"Nothing Like it Since the War”

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6911, 17 May 1929, Page 7

"Nothing Like it Since the War”

carried out the bodies of the dead and injured. Some had managed to reach the doors; others never had a chance. They were helpless in their beds.” Other witnesses said they had “soon nothing like it since the war.” Screaming for Help. Later details show that tho first blast shattered tho hospital. Instantly tho doors opened and the nurses and a lew patients who happened, to bo close alongside the exits poured screaming from the building. Then fifteen girls, appearing at the second and third storey windows, leaped to the ground. Homo of these were so badly gassed that they staggered only a' few feet before collapsing. Pedestrians who ran up quickly were also caught in the gas wave. By this time another ward full of men and women patients were appearing iu the upper windows screaming for help. They were so badly off that most of them fell back into the flames and gas. A few moments later the firemen got ladders up and carried out tho bodies. By 1 o'clock a dozen were still standing "on the roof, to which they had escaped through a skylight. Super-human efforts wero made to reach them, and clouds of dense smoke blotted them out occasionally. Thousands of cheering spectators applauded every heroic act by the firemen. The Cleveland morgues and other hospitals in the meantime are overflowing with dead and dying. By 3 o’clock a check-up appeared to show that the death »list was more than seventy. The hospital is of four storeys, constructed in brick and steel, and semifireproof. By 3.30 p.m., the firo was practically contrblled, and the last man removed from the roof, the bravo firemen using extension ladders outside, because the interior is still so smokeladen as to bo impenetrable. The injured gas victims were dying rapidly beforo oxygen could be administered. HEROISM OF DOCTORS AND POLICE. APPALLING SUDDENNESS OF DISASTER. Received Thursday 7.45 p.m. NEW YORK, May 15. The physicians, led by Director Crilo and Assistant Director Lower, as well as every available doctor in the city, continued work throughout the night in their efforts to revive the many patients who are still unconscious from the effect of the gas. The heroic conduct of tho medical profession was equalled by that of the police, who first arrived on tho scene. A traffic patrol near the hospital, upon hearing the explosion, rushed into the building and attempted to carry out a woman, but was overcome by the gas and died. Police reserves who were quickly summoned, found entry to the building impossible. They then clambered on to the roof, opened the trap door and let themselves down by ropes. _ The stricken wore brought up in n similar way and pulmotors used to resuscitate them. Tho extreme suddenness of the disaster made a charnel house of tho hospital even before the rescuers could get to the scene. To-night in the city square a huge hoarding is surrounded by thousands of relatives, friends and strangers to the stricken, while painters from time to time paint the names of additional dead as they arc telephoned from various hospitals.

SHOCKING SCENES. CLEVELAND (Ohio), May 16. The • removal of the patients was handicapped by the intense heat. Many jumped from windows and were injured beforo tho rescuers arrived. Scores of physicians and all available ambulances wero rushed to the scene. The firemen found a gruesome spectacle on the second floor, a pile of bodies on a landing, some dead, some injured, and all unconscious. Mixed with them were chunks of plaster and debris from the ceiling and walls. The disaster occurred shortly after noon. Pedestrians for a block around were overcome by the gas, and dropped on the sidewalks gasping. The hospital is operated by Dr. George and Dr. Crille, both of whom arc nationally known. Two blasts occurred in the X-ray room, from an unknown cause. Firemen braved death whilo taking scores of patients from tho wards and clinic rooms. Many of the patients were unconscious, and some were burned and others were suffering from the effects of gas. Ghastly Scenes. The explosion occurred in tho X-ray films in the basement and the bromide compounded in the films was released iu dense brown clouds. The bromide burning out the sensitive tissues of the mouth, nose, and Jungs, caused tho victims to bleed profusely from the eyes, nose and mouth. The scenes were ghastly. Some of tho patients screamed horribly as they saw the deadly gas creep upon them, whilo they lay iu their beds, and the agony of those fire-stricken vied in its aspect of horror with tho convulsions of the other patients, nurses, and doctors, who clutched their throats gasping for breath, as they suffered torments from the poison gas. The building is a four-storied structure. The fire was put out in two hours. Tho damage amounted to fifty thousand dollars. Dead in Less Than a Minute. Dr. William E. Lower, director of the hospital, said: “The deaths were apparently due to tho gas poisoning. The persons in tho building collapsed and were dead in less than a minute after the gas had been inhaled. 1 do not know what gas it was, but from tho behaviour of the victims it was similar to phosgene gas such as was used in the World War.” Tho bodies of the victims, all of whom have now been removed from the wreckage, were turned yellow by tho action of the chemicals. Mr. F. B. Conklin, proprietor of a neighbouring dance hall, witnessed the explosions. He was standing on his lawn when ho heard a deep rumbling. “I glanced at the clinic,” he said, “and saw the roof lift as the explosion tore through it. Instantly the uoors opened and nurses arid patients fled screaming. About a score of girls appeared on the first and second storey windows and jumped to tho ground. “Fire broke out immediately. Pedestrians ran and caught some of the girls as they leapt. A dozen men jumped some of whom broke their’legs and sustained other injuries. Tho clinic was the sceno of the utmost confusion. Screams of men and women rent the air. Firemen and police rushed in and