DISTRESSING SCENES IN NEW YORK.

Patea Mail, 26 May 1882, Page 2 (Supplement)

DISTRESSING SCENES IN NEW YORK.

The New York papers received in Plymouth by the Hamburg-American mail steamer contain thrilling accounts of scenes witnessed in that city by the fall of a pile of buildings previously considered by the authorities as unsafe and unfit for habitation. The premises comprised two houses, separated by a party wall, the ground floor being used as liquor stores, while the upper storeys were let out in small tenements. The accident resulted in the loss of eight lives and serious injuries to a score of other persons. Indications of the weakening of the wall, and ominous cracks and bulges, induced the owners to give notice to the Building Department; but before any attempt was made to prevent accident, the wall fell in and completely buried many of the occupants of the houses. The work of rescue was dangerous as well as diflicult, and it was seven hours betqre any rescue could be effected. The cries of the victims buried underneath the ruins was heard in all directions. One person killed was a coloured dwarf named Thompson, who ran ont of the liquor store at the first alarm, but was caught by the falling mass before he could escape. Another man, who was also in the store at the time, met with a similar fate. The case of a woman named Hill was a very painful one, for after being imprisoned for seven hours, she was rescued; only to die shortly afterwards. When the building fell, both she and her husband were holding children in their arms. They were thrown in opposite directions, but the husband was taken out without severe injuries. His wife, however, and infant child were carried down with the falling debris, and were believed to have been instantly killed. But some hours afterwards, as the firemen were scrambling over the ruins, they heard the woman exclaim that she was alive, but that something on her chest kept her down. In spite of all their efforts, two hours elapsed before she could be freed. Her child was dead, lying close to her breast, and the “ something ” was a large portion of the fallen wall. A brother and sister, named Knub, occupying apartments on the third storey of the building, were crushed to death, and other members of the family dangerously injured. A woman named Budolph was taken lifeless out of the ruins, and her husband and one of the children sustained serious injuries. Strong comments are made by the New York press on the want of action on the part of the authorities in not condemning the premises before, and it is seriously argued that the city officials should be made criminally responsible.