The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1913-01-29
building COLLAPSE
EIGHT PEOPLE KILLED and FIf.
TEEN Are HURT
FLAMES ADD To HORROR

WHICH was DeuSely SEOWUSO OQF'
ing Big Bargain ssle, in Which
Were Many Women and Children,
The work of clearing away the
wreckage of the Cheeves Brothers
department store, which collapsed at
Mckinney, Texas, Thursday, was
abandoned at midnight. the search
ers being convinced there were no
more bodies in the ruins. mayor n.
A. Finch gave out a statement plac-
ing the dead at eight. Fifteen in
jured were recovered, six Of whom
were seriously hurt. The others
were only slightly injured.
The store had been crowded dur
ing the day by citizens and nearby
families Of farmers attending bar
gain sale. According to Vernie
Graves, the only person known to
have escaped uninjured from the
falling ruins, there were fully fifty
people in the building at the time Of
the catastrophe.
Cracking OF timbers and sway!ng
Of the building were quickly follow
ed by the collapse. Excitement at
tending the accident was increased
by the falling Of two-story build
ing adjoining the department store.
Rescue work was impeded by the
lack of mechanical facilities and
practically the entire male popula-
ton of Mckinney Joined IN fighting
the fire and searching the shoulder
ing ruins. News of tae disaster
spread quickly and incoming inter-
urban lines brought scores Of farm
ers, who joined in the WORK.
Many Of those in the ill-fated
building when the collapse came
were women and children. Their
cries spurred the rescue workers IN
their efforts to tear away the burn
ed and splintered timbers, behind
which the inmates of the building
were pinned.
Two persons reached by the res
cuers lived only a few minutes after
they were taken from the ruins. An
emergency hospital was hastily con-
structed in a nearby building and
physicians from all parts OF the town
rushed to the scene to. render medical
aid.
Two OF the dead were taken from
the debris alive, but died within an
hour at a sanitarium. One of these,
Mrs. Mary Stiff, pleaded with the
flremen working in the tangled mass
above her to kill her as the fire was
rapidly reaching her. She was
brought out barely alive. N. R. Pres
ley talked with the fireman as they
tore away the wreck, directed by the
sound Of his voice. He was dead
when they reached him.
L. W. Bush, a capitalist, OF Nc
Kinney, is believed to be among
those still pinioned beneath the
wreckage. Presley told those en-
deavoring to rescue him that Bush
was on the opposite side Of the coun-
ter from him when the building fell:
The building adjoining the
Cheeves Brothers establishment was
occupied by farm implement con-
cern. The collapse Of wall in the
implement house threw its weight
against the corner building, and,
with a noise that Jared the town co
it's foundations, both sank into ruins.
At the harsh cracking Of tlmoers,
clerks and customers alike broke for
the streets. Pressed outward BY the
weight Of the heavy stock, the wall
Of the implement store swayed, sag
ged and burst through into the de-
partment store, and in an instant
hundreds Of tons Of merchandise and
the wrecked and shattered building
material rained in a heap into the
department store, flying thirty-fVe
feet in the air. Jagged timber
stuck from the mass.
After a moment Of stunned activity,
hundreds of rescuers pitched into
the ruins. Scarcely had they mount
ed the heap when tongues OF fame
burst through It. From all over the
city came workers and were formed
into relays by Mayor Finch. AS one
shift became exhausted another took
it's place. From the steartng ruin
bricks were hurled aside, timbers
torn out and cast into the streets
and human forms lifted from the
wreckage and hurried to hospitals.
The fire was extinguished In an
hour, but sometimes the flames
brought the volunteer ire-fghters tc
the victims, who prayed for their res
cuers to hurry. N. R. Presley, a
clerk, was one Of these. In Inter
rupted gasps he told the fremen thai
he was waiting on Leslie Bush, an
Allen, Tex, capitalist, when the
crash came.
Then Presley begged:
kill me, or give me gun 50
can kill myself. I'm burning. MY
right foot IS burning off,"
| A few minutes later, when the res
cuers reached him, Presley was
dead. His right foot was burned t
| a crisp.