The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1885-12-15 00:00:00

TWELVE PERSONS
~BURNT. TO DEATH AT

PLYMOUTH.
SIII)CKINO

A terrible calamity isce.iirred at Plymouth in the early
hours of Sunday morning, by which thirteen is•rsons,
many of theni children, lost their lives. In the shut
id the iright a tire isnike out in N.i. 3, Isse-oreet, in
the very heart id ()Id Plymooth. Almost aA the
; horises are old and crowded with tenants, fondles of
, ',senor eight Is•rsoie occopying rsr two room..
The destruction of property was small, 'it the lies of
life makes the cabunity one d 4 the heaviest e'er
experienced by the is win. Allogclliel the inmates
st the illdeted house numbered 3.".. thit of the 31
lessons enumenited tws•lis. wen, found dead after the
I tire hasl been rsu unit r. Discw.....in and the whole
5,1 1., Maven C 1111,1,11 wcr, volfiscatel sir their bests, the
; other victitns leing Frel Itickfsinl, Mrs. Sprague,
Mrs. Kirby, and I 'owning, her brother. Mr. Spronis•
saved his two children. Alia was lied, the imprs-vsion
until too Int, that his wife hasl made hers-scale. l'linse
, families were rescued Isy ladders (run i the windows at
the rear, exislit one little fellow, who got se paratost
(non the net of the family, and wits ssileespiently
found in A front r.... 111. The fire I.n.ke out aliortly
altar inn. and pet before the discos s•ry wan
eiads• a constable 4.11 iii leat tried the shoe of hi r'.
Stsrague's lionise in the nom! manner. There was then
no indication of tire, nor teas there a few minutes pr.-
tiouc, when is telegraph boy pouted,. and obeerved
a man in the d.orway lighting Ins pipe. Ac'
cording to the statements of neighbouni, *doe
at least of the inmates could not have leen
asleep for more than a few inimites before the alarm
of fire was raised, inns tttttt is, Mr. and 31n4. Sprague
were 'wen concerning with each other in their obey,
11.. late An a quarter or :11) minutes, after 12. A few
minutes. after ono o'CloCk. A 0%111411 named Nlalioney,
who was retarning h , obeers.si the gli tttt user of •
light between the gloaters of Mrs. Itabbage's shop,
and it was evidently here that the lire originated.
‘I &honey raised an alarm, mad C0111111C114.1,1 to tear
down the shutters. A man living illiinnike was
aroused by lips wife and relished to the poliee•station.
The bee reel wag got fnit, And with all the men
available proceedisl to the scene, but by the time it
arrived the flames haul • complete bold"( the building.
The constables were quickly tellow.sl by the town iin.
brigade, with nels fro the Barbican Avenue and
oeingsse nlatiolln. The West of England Fire Brigade
also was, speslily on the siest. Some of the occupants.
of the burning lesion were evidently aroused by the
first alarmir. Flinn was seen ko gft old of tila
of lila 11.11rouna by the Itack. The por (..11.iw hung
on to the 101 l of the WiloklW for a few minutes, but
won became exhausted, and before anything could
be brought to break his fall he wax poilled to let
is, Win hold. If. pitched on hia feet on the cornice
over the butcher.' shop, and rebounding -on to the
roadway struck the ground betel first with great
force. Ile austained • compound fracture ef the
right ellow, a fracture I.( both knee-cape, and
serious contusione on the head and chest.
In the meantime Mr. Sprague and *lime of the other
ates of the house, including the Davey'. and thick'
fords, had been &rowed to a sense of their peril.
Mr. Sprague seems to have caught op hia two children
and ruslinl to the back of the house, which at this
time was free from smoke. Ismer sin he went in
'march of hire. Sprague. lout not being al.le to finsl her
Isecame impremed with the idea that she had not 14. ft
the horning building. This provost to be too true, for
when the firemen were ebb' to enter the ',mew Mrs.
Spragne's Wan the first body to ire discovered. The
Ltaveys all recaised. Fortunately, there was a long
ladder in the court, and this was the means if saving
several lines. Edward Bickford, who was the heat of
the (.44,4 to awake, went to the Newcombe's, door
and aroused them. He also knocked at Foes'a dsor
and shouted, but got no answer. Already the smoke
was thickening, and the heat becoming intense.
Young Bickford got out of the window of his rum,
placed the ladder in a convenient peittor, and several
nil his brothers got down into the court. William
Bickford caught up little Amy Newcombe in his arms,
and being too frightened to wait for his turn with the
ladder he got out of the window to the framework, on
which he clung until someone beneath was ready to
catch the girl. Eventually he stropped her into the
arms stf his elder brother, but the force of her descent
from • height of 30 feet knocked him to the ground
The girl was found to be severely hurt, and was
at once 'tent away to the hospital. "Willy," aa he is
spoken of by his relatives, held sin for • few minutes.
A bed warn thrown from a lower witadisw, and on thin
the young fellow desisted, receiving no more serinto
injury than a sprained ankle. Mrs. Bickford was
rammed by means of • ladder, while her son Frederick,
aged 11, who seems to have slept in Mr. Newcombe's
room, was missed in the ninfilsisin, for the former
afterwards found his dead Issidy on the landing, Mrs.
Ilabbage is the only lyne of the three persons occupying
her portion of the house who esecaped alive. Mrs.
Kirby, who was sleeping with her downstairs', is sup.
posed to have been one of the first of the inmates to
Ise &rooted. She ran upstairs to call her brother, and
it is preatuned that the smoke overcame her before she
could effect her purpose, for her corpse wee discovered
lying next to that of her brother. Ti,, bodice were
only slighti Went. The saddest CAW of all is the
fate of the It nee family, hint. Foos and the whole if
lier seven children being f.ind dead in the room from
the window of which the distracted father had made
such a desperate escape. The poor woman had got
out of bed and had apparently made some effort
help her little ones when the smoke rendered her
insensible. The remains of five of the children,
dreadfully charred, were found in sine bed. The
'llllrcan° leading lii thia rO.OO bad suffered so much
front the flames that the remains had ts, be renisivel
I.Y Means of the fire-escape. The efforts to cope with
the flames were carried on Leah untiring pereistenee
for an hour or more. It was not until Mr. Sitgattsie
begun to be seriously. apprehensive as to nkciat.o of his
wife that the authontiee aumpected there was anY.'n"
in the bourse, The 4iblrta in reduce the fire were
renewed shill redoubled vigour when the tioasibilite of
Isisis ‘..f life forced itself 'item the niinds ssf those
preeent. Mr. IlcKeer, with Mitchell and another
fireman, forced his way into Mr. Sprague's room,
followell by Mr. Sprague, and the Issly of the
unfortunate 111All'ol WO Winn foutid bait under the bed,
Mrs. Sprague waft in her noilittlreos. and save that the
fate was scorched the 'swine was not greatly injure'
Isy the firs. In this, AA in newt of the other cases, it
is conjectured that death was cansed liy suffocation,
The 14.ex's Coon, W.l entered by means of the fire
escape, and the extent of the calamity then began to
realieed. Sitbseuitently came the dies:ovens of
INswning and hie sister, Mrs. Kirby in the bedroom
of the former, and the Ivy alekh:ri. Thine who
...coped were alutorg. without exception clad only in
their night garments, and viere dependent upon neigh-
bours flttr ohaitar and clothing. Acting on a happy
suggestion, collectors were statione 1 on Sunday in the
mecum' thoroughfares in the vicinity of the fire
forniahed with placards inviting help from masers liy.
A sum of CLIO WA, collected in this way dub's.? the
day, including 120 in coppers,

LAR.VINU LIFT ACCIDNIIT.
A .hocking accident occurred on Friday night at
bewi.s establishment, Corporation.treet,
Birmingham. The assistants in the grocery .depart.
moot had been working overtime, and in their hurry
to leave the building eleven of them crowded the
lift. The wire row, snapped when they were at the
third flour, and the lift, with its living freight., fell a
depth of tOft. All the ani'stants were more or less
injured, and were conveyed to the hospital, but only
two wen &Wind.

Printed and published by EDWARD NEWMAN, ii t
Orkin 8, High West street, Dorchester, in die
Parish a Holy Trinity, to be Proprietor.
MI cheques and Post-office orders an jm.yable to
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