New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-09-23

material, for they used plenty Of 1t
Of sufficient weight
Mr.. RidgwAy then made the state
rnent. which seemed 70 set at nRugh'
the value of rigid inspection elsewheTe
10 prevent another disaster, that u
there were any defects in the construc-
ton they had not been visible 10 eN-
perts. He said the commissions eN-
perts had been about the works daily.
and many eminent engineers from 9th
er places. studying subway building
here, had gone over them and nonv
had noticed any flaws.
Engineers representing all ohciai
interested in the situation were KEEP
on the task all night watching the WORK
Of clearing the excavation 10 help them
reach an opinion as 20 The cause. IN
der the electric lights steam cranes
were busy graphing the great pieces
of wreckage and haisting them, while
running derrick on 8 cable stretched
on shears reaching from end 20 end
81 the 400-foot hole carried out great
loads OF debris.
Checking the Workmen
In order 70 help IN the work Of de
'ermining the number OF deaths me
police received list Of Che hundred
and more laborers employed IN The ex-
cqvation. At late hour they reported
that a canvas Of their homes revealed
that all but one was accounted for.
Broken gas and water mains, which
we're dragged apart by the slide. shut
hundreds Of from their supply. The
result was that they had 20 bring water
In pals from surrounding parts OF the
city. and revert 20 candles for illumina-
tion.
The police were having hard night
~ keep TIE crowds back from the edge
81 the abyss, but when the sidewalk at
1wentv-ffth Street suddenly gave way,
here was & panic that sent the people
-camperinC away.
Commissioner Hayward Of the Public
Service Commission, spent the night al
the scene Of the accident. 1T IS prcty
hard 70 fix the blame" he said, put
he commission will do everything II
can 10 run down the persons response
bic for the catastrophe.
Blast Started Trouble, All Agree.
Although no one whose opinion
counted had been able TO form def
mite opinion last night as 10 just what
or who WAS 70 blame for the cave-ln'
those who were making the various
technical Investigations were agreed
that a blast which was tred al four
minutes 10 3 o'clock started the trouble.
at sprung the trigger was the way
Robert Ridgeway. engineer in charge
Of subway construction for the Pubic
Service Commission, put H.
This blast. which persons living on
the line Of work agreed did not seem
% them out Of the ordinary, was set on
against the face Of the underground
cut. almost Immediately below the
southeast corner of Seventh Avenue
and Twentv-ffth Street. North Of this
point is the solid rock formation into I.
which the cut is being driven. South .
for a block and a half back. or 10 the /
middle Of the block between Twenty /
third and Twenty-fourth streets, eX- ,
tends the section in which the excavs-
ton has beer completed, the tunnel be
ing shored up with q massive tempo
rsrv construction Of 12Xl2-lnch TIM
bers and steel girders.
Midway between Twenty-third and
streets begins the
stretch in which this temporary con-
struction is in process Of being re- .
placed by the permanent steel and con-
crete construction. Exactly what hap /
pened. that is, in its smallest details,
when the blast went of, is the mystery. .
Big Timbers Give Way.
The big fact is that the temporary .
timbers began 70 shake and crash, and .
finally TO give way entirely. The shock .
ran with gathering noise and momen- /
tum back through the length of the /
temporary construction, until in less T
than minute, according to the esti-
mate Of eycWitnesses. the whole Of
that section had crumbled up and
dropped into the earth.
Where q moment before had been
level board road. with a street car
standing at one point, a big keg-laden .
brewery truck at another
and many persons walking without APP .
prehension TO their work, there gaped .
a great chasm in the middle Of one of .
New YOrk's busiest thoroughfares. 400 .
feet long, 70 feet wide and 30 feet deep.
The apparently solid street had
turned TO giant matchwood. and in the
midst Of the chaos the human beings
who had been engulfed began 10 move
and finally those VINO still could to
fight frantically to climb out But sheer
walls surrounded them, and they strug
gled in vain.
The street car, which contained about
thirty passengers lay in the bottom of
the hole, crushed fat 10 one side, as
though mammoth foot had stepped
on il. But almost beyond belief, only