The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-09-22
IANN|NG cHASM SWALLOWS PEOPLE
LIKE PYGM|ES IN MOUTH Of A GIANT

i u \ uIh
sion preceded the cav !, has
not been confirmed. . ?
Hundreds of PEI = s rushed
from adjoining .,.ldings in
panic as the st1eI gave way.
Great clouds Of dust rolled up
and obscured sight Of the great
trench spreading from one
sidewalk to the other and in
the first rush, many Of these
tumbled into the pit.
Others made q mad rush
from the rear Of the buildings
fronting the hole, fearing that
they were about to collapse.
No workmen were known to
have been in the section Of the
tube that collapsed.
The cave-in, after the acci-
dent, looked like a great hole
into which timbers had been
thrown in utter confusion. The
whole underground working
had been braced with eight by
eight timbers and cross pieces
which gave the whole cave-in
the appearance Of debris.
/ One water main broke and a
small stream made a little
| pond in one part Of the caye-in,
but emergency men were soon
| on hand to prevent the threat.
lened flood. I
Fire companies for several
miles around in the down town
section were on the scene Of
the accident within a few min
utes. They threw ladders down
the steep sides Of the cave-in
and carried women, many Of
whom had tainted, to the
street. Several persons were
half buried by the collapse
and had to be dug out with
shovels.
SIX WE'RE KILLED OUTRIGHT.
NEW YORK, Sept. 22.-Swaliowed
UP in canyon which suddenly opened
IN Seventh avenue, six persons were
killed and upwards Of 200 seriously or
slightly Injured here, early today. The
collapse Of the street followed dyna-
mite blast touched off IN the new sub
way Under course Of construction.
A street car carrying seventy-eioht
men and women dropped into the
great hole. A brewery truck also
plunged down In the tangIe Of timbers,
steel and other debris.
The street disappeared from sight
for a distance Of almost two blocks.
The collapse extended from Twenty
third street almost to Twenty-fifth.
The great timbers supporting the
street flooring snapped under the force
Of the dynamite blast and the street.
carrying its burden Of traffic. foot and
vehicle, sank slowly from sight. The
police at II o'clock had accounted for
six dead Sixty persons were being
treated In hospitals and probably
hundred others were being treated in
temporary first aid stations establish
ed in nearby buildings.
The c$r most 6fs vvhoRA mas
sengers were women, was tefescoped
under the mass Of heavy timbers and
wreckage. Passengers were rescued
through windows, many Of them badly
crushed.
Seventh avenue at o'clock In the
morning Is busy thoroughfare, hun
dreds Of shop girls employed IN near
by clothing lofts, being on their way
to work. They were preelpitated into
the yawninu cf,asm and scrambled out,
screaming and terror stricken, with
only minor injuries. Two minutes
after the collapse Of almost two blocks
Of the street, the pit was veritable
Inferno Of screaming persons and
spIintering timbers. Police and fire
men reserves from every station IN
the city south Of Fifty-ninth street
were rushed to the seen. and ciubbed
back tne CROWDS IHat gdpeo nofFof-
stricken over the edges Of the huge
hole.
Three Bodies.
NEW YORK. Sept. 22-Three un-
identified bodies OF victims of the sub
way cave-in--one woman and two men
were taken to the West TwentietA
street police station at 9:35 o'clock.
The woman was about sixty-ffyc years
old and was dressed In black. She
had been crushed One OF the men
was subway worker and the other
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