Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 December 1876 — The Brooklyn Disaster—Digging for Bodies. [ARTICLE]

The Brooklyn Disaster—Digging for Bodies.

Tbewoikof th# flrttday after the terribie cajaiuily of Tuesday night was coatined al moat exclusively to fembvlng the great pile ol deadirem the cellar of the vestibule. In this part of the work the ijoor victims lay packed' together so closely that comparatively little digging was requliW until the pile was pretty well removed. Ashes and cinders had sifted down uftbn as with a pall. A"tew beatam-mfd timbers lay on thb top, these were removed to one side, and the mining out ofuhe corpses weaken. one tak a out of that fatal cellar iMMiody •fta wwnan in the. early morWng. She wws found ahitost standing against the wall on the right hand side just inside the inner vestibule doors. From that time until evening, there was a constant succession of charred and fire scorched bodies taken out inevery, conceivable forpi d< distortion atadtwisting, liladkendu land Uurned by foe fiery breath ol the fmmfes until nearly all 'resemblance to humanity was burned out of them. Some were calcined to mere cinders. 1 w...

It was" terrible work upon the nerves as well as the muscles of the men engaged. Strong men who were accustomed to terrible sightetilpfcd nw»y from that awful pit in horttft findrirtiddering. NbarlyW) poor human beings but a few hours before had crowded the doors of the fatal gallery with happy hearts and expectant faces, intent upon thd scenes of the mimic life that passed before their eyfes upon the stage. Little did they think that ere the night had reachttLits noon they wpuld be actors tn a dram£other lhari sod one that met their eym upon the stage. Slowly, yet all too <he hand of. the flock crept on toward the close of the play, and doubtless the thoughts of very many turned homeward as they settled themselves to witness foe last act A last act it was indeed to very many of them. The drama of their livej-was drawing to a close, and soon would end in utter blackness and horror and agony. About 400 persons purchased tickets for the eallery on that fataL night, and of that number only about one quarter escaped with life. The rest, old and young, male and female, the stripling boy ami the strong, broadshouldered man, went down in that fiery crater that leaped around them as, with the instinct of self-preservation, they madly rushed ion foe stairs. Let us hope that they were at once suffocated when the volumes of blaclkMaoke struck them, for if such were theSjWe they were saved from the terrible aJM of bgjjtg burned dive. One man tell<<sttji?rof how, after the roof and street fell, he saw away üßi&fthe peak a poor wretch clingingtp jn*MMl of the window. As the' horror struck, the limhrfroifoajHrure seemed to contract and draw thefoSlves together, and then the grasp loohejfcd, and the poor wretch went whirlinrffoiwn into the deadly jaws of the leapingjtames. It was' a sight to be remembenSHnr a lifetime. The posltlMof foe pile of bodies showed that yßy were massed on the stairs and lajKigs, lying apparently in heaps, until timbers burned and the weight carriedFjhem into the cellar beneath througMße lower floor of the vestibule. The goffer portion lay between the inner dodjaand the center of the lobby. SonyMbre scattered beydtad, and the last one 4Knl in the cellar under the lobby was axfayjat the further end where the toilet-roomsiwere located. Doubtless it was some par wretch who crawled out to that end ot . foe gallery in the hope of reaching sonffiyndows of exit in that direction. In exhumMjV the bodies the greatest care was used.jlpd they were handled as tenderly They were not dragged rodejm- from the pile, but the material was removed, and they weft carefully lifted into the boxes in waffijg and decently covered with a blaqMti to shield them from the eyes of.foe gfipyig crowd outside. The poor vbwielMFuw humanity were dealt with as carefcllyns possible. After the work-ts f clearing out the vestibule was IfofopleUid, the men turned their attentiJH for.the remains of Claw Burroffifos and Harry S. Murdoch. Bat it was now dark, and the necessary liSrwas afforded by the means of two brilliant calcium lights, which shed a weird- *nd lurid’mare over the scene. Cknids of smoke still arose from some parts of the ruins, principally near < the. stage, blown hither and thither ny’the night wind, sometimes shrouding the workmen from view, and »then again blown away altogether. Through the smoke their lanterns gleamed with red and fitful gl&re, overhead the calm Stars looked down upon the scene of woe, and around towered the blackened And crumbling walls of the* ruined building. It was a weird scene,’ and the terrible work of the toilers made foe spectacle doubly impressive. The dressing-rooms of the two aetors were in the same location as the directors’ box—on foe right-hand side. One was above and one below the box. The site of thia quarter of the theatre Svas covered with mounds of ashes and brickwork. The site of the dressing-room was locate 4, foe unfortunate young men were last seep in that neighborhood. It was thought that if found, it would be in that quarter., .Tha surmjse proved terribly correct.’, At about tea O'clock the first fragments were found, and in about an hour the body of Mr. Burroughs was discovered. After their bodies were removed from under the mass of brickwork, the workmen went back to the other end of foe aucntoriuin and began foe search amopg the debris for other remains. They did not go over much ground, but, in foe corner near foe Washington street entrance, foe bodies of two women and a child were found, near together. This was about three o’clock on Wednesday morning. Nothing further was found before daylight, when foe men stopped work. During fofttiext forenoon no work was done in tlwruips. The firemen were utterly woHohk with'foeir exertions and needed rest. Accordingly Chief Nevins made arrangements io have a gang of men outside ready for work at one o’ dock, and they acoordingly -began at that time. Although foe auditorium had already been searched over, it was determined to go over foe entirg interior' again and then find out. for,*, certainty whether there were any more unfortunates in foe ruins. The vestibule, had ppea thoroughly searched already mid work wu therefore commenced against the party wall in the tha men working toward the stage across foe-whole -width of foe auditorium- I . 7 .b r - - j.. . They worked steadily but slowly. While one portion removed the riveted rods of iron, burned timbers and masses of brickwork ottfc of foe way, the others, provided with shovels, careftilly. turned over foe ashes and debris shovelful at a

time,, keeping a strict watch for valuables or artioiee- of personal property -or any signs of human remains. Very many small articles were found, and fragments of clothing also; but the only bodies discovered were ones on foe side toward foe alley. There, under the parquet, about on foe curve (had foe seats been there), two or three remains were found. The last one was apparently the body of a woman. Nothing was left but the trunk, head and stumps of the lower limbs. All day long foe workmen shoveled away, throwing the ashes behind them as fast as they were searched over. The iron work was broken up and carried out of foe cellar and thrown in a pile on foe other side of foe alley. By nightfall yesterday they had got beyond the low wall that formed the front of foe stage, and into the piles of brickwork that felt from foe outside walls. Not many articles were found during foe day, some fragments of stage dresses and little matters lost in the stampede of foe crowd when foe fire broke out. Aside from taking out the large fragments of iron-work and pieces of timber, none of the debris was taken out of the building. It was cleared away down to the cellar floor, but the workmen threw- it behind them in their progress toward the stage. Eagle, Dec. 9.