A terrible construction accident brought members of the fire department together in a search for survivors on Monday September 3, 1877.
Cincinnati Enquirer 04 September 1877
Headline of the story that appeared in the Enquirer following the collapse
For a couple of weeks work had been progressing on the demolition of No.76 Longworth Street. That building was owned by the Weighell Brothers, tobacconists. Finally the structure was cleared from the site and the work of preparing a cellar for the new factory was started.
No.74 was a 3 story brick tenement immediately next door. The building was constructed around 1847 and was said to have been poorly built. In order to deepen the cellar of No.76 the contractors dug below the level of the foundation of No.74. They used a bank of earth and gravel to help stabilize the wall of No.74. It became clear that No.74 would need to be shored up in order for the project at No.76 to continue. Gilbert Dater, the owner of the tenement, hired a company to accomplish the shoring work. Work to stabilize the structure started on Monday September 3rd in the morning. The plan was to drill several holes in the walls so as to use wooden planks and jacks to support the wall along with bracing. Conflicting reports are offered regarding notification residents received from the property owner. Ultimately the only person that seems to have moved to safety was the occupant of the basement and that was largely because the work was taking place in that space.
The Dater House was occupied by Susie Keam the keeper of the house and her husband, Ada Price, Mrs. Louie Dowling, Kittie Grant and John Disten, Laura Miller, Mertie Gray and her friend Henry Johnson, Laura Miller, Lottie Williams, and a servant girl named Mary - The construction men in the basement were working under foreman John Finnegan and included Hugh Quigley, Patrick Boyle, Pat Flaherty, and Conrad Leyden.
The construction crew worked through the day cutting holes into the wall and digging corresponding holes in the basement floor so as to set jack screws to support the wall. All of the cutting and digging coupled with the already weak nature of the wall and the earth that had been removed while digging out the cellar in the neighboring building was too much. At around 3:40 in the afternoon there was a thunderous crash as the building collapsed.
The work of digging a cellar next door at No.76 had also been ongoing. John Mehen, Jerry Colter, Tim Maher, and John Quinn were loading soil into a cart driven by John Reilly. The men were warned of the impending collapse by a fellow workman standing in the street. The men immediately jumped into a preexisting coal cellar that was in front of them. The cellar was sheltered under some pavement. This jump saved the men's lives. The mule and cart they had been filling was buried to the reins with brick and debris. The noise had been great enough that it was heard a couple of blocks away at the Gifts Engine House. In minutes there were people running up to the house calling for help.
Cincinnati Enquirer 04 Sept 1877
Illustration of the scene as it appeared in the Enquirer
Firemen responded with the Phoenix Hook and Ladder Co.1 along with Assistant Engineer Joe Bunker and Jakey Hughes. Scores of volunteers assisted the firemen and police in digging through the rubble in the search for survivors. Mertie Gray and her friend Henry Johnson were the first to be rescued. Kittie Grant was next to be saved. She had also had luck enough to survive the Robinson's Opera House disaster in February 1876 when a false call of fire in an overcrowded venue resulted in a rush of people to the exits. Nine women and children were trampled to death in that incident. Near her was John Disten. One of Finnegan's workmen, Conrad Leyden, was found on the steps of the buildings Longworth Street entrance. In the rear of the structure firemen were searching an area from which could be heard a woman's voice calling for help. Here Susan Keam was found crushed to death near Lottie Williams who had been calling for help. More calls for help were heard from around the entrance and workers rescued Pat Flaherty from this location. He was shaken and had some minor injuries but after being looked over by a doctor he immediately returned to the scene to help search for his missing coworkers. Flaherty had been working near Hugh Quigley and knew he would be close. Hugh was found dead in the rubble soon after. Louise Dowling and Laura Williams were soon rescued as well. Next were found Ada Price and Myrtle Gray who both survived the ordeal. By 5:00 all but one had been recovered from the building. Foreman John Finnegan was still missing. Fire Company No.12's diary is the only known company diary to survive from 1877. It records the event and notes that a couple of men were sent to the scene from each company to aid in searching for survivors and digging through the rubble. By 7:00p Finnegan had still not been found and a fire was built atop the debris to light the scene. When the fire failed to provide enough light a calcium light was placed on the roof of a neighboring store and a tree chopped away to provide more light. Finally around 9:45p Finnegan's body was discovered crushed under the rubble. The mule and other heavy debris was removed with the use of a hoisting rope.
Mohawk Fire Co.12 Diary c.1877 (BHouston Collection)
Entry for 03 September notes the collapse of the house on Longworth near Elm and indicates 2 men from each
company detailed to the scene. At the time E12 was still located in the Mohawk Neighborhood (This would change later in the year).
The diary also notes a large loss of life at a fire in New York. This is a reference to the Hale & Co Piano Factory Fire that took place on the same
date. The initial estimate of loss was very high but ended up being much lower. As many as 80 buildings were lost or damaged.
Cover of Mohawk Fire Co.12 Diary for the year 1877
(BHouston Collection)
Over a hundred firemen, policemen, and volunteers helped dig through the rubble. Ultimately three of the people inside the Dater House were killed. The event highlights the dangers associated with the building trades as well as the absence of laws and regulations to govern construction and building safety at the time.
The Persons Lost in the Collapse:
Susan Keam
Hugh Quigley
John Finnigan
A Calcium Light (Limelight) - This was a 19th Century form
of theatrical stage lighting. A piece of lime would be burned by an oxyhydrogen flame
creating an intense light.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.