were squatted down or tho
edge OF thc sidewalk Most of them we're holding their hands to their heads
A couple OF ambulance urgeons In white Jackets ran from figure Il figure
quickly examining each OF these persons Mainly they were suffering from
shock d nothing more. for at a word from some M in authority they would
set - Nint. * automatons run by cioekwok and join h procession afoot
that went southwark between h double lines OF vehicles speeding the other
wsy. Many of them staggered.