The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-01-10
Especial from United Press.)


 New York, Jan. 10.--Firennen. to- day. continued pouring great streams of water on the srnouldering ruins of the ioe- encrusted Equitable building. e1ideavnring to effect an entrance To search for the body of Battalion Grief William K Walsh, and others who are believed to be dead in the struc- tiIre-
 To guard the enormous amount of wealth piled up in the vaults of the wrecked building, Police Commission CT Waldo, today, assigned 75 pain b duty in the vicinity. They, will guard the vaults
 Because Of the great crowds flock ing to the scene, the police fear crooks may penetrate into the financial dis trfct below the dead line" and. to- day. warned all bankers and brokers papers through the streats except un- der guard. This had the effect Of further paralyzing business in Wall street. where messenger boys and DOT ters are usually. sent out with cash and securities every time it is neces- sary.
 bitter, wind, financiers and brokers stood ,impatiently waiting for a chance to pehetrate to the big vaults of the and the Mercantile Safe Deposit Com pany. where money. securities ana Jewels to the value of two billion dol
 TheFs is rrave danger. today, that the massive walls of the wrecked building. now thoroughly watersoak- the force of expending ice-a force 7wreckerg declare to be more power full than that of high explosives.
 Although the billion or more doI-1 lars worth of securities in the Mer- cantile vaults are beIieved to. be per 1sctly safe. Deputy Ere Cnlst Sonn a that the old fashioned brick vaults containing securities and money 10 the certified value ot 9 % saag to S,-' biscss isds's in the fan and permitting the total dsstruc5,on @ oI t,,S Tnelr slGr E, the haseHnent of the building in the vicinity of the vaults of the Mercan- l5elie4ea that the heat will injure the contents of the vaults.
 Even If. the vaults of the Equitable two or three weeks before they or the vaults of the Mercantile can be opened, the intense heat making 1t unsafe. The body of Conrad SeiberB killed in the basement of the Mer- cant1le, is buried. today, in a solid sheet Of ice. go feet deep; Up to last seen through the ice, stretched ap- pealtngly toward the bars through which President William GlDln or the Mercantile had been dragged to safe <The building, today, is an almost solid mass of ice. which, the nrenen | nseFf The weight oE this ice threat 1 ems to hurl the weakened floors into the basement and streets. The force | of the Ice has already bulged the walls facing Broadway and when the ice begins to thaw, the walls will slip ] back into place. setting up vabra- them down In that event, it is fear ed the weight will crush through the I-R c d. cipItated into the subway beneath.
 All night long, under a dozen searchliehtz. hTenen dug into the Walsh. Though they took their lives | in their hands, the men refused to | stop. It will probably be several days 1
 The gravest anxiety is felt in Wall | street. today, that the vast wealth | contained in the vaults of the Equita- ble Life, on the second floor of the | building, may be destroyed.
 The vaults in the building. erected | 11asny ysaEs ago' are ,t known 11as, aS the t Hld modern vaults of steel. they are of | brick They consist Of a, brick vault vening air space. The interior vault | has a steel lining While they are | fire proof, firemen say that if they 1 are subjected to the weight of falling | floors they will fall to pieces. In that | event. according to Deputy Chief | Binng, in charge of the. fire, this
 
 the nine hundred million worth of se- ct1rities might be destroyed.
 It is pointed out, of course, that a | large part of this great wealth is in | stocks and bonds and other securi- | ties The money in the vaults could f not bs replaced. if burned, although | many of the valuable papers could.
 A great cake of solid ice covers the | vaults. holding the heat inside of l them, as an Esduino's Ice hut retains | It's interior heat For this reason, Binns thinks, it will be even longer | than usual before the air inside the | vaults has been sufficiently cooled to | Eerder it safe to open their doors. pAny are in no danger of breaking up, | even if the building does collapse, because they are in the basement The | windows around them are covered by
 Conservative fnanciers declared. to- day, that there was more than billion dollars in securities and money in the until such time as is safe to open
 The Equitable Life had 5000. GOO ln cash 1, in its vsglt da the neo Mercantile mont, Read and Kountz banks also having millions in actual cash on hand.
 The Canavan wrecking Company, last night, placed $50 workmen in the Equitable Building, attempting to clear away some of the debris from tfa vaults and to shore up the totter inE walls so the vaults would not fall. They were ordered from the building by the fremen, who feared their lives were in danger. The weight on each as tons of water are poured upon Ii them, freezing as soon as it strikes This weight may cause them to fall any moment.
 Every fireman in the department. today speaks reverently of Battalion u