New-York tribune., 1916-07-14

Cs,es Avenue station. Az the same
tImo Borough President Pounds tele-
nboned 10 Thomas Lineburgh, super
intendent OF Highways OF Brooklyn,
and Mr.. Lineburgh ordered out 10Y OF
his men Immediately and appealed 10
the y. r. T. for help 20 cart away
the debris. ,.h
The transit company Responded WIN
half a dozen fiat cars. Fire Commis..
sioner Adamson ordered the ehorts OF
IN. 500 men working at the debris 70
No concentrated on the part of tne
wrecksge sustained by the wall OF the
adjoining building.
1T is Just possible that a hollow
has formed there" he shouted to Mr;
Lineburgh. "Thcy may be buried
Tbrouah the crowd flashed the
words aburied alive" The fremen
frantically pulled away the great
beams that had been chopped in half'
They came across the skeleton OF an
iron tank. twisted, the cover shot out.
Tbe ammonia fumes drove them awaY
They came up 10 the street SURFACE,
casninp. A relief squad was sent
down. and that, too, clamored for
fresh air in few moments;
detachment Of helneted hremen
rushed into the clear space and dug
with their fingers. Finally, after. an
hour OF furnishing work, one OF them
staggered up the ladder. motioned ior
his helmet 10 be removed, and weakly
announced that he had seen three
bodies.
Blown Through Car Window.
Meanwhile the highway superin-
tendent's me. were loading the nat
cars. The huge mound of brick, beams,
plaster and iron diminished slowly.
The spectators turned their attention
to the occupants of the street car Tor
a few minutes. S. Gerber. thirty-hve
years DID,, of 80 Sumner Avenue, SAID
he had been blown through window.
"T was standing IN the car as we
came 10 the corner" he said: Il heard
a terrific roar. The next | knew some
people were picking me up on the other
side of the street"
Ambulances from the Bushwick and
Swedish Hospitals we're sent 70 the
scene of the disaster Miss Juanita
Seebert. of 274 Macdonough Street
school teacher, was attended for cuts
and went home. o. II. Tame, OF AZ
Rivington Street; Miss Irene Bauman,
Miss Ida Unger, of % Ellery Street;
Joseph Pernice and Peter j. Glllen,
fireman attached TO Engine Company
III. were also treated. Gillen re-
NAMED on duty.
The Rev. Father Moran and the Rev.
Fathers J. J. Wood and Christopher
Malloy. from the Church of Our Lady
of Victory, in Throop Avenue, were
waiting near by. Chaplain Harry Han
del. of the Fire Department, reached
the scene five minutes after the ex-
plosion. He did not leave until 9
o'clock at night.
Sandwiches for Firemen.
Late in the afternoon it began tc
rain. The rescue squads were stlll
digging into the twisted mass. At
o'clock they could almost extract three
of the bodies. Fire Chief Lally or
dered those of his men not working
to partake Of the bounty Of the Home
Defence League, which had bought up
all the sandwiches in the neighbor-
hood and made gallons of lemonade
and coffee for the men.
"We've got them!" came the sudden
shout.
From hand to hand passed the body
of a girl. her red hair streaming, her
face crushed beyond recognition. A
man rushed past the police reserves,
despite their shouts to halt.
"It's herl It's herl" he cried. Handle
that body carefully. Its Annie, my
sister Annie."
The body was that of Annie Byrnes,
the sole customer in the store Next
came the body of another girl. her
clothing hanging in shreds from her
thin, crushed body. Jacob Staub
begged the policemen to let him ex-
anime it.
~ don't know if that's her" he cried.
LET me see her finger. Yes. Yes!
It's Millie. There's that little green
ring | bought it for her on her last
birthday"
Five minutes later they brought up
the body of Martin Schmidt. At 4:40
Johnson's body was laid on the side
walk. At 5;34 Thompson's had been
found.
Quickly the bodies were rushed from
the sight of the morbid crowd. The
rain came down in great sheets, but
the curiosity of the bystanders was
unallayed.
Night came and the rescuers were
still digging. Powerful acetylene lamps
lighted the wreckage. Inspector Far
rell and Fire Chief Lally found little
time to speculate on the exact cause Of
the tragedy. They learned that the
tank had a pressure of 700 pounds,
that it contained twelve pounds of
liquid ammonia and that the building
had been leased to Schmidt by y. |.
Wiley, of Flatbush. They also learned
that Mrs. Schmidt had been in Rich
mond Hill visiting relatives, and that
the three floors over the store had been
empty of dwellers.