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HUNT FOR MISSING DEAD IN FIRE RUINS
HOYNE TO ASK GRAND JURY TO FIX BLAME
IDENTIFIED DEAD
Spitzley, Joseph, aged 40.
Spitzley, Mrs. Charlotte, 41.
Spitzley, Mary, 10.
Spitzley, George, 17.
Spitzley, Waiter, "i4.
Howitz, Isaac, 52.
Wiggins, Anna, 35.
Johnson, Edward 7.
Johnson, Eleanor, 10.
UNIDENTIFIED DEAD
Man of 40, thought to be Henry
Spitzley.
Ass't State's Att'y O'Brien today
oresented to State's Att'y Hoyne the
results of his investigation into the
cause of the 14th place tenement
horror. It is expected the prosecutor
will put the affidavits and other evi
dence into shape for preesntation to
he February grand jury.
Ten bodies have been recovered
from the wreckage of the Ghetto
tenement destroyed early yesterday
by a gas explosion and fire. Fifteen
persons still are missing and police
ind firemen are positive that their
bodies are buried under the tangled
mass of debris and ice.
Rescuers worked all night under
the glare of arc lights and recovered
three more bodies. One was a man
of about 40, the other two boys of
17 and 14. Because of the intense
cold work of firemen has been diffi
cult Of the 43 injured, 17 are in the
County hospital Five who were re
leased from their icy tomb by fire
men after more than ten hours' im
prisonment apparently will recover.
Several, injured by leaping from
third-story windows, are expected to
die.
Nine different investigations are
being made into the cause of the
tragedy by various branches of the
State, county and city governments.
Survivors lay the blame directly
linon the People's Gas Light and
Coke CO., to whom, they insist, sev
eral complaints of a gas leak had
been made.
Early yesterday morning Ass't
State's Att'y James C. O'Brien, act
ing under orders of State's Att'y
Hoyne, was busy getting affidavits
from Morris Feldman, janitor, and
others who have made statements
reflecting on the carelessness of the
gas company. Grand jury action may
begin Monday.
Most of the city officials, iucluding
the corp. counsel, were inclined to
blame the gas company. Murphy &
Campbell, owners of the tenement,
seemed eager, to strengthen that be
lief. Prosecutor O'Brien found other
valuable witnesses among the vic
tims of the explosion in the County
hospital. Charlotte Spitzley, 19,
who lost her mother, a sister and two
brothers, said:
''A month ago we first had trouble
with the gas. The gas inspector who
answered our complaint said if we
put gas mantles on the burners in
our flat we would get getter results.
"We put on the mantles. Yet,
when we lit the gas stove the lights
wouldn't burn and when the lights
were turned on the stove wouldn't
boil water
"Four times after that I wrote the
company. Each time Inspectors an
swered, and they said they found
leaks and promised to report them.
Our gas bills ran from $4 to $G a
month, compared to bills of $1.10
and $1.20 for the other tenants. We
knew the leak was there.
"Two weeks ago the complaint
clerk, over the telephone, made a
faithful promise to have the leak
fixed. It wasn't. Last Saturday an
inspector came for the last time. He
did nothing.
"I decided that I would take my
noon hour some day this week and
go oyer to the gas ofijce to make the.
o
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