Local & Family History Index

LEE COUNTY LOCAL/FAMILY HISTORY DEPT. *  DONNELLSON PUBLIC LIBRARY *  500 PARK AVE. *  DONNELLSON, IA *  52625

MAK Project: Keokuk Building's Collapse

Mary Alma Powers Kay Project
Page Two

On June 14, 1893 at 7:13 PM the three-story brick building at 824, 826, and 828 Main Street, in Keokuk, IA collapsed taking four men down into the ruins.  This is the second installment in a series of four describing the rescues of those caught in the terrible crash.  This is also where we see the courage of the human race in times of sudden tragedy, and where heroes emerge and where the character of people comes shining through.

 
TERRIFIC CRASH WITHOUT WARNING

WALLS FALL AND FLOORS FOLLOW


Three Main Street Business Blocks Tumble to the Ground

Falling Timber and Bricks Bury Four Men

John Real and Harry Young Badly Injured

Many Miraculous Escapes and Moving Scenes

 

Continued from January’s Newsletter . . . . .

The Rescue

Those who entered Real & Shepherd's place first saw a terrible wreck.  The front of the room to the back of the bar was practically uninjured, but full of irritating
dust and debris.  Toward Ninth Street was the open sky seen over a mountain of timbers, flooring and plaster.  The ice chest was standing against the inner wall
and had caught and upheld one side of the fallen floors, leaving a triangular tunnel upon the floor barely large enough to admit a man with difficulty.  Back in this
tunnel was a man afterwards found to be Harry Young. 

The first man to enter was Wm. Higham who with great courage crawled back to Young before the mass had cease to shake, and next came Dr. G. Walter Barr
who took the imprisoned man a dose of morphine dissolved in whiskey from the bar.  But Young absolutely refused to taste the medicine in spite of the entreaties and commands of the doctor.  He was lying on his side pinned between the floor and the ceiling upholding the great mass of weighty debris which covered him to
the shoulders.  At first he was in good mental, conmental condition, but in a few minutes became unconscious from shock or hemorrhage.  "Tell them to keep to
the left there is another man there" yelled Junkins, but the other man had fallen through to the cellar.  It was Jack Real, one of the most popular men in town.

While Higham was pulling plaster off Young, a hand was stuck through a hole in the floor, and a voice warned him to be careful about causing another fall of debris.  Real was lying on a section of floor which had broken off just above his head off the incline which all the timbers had, allowing his head and shoulders to project into the cellar.  With the hard floor below him as he lay on his face, he was covered with bricks and mortar, the pressure being chiefly upon his legs.  He was conscious and displayed great nerve, as he materially assisted in directing the work of rescue, occasionally giving the rescuers words of encouragement, and asking several times about Young.

In a very few minutes abundance of help arrived and with the usual number of bosses and with any number of willing hands the work of rescue began.  It was soon seen that it would be dangerous and slow to attempt to take off all the mountain covering the men.   The most practicable way was to take the floor out from below them, and saws and axes were used as rapidly as possible.  It was slow work and seemed slower.  A few inches of debris would be cleaned off the floor and then the boards sawed through and torn off.   Around Young was a couple of chairs crushed to minute pieces.  He was gotten out first, barely able to murmur, "Where's Jack," as he was carried on a stretcher across to Alton's stable and examined by the surgeons.  It took much longer to relieve Real who was sawed out in the same way into the cellar.  Men sawed frantically at the floor below him, others supported his body as it was released inch by inch, and a surgeon handed him stimulants and morphine at intervals and sponged his head with cold water.   It was dark down in the cellar, and candles were used for light with some danger of starting a fire which would have been a holocaust.   The gas was burned off at the meter to prevent danger from this source and great care was used, but a little blaze started once and was extinguished by a slap from a man's hand.  At another time an excited workman held a candle against Real's thigh for a full minute before another could reach to knock it away, but the clothing would not burn and Real did not know it.

Then Mr. Real was finally released he was carried to the front end of the cellar and raised to the sidewalk through the basement window, on a board.  He was then placed on a stretcher and carried across the street to Alton's livery stable.  Here his anxious mother, who while at home had heard of the accident and slipped away from those who were with her, entered and walked up to the stretcher where her son lay and at sight of him, almost broke down.  The man again showed his fortitude and bravery, for reaching out his arm, he placed it around the aged mother and drawing her down to him, kissed her, and bade her not be worried about him, that he was alright, although at that very moment he was suffering great agony.  The sight of her son made the parent almost frantic, but he patted and soothed her, uttering cheering words.  She was taken away from him into the office of the stable and afterwards to her home, corner Fourteenth and Des Moines streets, where her injured son had preceded her, having been taken on the Rolla horse wagon, to avoid the curious crowd, and that his injuries might be attended to under better surroundings.

To Be Continued in March’s Newsletter . . . . . . . . . .
 

In keeping with the policy of providing free information on the internet, data may be used by non-commercial researchers, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format for profit, nor for presentation in any form by any other organization or individual or on any other website without permission This entire website & contents are copyright 2009 by Local/Family History & the individual submitters  This page was updated February -- 2009