The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-03-27
ms off charred portion of body as

& ms OH cEarred portion OF body n!
a corpse
The work Of the day shed no llgh,
upon the cause OF the blaze This prob
ably never will DO known. a spark
4 from the motor driving the sewing ms.
chimes shooting through the lint
charged air of the operating room to (:
four.inch carpet OF scraps on the floor
could easily have started a fire. but
Chief Croker was unwilling to say to.
might that III his opinion tho fire orisi.
mated this way.
Two hundred thousand persons filed
In a serpentino line to tho pier from
she opening Of the improvised morgue
at o'clock this morning until late
Tonight. Tens OF thousands impel!cd
~ the police.
Hundred Collins III Row.
Nearly 100 collins lay in n long row
opon tho pier. awaiting removal or
identification OF the charred bodies
they contained. Forty human forms.
50 burned. blackcncd and distorted that
they Viii never he recognized, lay coy
cred by white canvas In plain pine cof-
inns apart from those less horribly
ulangiod. Unless they are identified
~ trinkets ana iewclry found on their
blackened limbs. they will fiji sim
gle grave of unknown dead
A slsnet ring, found clinGing TO a
made identification possible where all
other means would have failed.
a man who had stood In line SIX
hours. wandered ainllessly among the
bodies. seeking his missing daughters
Until with a groan, he identified heap
Of charrcd clothing as their garments
lie collapsed and sought TO kill him
self. but tho police prevented him. and
lie continued the search for his wife,
also missing
a pale girl bent over a misshapcn
mass long and doubtingly. Then With
a final EFFORT, She sraspod {; hand which
protruded from beneath the canvas,
ana with 2 Shrek collapsed. The
blackencd mass, she sobbed. had been
her sweetheart, to whom she had be-
come engaged the night before the
disaster A. ring on his finger told
he! Of his identity. She asked If tho
dead man had had a watch. They
brought il TO her She opened it and
cazcd at her own features.
Women IIystcricnI.
Twenty Sicilian women became hys-
icrical AT once upon recognizing their
Kin Ia lie pine collins. a man whose
face was marked by scar OF namcs
found his brother among tho dead.
The Two had worked side by side pour
ing water upon the fire cutter
identihed his dead sweetheart by their
engagement ring and her purse 1t
contained her weeks wages. So The
bodies Of TWO sisters, horribly mangled.
cat propped up in their collins. while
sobbing brother left them TO search
for his aged mother who also had per-
shcd The fire had left him without
relative.
Picked UP by fireman on the eighth
hoor. a blackened hand still clenched
. pitiful purse in its grip. They pricd
the fingers away and released the bag.
1t contained a small sum OF money,
keys and receipt made out to a.
$ Cimmella
q young man found his sweetheart
aurned and blackencd, and fell across
the coffin in a faint.
Sobbing women became so hystcrical
that an improvised hospital ward was
lifted up on the pier manned by nurses
from Bellevue Hospital.
->ll day there rumbled a steady
stream Of dead wagons along the APP
proach 10 the pier, taking away those
who had been claimed. The air Went
stale With an odor of burnt ncsh, and
for q time the pier was cleared. Dur
ing the brief recess hcavy-eyed at
tendants rearranged the baskets or
personal effects belonging to the vic
tins. There was more than $4,000 in
cash III tie pockets and purses Of the
".au "o'''nii hao f'Vo III hef
ISas,,,,,,,
,rahs 49,, ~ .. nv ~ hun
80, 81. y nose s.stsi Moiheu
,o,y ;rn,,irsd ~ ~ ,or W. =, ~ az
iat st. Fincents Hospital She died be-
tween his visits, and he became so
violent that the police hau 10 restrain
lin. He and she had planned to vel
~ ~, So ,,l pa rom RUSSIA
~ me
said pistrict ,itorna go WI wv;
ESQ bistr'cl attorney Whitman TO-