The Collapse of a Depot
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The Central Depot in Buffalo Collapsed on Tuesday and Kills Four Men.
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On Tuesday morning about nine o'clock, and while the depot had but few occupants, the roof of the Central Depot, Buffalo, fell in and the whole building collapsed. Without a note of warning came the mighty fall, a prolonged, swelling, terrible sound. Down went the arched roof at the Michigan Street end, prostrating the walls as it fell, and then in a continuous succession section after section went down, a cloud of snow and rush of compressed air arising from the wreck. It was a thrilling, appalling episode to sight and hearing and never, never to be forgotten by those who were near. Only a few seconds and a portion of the depot over four hundred feet in length and a hundred feet or more wide had sunk into a mass of wreckage which would fairly beggar all attempts to describe. The noise of the fall of the building was heard from afar, and with electric celerity the news of the catastrophe spread, with the wildest and most contradictory reports as to the extent of the supposed destruction of life. In a very short time hundreds of excited people were at the scene, the number growing afterwards to thousands and tens of thousands. At first confusion indescribable prevailed. So grand and complete was the havoc which had been made that comprehension was almost stunned at the view of it. The vast mass was a seemingly inextricable confusion of broken timbers, twisted iron, shattered lumber, great sheets of torn tin, brick and snow and ice.
As quick as an organization could be effected the work of clearing away the debris was commenced. No on knew how many people might be crushed under the ruins, and great gangs of men work at clearing away the brick and mortar all day. The bodies of four men were found under the bricks and mortar - life, of course, being extinct. The names of the unfortunately men are Henry Waters, John W, Byrnes, Levi S. Hunting and Wm. D. Wells, all residents of Buffalo.
It seems that the sunshine of the previous two or three days had caused all the snow to melt from the southerly slope of the arched roof, but at the north side, where no sun shine reached, an enormous weight of snow rested. With the thaw and rain, the density of this snow increased, amounting to hundreds of tons, until the pressure became too great and the roof went over, throwing the south wall and pulling the north wall in.
The fallen portion is about 450 feet long by 100 wide.