The Washington times., 1925-07-04
BIG BLAST
BLAN|ED
ALSO
continued from First Page)

Time OF TOUR mlnuLOSS ARC
placed on the operating
table.
Doctor Operates In Ruins.
A musician Of the Pickwick
Clubs orchestra was pinned under
the debris, his fingers hanging
by the liagments. He was beg
ging the firemen for a cigarette.
Doctor Michael McGarty, Of the
City Hospital staff, crawled into
the ruins and amputated the al.
most severed members of the
hands that short time before
were strumming a lively tune on
q banjo.
The work of rescue went on be-
fore building wreckers arrived and
propped up the front walls of the
structure, which was left standing
after the collapse and which
threatened to crash down at any
moment on the heads of those
engaged in the heroic work of
rescue.
Administer To Dying.
Reverend Father Lawrence T.
Catholic Church, was the first
priest to arrive and he began at
once to administer extreme JUNCTION
TO the dying
Medical examiner, Doctor George
Burgess Maggrath, took charge of
the bodies as fast az they were re-
moved from the ruins. The bodies
were taken in ainbulances to the
northern and southern mortuafies.
Doctor Robert Coleman, in charge
OF the Boston City Hospital, took
charge of medical attendance for
the dying and injured.
Volunteer physicians rushed about
the wreckage administrators to
those trapped in the caye-in and
sprinkling water on the mouths
OF some to revive them and allevi-
ate their suffering. The more seri.
ously injured, who were trapped,
were given a hypodermic.
Girls Among Dead.
Soon after the crash rescuers
pulled from the ruins a sixteen
year-oId bobbed haired blonde, a
mere slip of q girl. The body was
badly crushed. Life went ont be-
fore the ambulance was reached.
Another girl, about nineteen
years old, also bobbed haired and
blonde, was taken from the pile
of bricks, timber and morta<c. Her
head was crushed. She was dead.
Bodies of "Hambone" Kelley,
Red" Chapman, Frank Tillo and
pugilists-were brought out 10y
firemen.
Another body recovered and iden-
titled ss that Of Miss Hannah w.
Nalzapple, of SIC Pennsylvania ave-
nue., York, Pa, was terribly
crushed.
Tons OF brick, iron, wood and
mortar clogged the street in front
Of what had been the night club
and over this mass Of debris the
bodies were carried.
Investigation Started
BY this time newspaper extras
were being issued and thousands Of
persons who had not gone to the
country or the sea shore for the
scene. Thousands Of automobiles
clogged Washington and other near
by streets.
SOAAlthS64Ot1CG 0AduOIlCy
and Fire Commissioner Glynn were
early on the scene and with their
assistants began an Investigation.
Likewise, District Attorney T. c..
O'Brien arrived. The District At
torney announced that the Suffolk
county grand jury, which comes in
on Monday, would have all evidence
concerning the collapse presented to
them.
Every effort would be made, the
district attorney said, to determine
IL criminal negligence had caused
the collapse.
The June session Of the grand
jury, which had been considering
the recent building collapse in east
Boston, where two children were
killed and fifteen injured, made
stringent recommendations for the
control and regulation Of buildings,
but had continued its recommenda
lions for the July term, the district
attorney said.
Stories Are Alike.
A majority OF the eyewitness
stories were the same. The dane
ers were whirling around the dance
floor. Some Of the more daring
of the men at the tables set off
some firecrackers with the idea Of
soaring the girl dancers.
The jazz orchestra was playing
with zest. Suddenly the ceiling
Of the dance hall began to crack.
plaster began to shower down on
the diners at the tables and the
dancers on the polished floor
Next came a rumble like thunder
and then the walls caved in. There
WAS a mad rISh for the axifo ood
the windows. The stair cases were
found to be gone. Before anything
could be done the crush of fright
en6d men and women became sc
great that a majority of those .,
where the stairway had been.
Pocketbooks, Identification cards
and other credentials found in the
ruins added to the confusion o.
checking up on the list of dead.
Estimates Still Vary.
Newspaper offices and police sta
lions were besejged with calls from
frantic mothers and fathers who's
daughters had not come home from
night-before-the Fourth celebra
tions. Later many Of those re
ported missing by frantic parents
WIRE accounted for. They had bee:
to clubs other than the Picwicl
Club.
Estimates of the number o
couples dancing at the club at tn,
time OF the crash varied from
seventy-five to 125 couples. James
Beal, one OF the guests at the club
0ald:
"Shere were. at least seventy-fiv'