Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 August 1895 — DIGGING FOR DEAD. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

DIGGING FOR DEAD.

BODIES RECOVERED FROM THE DENVER HOTEL RUINS. Engineer Pierce, Whose Negligence —Cansed the Horror, Himself a Victim" Of His Own Carelessness—Fire in Milwaukee -Outrages by the Chinese. . .. . Twenty-flve-the Death RoH. A portion of the Gumry Hotel, Denver, the seene of the frightful disaster, is still standing, gaunt and sinister, constantly threatening to crash down at any moment . upon -those delving in the ruins The search for victims has been carried on With the utmost energy constantly, with the aid of twenty arc lights. The list of dead and missing now numbers twentyfive, making the disaster the worst that ever occurred in the city. It ig clearly proved that the tragedy was due to the carelessness of the engineer, who turned water into the boilers which had become overheated Pierce, the Engineer, it is said, was intoxicated. Some of the victims were instantly killed; others were buried In the ruins where they slowly burned to death, the building having taken fire after the explosion; others were rescued after suffering horrible tortures only to die in hospital or on the way to it, while others still suffered injuries that will seriously affect thorn during life. For several hours after the disaster the ■cenes amid the ruins of the hotel were such that men turned pale and stood help-

less with sorrow and horror. Several persons were seen slowly burning to death, but they were so weighted down with debris and encompassed by flame that no aid-could be given them. Some of them begged piteously to be killed, that they might not be forced to endure the torture of fire, while others, needing only the chopping off of a limb to be free, implored the firemen to cut off a leg or an arm. Most of the victims were persons prom!nent in She affairs of the State. * - The total loss caused by the explosion and fire,is $75,000. The Gumry Hotel was worth about $25,000 and had SB,OOO

worth of jjirniture. It is a total wreck, but was insured for $25,000. The McMaun Block, which stands next to the Gumry, was also heavily damaged. It is owned by Colonel E: A. Bishop and was built in 1890. It is a four-story pressed brick and is occupied throughout by the A. Lilliblade-Furniture Company. The whole rear end of this block was ruined. The loss on the building is about $25,000, as the building will have to be torn down. This block is insured for $15,000. The stock of A. Lilliblade, valued at $30,000, is only partly lost..

HOTEL THAT PROVED A DEATH-TRAP.