New-York tribune., 1912-01-14
Wrecker Tunnels to Point Where
William ]. Walsh Went Down
in Equitable Build 81
ing Ruins.
FIREMEN THEN FINISH JOB
Dead Mans Comrades Garry Him
from Place Where He Fought
Bravely Until the End
Contributions to Re-
lief Funds Grow. rt

James Lawrence Fogarty, OF No. 524
West ODD street, who labors early and
late for the Canavan Wrecking Company
with his two hands, dreamed on Friday
night that he had come across the body
OF Battalion Chief william ]. Walsh 10
the Equitable ruins Mr.. Fogarty's six
feet OF tired muscles and excellent pow
ers Of digestion don't permit him 10
dream often, so this particular dream
was the more impressive and vivid IL
1t he discovered the chiefs body buried
in part Of the huge pile of wreckage
resting on the third floor, a part which
he and his fellow wreckers had had or
ders to leave undisturbed as not only an
unpromising but dangerous place to
dig
Perhaps 1t was the gloom Of that BIT
| ter cold. chaotic interior where Fogarty
had been tOiing for three days that az.
fected his nerves and induced such A
vivid dream. At any rate, he could not
shake the impression of 1t from his
thoughts, and as he entered the cavern
Gus morgue yesterday morning TO begin
another days delving he determined TO
use his axe and crowbar In the spot IN
dicated by his dream, boss or no boss.
The rest Of the morning shift Of wreck
ers attacked the top of the pyramid OF
wreckage most OF which rested on the
third floor in the region of the main
staircase just to the rear Of the build
irg's centre, but some of which had over
aou,od 20 tba ba In tho oman cCIirf.
It was the strain from this pile which
Inspector Charles Judge, Of the Bureau
of Buildings, had feared might cause an
interior collapse and bury the 12O wreck
ers working under him. Though it was
supposed that Chief Walsh's body lay
at the base OF the pile on the third floor.
Mr.. Judge ordered his men to work from
the top down, to avoid any jar from the
settling Of the debris which might result
should they begin at the bottom
But Fogarty took a chance When the
foreman wasn't looking he lodged round
the corner q bit from the staircase and
got to work toward the rear OF the
tangled mass at least a story below the
top. II was at this spot that his dream
I told him the chief lay buried, and he
began clearing away the loose stuff first.
Foreman Unable to swerve Him.
| It wasn't long before the foreman dis
covered him burrowing there like an in
! dustrlous miner and roughly ordered
him to the top of the pile. He obeyed,
and made a trip or two to the windows
with baskets Of wreckage from that
point. But on returning he slipped un-
noticed again to that spot on the third
floor where he had already made an im-'
preston Again the foreman spied nm
there and cursed him out, but he didn't
bulge The foreman shied piece OK
brick at his head, and still the magnet
ism of his particular task held him 10
IT, He knew he was getting warm
for the details of his search fitted IN
with those Of his dream so well.
And then, as the foreman started for
him. the big wrecker swung his axe.
cut through a wooden obstruction ana
sank the blade into the arm OF a gray
rubber coat. moment, and he had
brushed the debris from the entire arm
Walshs left arm, which was EXTENDED
out straight from his crouching body
Fogarty yelled the news of his mud;
worked stopped, and inspectors, tore-
men and workers crowded to the spot.
But though the body had been dlscov-
cred the difficulty of extlicating II from
under its burden of iron beams, stone
blocks and tons of rubbish remained as
great as ever.
Mr. Judge quickly decided that TO PICK
all this wreckage off first would take 100
long He must take chance at tun-
nelling, particularly as his men hao
sbored I'D the weakened floors to such
an extent that the danger from an in-'
terror collapse had practically been re-
moved. So he had them bring planKs
and timber the hole as they proceeded,
much as miners timber horizontal smart
sunk into the side of mountain. IL
took them from 1870 o'clocN' when
Fogarty dug his axe into loose fold OF
the rubber clad arm. until 4:45 o'clock
to do the trick
Chief Walsh was last seen on Tuesdss
morning. when the fire was hottest On
the fourth floor near the stairway. Then
came the crash OF the roof and the nve
ton floors os the eight tory building,
which carried the stairways with II. ~
;s s,nposed that when the chief and rs
men received the warning TO get out
Walsh allowed his fighters to precede
him down the stairs. and was caught IN
the collapse just as he started from the
fourth TO the third floor on his way out.
Nearly All Bones Broken. =,
A steel II" beam struck him on the
back of the neck ard crushed him to
earth In a crouching position, partly
over on his right side. with his left arm
extended and his right pinned under
him. Another steel beam had landed
diagonaliy across his back, breaking
nearly all the bones In his body which
the other had failed to smash. And then
there Lad descended twenty perpendicu-
lar feet of wreckage, weighing tons and
tons, which jammed his helmet down
over his eyes His face didn't bear even
scratch.
,rhe finding of the body was reported
Immediately 20 Police Inspector Caha-
lane. who called Mrs. Walsh up at her
home. No. ITO 42d street Brooklyn, on
the telephone. Then he informed Cap
tain Frederick Mitchell U. s. A.,