Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1929-05-16
POISON GASES

III Vk0VkE WAJA&1
Continued from page one.)
was Miss Ella Moeller. stenographer
at the clinic. who jumped from a
window and went home, believing
she was untouched.
Later she felt Ill and went to Mt.
Sinai. She laughed and talked
while waiting for treatment and
then collapsed. A blood TRANSMISSION
was ordered with the hope that
what seemed the inevitable might be
ayerted.
The other two patients were a
fireman and a woman who entered
the clinic just as the first blast oy-
Cured. She got a whiff Of the gas,
returned 10 her home thankful to
have escaped death, and then felt
the omincus effects of the fatal
fumes. All three underwent blood
transfuSions.
The gas was identified by DR..
William r. Lower. one Of the chiefs
OF the clinic. as nitrous peroxide. re-
leased by burning x-ray film. The
celluloid preparation was fired In
an unknown way in a basement
store room.
300 In Building
An explosion Of the pent-up gas
that rocked the building followed.
IL filled the building with gas and
as the compression increased a sec
ond and larger blast demolished
much Of the interior and set the
woodwork aflame.
More than 800 persons were in
the building when the first explo-
sion came at 1924 o'clock in the
morning. Some escaped before the
fumes reached them. Others died
in frantic flight. their bodies strew-
ing the stairways and floors. Many
died after reaching the open air.
and still more succumbed in hos
pitfalls.
Stream Of Ambulances
A constant stream Of ambulances
hurried between the clinic and
nearby hospitals. and other convoy
bore the dead to the county morgue.
! There they lay while long lines of
persons passed the bodies. many OF
them stretched in lines along the
floor. The building was taxed to
capacity.
AS the bodies were identified they
we're removed, but the long queque,
silent and sorrowful, passed
through the morgue until late last
night. Today several of the victims
remained unidentified.
Investigation Begun
Six Investigations were under way
today. Deputy state fire marshalS
and representatives Of the state di-
vision Of safety and hygiene were
assigned to 60 into the reasons for
the mysterious catastrophe. Both
the Cleveland police and fire de-
partments organized their own in
| quiries, and City Manager William
r. Hopkins declared he would de-
vote his offices 10 determining rea-
sons for the explosions. Coroner
A. j. Pearse laid plans for an in
quest as soon as the dead are iden-
titled. DR.. George w. Grille, head
Of the clinic. declared he too would
attempt to learn the origin Of the
fire.
Much official interest in the in
vestigationS was turnsd 20 the steel
fire door to the storage compart-
ment. Officials had been unable to
learn whether this door had been
left open or was blown out by the
force Of the bursting film.
Skylight Shattered
With the first explosion. firemen
concluded. the gas swept upward
and fired the building. Pent in.
with compression increasing as the
heat intensified, the gas exploded a
second time.
The skylight was shattered and
glass from the windows was hurled
across the street. Doors reinforced
with steel buckled under the ter
rifle suction of air.
Trapped Like Rats
The swirling brown clouds. naus-
eating and made heavier by the
sickening smell of burning cellu-
loid enveloped the building. The
fire soon spent itself. but the clouds
Of gas. smoke and the odor of burn
ing chemicals chung to the building
hours after the fire was extin-
guished.
II happened so quickly that few
had opportunity 70 escape. 1t was
past Sc soon that within an hour
and a half all the bodies had been
removed. Firemen said the loss to
the building. despite the number Of
dead would not be more than $50
600.
The revised list OF dead in the
disaster follows:
DR.. Harry Addison. Cleveland
Heights, staff physician: Phillip
Bader. Cleveland: Max Bartholo-
New. Medina. sketch artist; Evelyn
Bernier, clinic employee: r. Z. Bis
sell, Cleveland Heights. engineer and
patient: DR.. John Borello. staff phy-
sician at clinic: DR.. Roy A. Brint-
nall. Lakewood. physician on clinic
staff; William j. Brownlow, East
Cleveland. artist at the clinic: w.
w. BuSby. Indianapolis; Mrs. w. w.
Busby. indianapolis: Mrs. Carl,
Cleveland; Mrs. May 3. Carse. pa
tient. Cleveland: Romeo Casino,
Cleveland; Mrs. Rosa Casino. Cleve-
land: Richard Collins, Cleveland
Miss Minnie Costley, Cleveland:
Helen Charlotte de Hart. clinic
nurse. Miss Fannie Dembrow, Cleve-
land: Mrs. Florence Epstein, Chi
cago; Miss Zanna Fahey. technician
In X-ray department at clinic; Mrs
Evelyn Fayduer. Akron. Ohio: Hugo
Fields. Akron. Ohio: Lillian Felt
Franklin, Pa: Virgil Fleming. re-
pairman. Cleveland: Miss Georgei-
anna Fowler. clerk at clinic: Mrs
Joseph Frank, Dunkirk. N. Y; Her
mine Flerst. East Cleveland. patti