The Collapse of Müller’s Brewery, February 1874

 

 

Terrible disaster in a brewery

Philadelphia, 13th Feb. - This morning at half-past nine, the walls of the brewery on the corner of Thompson and 31st Streets collapsed and, in its fall, buried 20 workers beneath the rubble.

Details about the accident. - Twelve workers buried.

        This morning between 9 and 10 o'clock in Müller's brewery, located at Thompson and 31st street, occurred a terrible misfortune. The ice house connected with the brewery collapsed and buried a large number of workers under the rubble. One was brought out dead to daylight. Two others are in sight, one of whom is alive but stuck in the rubble. Numerous police have rushed to work with the citizens to rescue the unfortunate workers.
        There were about 12 workers busy putting ice in the ice house, when the walls gave way and the whole building collapsed. The rescue work has so far produced the following result: Thomas Allen was brought out dead; his body was terribly mutilated and all of his bones were broken. Heinrich Mueller, the son of the owner, was badly injured, pulled out from the rubble and taken to his father's apartment. Gottlieb Scherank, William Bewlen, W. Steuben, Patrick Moorley and L. Rupert were brought to light and immediately taken to the German Hospital. Their sufferings are terrible. Gottlieb Leib was seriously injured. One leg was broken in 5 or 6 places, so that amputation is necessary.

 

The Collapse of Müller's Brewery in Philadelphia

       On Friday morning, about 9:30, a terrible misfortune occurred in Philadelphia. The large brewery of Mr. H. Müller, located at the northeast corner of 32nd and Jefferson Street, collapsed and buried under its ruins 16-20 people, of which 11-12 were killed. The building, which was completed in November, was made of brick, 3 ½ stories high and had on 32nd Street a front of about 50 feet and on Jefferson Street about 100 feet. The collapsed part equaled about two-thirds of the whole building. It had been built in the same way in order to brew the new method of beer and had therefore to take an extremely large load in the upper floors. In the basement were large vaults. The first floor contained the machinery and the boilers in which the beer is brewed. On the second floor the beer was stored for fermenting, there were on the same floor a number of colossal vats, which contained about 2000 barrels of beer. Above was the Ice House or the refrigerator, an additional room, which held approximately 1,700 tons of ice, and finally on top was the reefer/cold storage, in the wrought iron floor large vats were mounted, in which the beer was pumped into from downstairs. Once the beer is cooled here, it is sent down to the fermentation room which must be constantly kept at a uniform temperature. During the past two weeks workers had been busy creating ice in the ice house, and it is estimated that already about 1,000 tons were made. On Friday morning, the people went to work as usual, and there was already a considerable quantity of ice in the store room when it crashed suddenly and everything located under the ice storage part of the building collapsed. The walls burst and fell to the outside, while the whole mass of ice, beams, malt, hops and other content of the building buried those who were in that part of it, of which there were at least nine to ten victims of the disaster. The collapse has been widely questioned. In a small outbuilding of the eastern part was a kiln, and as the collapse occurred, the kiln blew apart and the debris fell into flames. The workers of the Poth brewery across the street were, however, quick to hand and extinguished the fire.

 

Bergner & Engel's Beer Drinking Dog

 

A Dog That Drinks Beer

        They have a dog out at Bergner & Engel’s that drinks beer. “He drinks much more as you do,” said one of the attaches of the brewery, a tall muscular German, slightly out of “form” by the use of the beverage of the Fatherland. The dog, a Danish hound, was lying in front of his kennel, to which he was secured by a heavy chain, his nose close to the ground, his eyes closed, save now and then, when he opened them lazily as wagons piled with empty kegs came into the yard and dumped their loads into an already immense pile of empty packages. Felix, the dog, is described as a “bad’un.” He is kept chained during the day, but is allowed to roam around the yard at night to make acquaintance with intruders. He spends his freedom in sniffing around the kegs and vats, seeking beer. In the morning before being chained he is given some beer, which he laps up with relish and says “Ah!” The men say he will drink a half bucket of the liquor a day; that is, in summer. In cold weather he will take a great deal more, seeming to be aware that there is heat in the malt. Felix was imported from Vienna, and probably contracted a taste for beer before leaving home. However that may be, he is a confirmed beer-drinker now.

       “Do any of the horses drink beer?” was asked of the tall German spoken of.

       “Oh! yah; dot’s what makes brewer’ horses so fat. We got a big pipe running over to der stable, and we keep dem full up.”

       “But your hostlers say they never saw a horse drink beer.”

       “Oh! vell, dey don’t give’em a chance, dot’s all. Dey want der beer for demselves,” and then the speaker told of how they gave post horses wine in Austria when there is not time to stop for dinner. He said they take a large basin, filled with wine, into which they put slices of rye bread. This, he said, the horses ate with gusto and went off with great speed and required no food until evening.

-as reported in Parsons Weekly Sun, 1897

Weisbrod and Hess, The Hunters

 

HAIRBREADTH ESCAPE

        George Weisbrod, Sr. and Christian Hess, who have just returned from their game preserve in the wilds of Pike County, had enough adventures with bears and other ferocious animals to fill a big book. Both men are enthusiastic hunters, and in the midst of a blinding snow storm that swept over Pike County last week, started out to do a little gunning.

       The ravines and passes were filled with snow, and after tramping around all day they lit their camp fire by the side of a high bluff. A couple of deer they had killed were soon roasting over the blaze, and the tired hunters were just ready to begin eating when they were startled by a crackling of twigs and boughs and in almost a twinkling twenty huge black bears were right in their midst. On the instant Weisbrod and Hess seized their Winchesters and blazed away. Both men are dead shots and two bears at once fell with bullets in their hearts.

       Seeing two of their number dead, the survivors stopped fighting over the half cooked deer and directed their attack against the hunters. Their angry howls brought twenty more bears to the scene, and Weisbrod and Hess were obliged to seek the top of the bluff, where they could fire with better effect. With howls of rage the bears began to swarm around them, and a battle for life began. The bears made furious rushes, and at times the men were forced to use their rifles as clubs. Seizing one big bear, Mr. Weisbroad, who is a powerful man, threw it into an adjoining ravine. As fast as they could throw cartridges into their guns the men fired, and it was not until daylight that the battle was ended by the bears taking flight, after twenty-six of their number lay dead. One giant animal, measuring seven feet and weighing 600 pounds, Mr. Weisbrod killed with his bowie knife in a hand-to-hand encounter. All the dead bears were taken yesterday to Amber and Adams streets, where they will be stuffed and mounted as mementoes of a night that both men will never forget.

-as reported in The Daily Republican, 1906

John Roehm - 50th Birthday Party, January 4, 1899

 

Half A Century

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On the eve of his 50th birthday, Mr. John Röhm is presented with a diploma from the Bavarian Volksfestverein. - The event will be celebrated at a banquet.

        Today Mr. John Röhm, the well-known and popular brewer, is turning 50 with full manhood. Most of his friends will come today to congratulate, others, and not the least, held a pre-party yesterday in the hall of the Pfälzer Casino. It was the ladies and gentlemen of the Bayrischen Volksfest Verein who unanimously came together to honor John Röhm, who has been a member of the Bayrischen Volksfest Verein for years.

       A delegation of Messrs. Ittel, Lierz, Chas. Ricker and Max Huber went by horse-drawn carriage to Mr. Röhm's home, from where he was picked up on the pretext that he would attend a meeting at which the would-be Mayor, Coroner Ashbridge, was giving a speech.

       Once at the destination, a different picture developed in front of Mr. Röhm than he had expected. The Bavarians greeted him with loud shouts of hurray and, under the fanfare of Kalitzer, which Mr. W. Kalitz directed, Mr. Röhm was led into the lower hall, which was decorated with American and Bavarian national colors. In the center stood a festively decorated table in the shape of a horseshoe. While there was an exhibition behind the chairs, Mr. George Ittel, the President of the Bayrischen Volksfest Verein, addressed the birthday boy with an extremely warm address, which, with three cheers for the celebrated, all those present enthusiastically joined in.

       Now they settled down for the feast, which the ladies of the Bayrischen Volksfest Verein had prepared and which they themselves served in a beautiful hood and apron. Of course, everything went perfectly.

       The punchline of the evening was the presentation of an honorary diploma in a splendid golden frame, which was carried out by Mr. Lierz on behalf of the Bayrischen Volksfest Verein. On this occasion, Mr. Lierz gave a poetic address in which, among other things, it was said:

 

  You look a full fifty years today - What a nice time - in God's sunlight;

And you always have luck at your side,

Is it your merit - who doesn’t know?

From the smallest of beginnings - which I do not hide –

Did you rise to such heights –

It fills our souls with real pride

Such a man as friends we are close.

 

  So know that today He will begin 20 years

The board adorns our association,

To whom he the whole, real, full, true,

Attention to the most zealous interests

Many board members came and disappeared

At that time - that is the way of the world;

But he stood true to the flag,

He was always up for the club’s interests.   

 

       Furthermore, Mr. Lierz thanked the ladies of the Bayrischen Volksfest Verein for willingly accepting and successfully implementing their cooperation and concluded with the wish that the men and women of the Bayrischen Volksfest Verein continue to work hand in hand.

       Among the many speeches that were made during the evening was that of Mrs. Chas. Backes who presented Mr. Röhm with a large flower horseshoe on behalf of the ladies' club of the Bayrischen Volksfest Verein. Mr. Röhm thanked all for the evidence of love and devotion in short, moving words, which met with loud applause.

       A double quartet from the Pfälzer Casino contributed to the general atmosphere, and performed several of his most beautiful songs under the direction of Mr. Eugen Klee.

       In addition to Mr. Röhm, his wife, who belongs to the board of directors of the Bayrischen Ladies Club, and children, 5 sons and 3 daughters, who accepted the invitation, were invited to the feast. Four of the sons belong to the Bavarian Volksfest Verein.

       Mr. Röhm was born in Germersheim, Rheinpfalz, where he was raised. He came to America on August 24, 1866; For several years he worked in the saloon of Mr. Daniel Hengen, 9^th & Green Streets, and became self-employed in 1876. Since 1887 he has occupied himself with the brewing business, in which he has worked his way up from small beginnings through diligence, energy and business acumen to what he is now.

       He co-founded the Bayrischen Volksfest Verein on December 15, 1875. He was repeatedly 1st and 2nd Vice-President and has held the office of treasurer from 1892 to the present day, whereby he had to gain the undivided recognition of his association through his conscientiousness and his hard work.