The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-01-05 00:00:00

THE FATAL FIRE AT NEW YORK.

The New York papers, per the Germanic, give details of
the disastrous tire at Messrs. Greenfield's confectionery
establi,hnient, Barclay-street, New York, by which between
Silty and sixty lives were sacrinced. The New York Herald
of December 21 says :
-

"Greenfield and Son's confectionery store, No. 63,
Barclay-street, was destroyed by fire last evening,
occasioned, it is said, by the explosion of the boiler in
the basement. The engineer and his assistant were, in
all probability, killed. Thirty-five persons were badly
injured—eighteen are reported as missing. There were
a great many hands employed at the establishment,
and fears are entertained for the safety of some who
may not have been engaged for last night. Tompkin's
paper warehouse and _English's boarding-house adjoin-
ing were also destroyed. No just appraisal of the
property could be obtained last night; all that was
definitely known was that Mr. Greenfield's stock was
valued at 100,000 dole.
The first alarm of the fire was at five o'clock in the
evening, when people were about winding up the
business of the day in the stores and counting-rooms
in Barclay-street. Some were hurrying towards the
car lines and Broadway; others were en route to the
ferries on the North River. The street, too, was filled
as usual with itinerant vendors of nicknacks and
Yankee notions; in short, Barclay-street was at its
busiest period. On the corner of (Jolla-place stands
the Grocers' Bank; a few doors below is Ernest
Greenfield and Co., confectioners, No. 63, Barelay-
street. While horses, carts, and men were passing to
and fro a sudden explosion rent the air, the startled
people looked towards tile street and saw the front
of Greenfielel's premises rock and, splitting, pitch for-
ward into the middle of the street. In a moment the
flames leaped forth from the ruins and enveloped the
buildings :edjoining. Very speedily the conflagration
assumed,elangerous and threatening proportions as if by
magic. The crowds in the streets caught the whispered
statement that there were hundreds of boys and girls
employed in the establishment, and that most of them
were buried beneath the ruins. The alarm was given
without delay, and the fire brigade with engines and
ladders were soon on the spot. A mass of spectators
surged in and out of College-place in frantic endeavours
to see or touch the fugitives from the burning building,
when the clamour of the bells of the approaching fire
engines warned them to clear the way. Captain
M'Laughlin and Assistant Fireman Murray got
streams upon the burning houses at once, and ladders
were placed against their sides. Daring firemen
mounted them in quest of fainting or half-smothered
imtates, while other brave fellows dashed in through
the open doors and tried to mount the stairways ; but
-there is no record that any of these bold efforts were
crowned with success. All who had the good fortune
to escape were out of the building before the fire-
men got into it. Those who perished were dead a
few minutes after the explosion. And now the fire had
gained tremendous headway. The building imme-
diately adjoining Greenfield and Son's stores, occupied
by Tomkin's paper factory, now engaged the attention
of the firemen. The battle between them and this
store was brief, the flames devouring the inside of it
with frightful rapidity. Meanwhile, the fire had
been busy at the extreme corner of the building which
forms the angle of College-place and Barclay-street.
Nothing here seemed for a time to check its fury. It
forced its way along the cornice and top story of this
building, and uniting its huge lambent tongues with
the flames already at work inside swept in a fearful-
looking curved stream of fire round into the wind.ows
of the building, the ground floor of which is occupied
by the Grocers' Bank. Here the devouring element,
as though its appetite were thoroughly whetted, ate
out the whole of the top storey in an incredibly short
space of time. It was now evident that the critioal
moment had come. The bank stood alone a brown
rock in a sea of fire; the rooms were lit up with
vivid tongues in flame, and every article in them could
be seen by those in the streets, on the housetops, and
from the windows of adjacent houses. It was evident
that unless the endeavours of the firemen should be
redoubled the whole biock would be destroyed. To
prevent this the stores in Greenwich-street were
opened, and hose run through to the rears where there
was communication by window with the Greenfield
establishment. The white ambulances came and went
in charge of the surgeons, bearing the bodies of living
sufferers from different drug stores in the neighbour-
hood, and someeef them stood waiting for the bodies of
the dead that had not yet been found. Several fire-
men were burnt in their eagerness to check the fire, and
were attended to on the ground ; but none ef them, as far
as could be learned, went to the hospital. The surgeons
in most instances merely accompanied the injured ens-
ply's to the hoe pital, where their suff eri ngs were attended
to. About seven o'clock the boarding-house of Mrs.
English fell in, and came very near burning a couele
of firemen who were standing on a ladder reared
against it; they had only just got down with the hose
when the building caved In, and the ladder toppled
over with the ruins. The Grocers' Bank, though
badly damaged, was as a building safe, as were also
the other houses in the bloak ; the fire had only
ravaged the L shaped property, the Tompkins and
English establishments, and portions of some of the
adjacent buildings. Not a body had yet been dis-
covered, and as the fire seemed to be dying out Presi-
dent King, of the Fire Department, and Chief Bates
began to turn their attention to searching for those
who it was expected were in the debris."
The following is the story of an eye-witness :—" Mr.
David Sullivan was o a the opposite side of Barclay-
street, about fifty feet east of the location of Greenfield
and Co.'s building. He says that he was walking
towards Broadway when he heard a sound resembling
the report of cannon' only somewhat duller. He
turned round and saw the whole front of Glreenfield's
buildings flung out into the street, which was entirely
filled with the heaps of daris. The gap thus
made in the walls of the eclifioe disclosed the
upper floors burst upwards, as if by some force from
below. Everything within seemed shattered. Then
the whole building settled back into its proper
position, all the flu' as and walls being destroyed
by the sh )ck. He rushed up to the spot, and with
some other persons attempted to get out some one
who had been buried by the falling debris. Then they
assisted three girls to escape from the building ; one
of these wa.s badly hurt on the head and was besides
crying out for her brother, who she said was inside.
These had to be forced away, as they were unwilling
to leave the place until they were satisfied of the
safety of their friends. A space was then cleared for
a boy to jump out. He did so and escaped unhurt.
Three more boys came to the front of the third storey.
The height was so great to the sidewalk that the
bystanders called to them to wait for ladders. They
waited for a while, and endeavoured to escape
by the stairs; but all of a sudden the flames
burst out with great violence in the centre of
the building, and the unfortunate boys were
seen to be caught in their terrible embrace. One
boy slipped and fell to the ground while preparing
to jump from the second floor; he lay close to the
wall, apparently badly hurt. No assistance could be
given to him on account of the flames and smoke
pouring out from the front of the house. The flames
then drove the crowd back, and the firemen and police
arriving, applied themselves to check the conflagra-
tion. A ladder was placed against the front of the
building, down which three persons made their escape,
though the fire scorched their hands. This ladder,
however, was soon burned before it could be taken
away, by the fireman."
One of the injured, Charles E. Leininger, of No.
217, 120th Street, Haarlem, said :—" I am the
travelling agent of Messrs. Greenfield and Son.
At the time of the accident I was standing in the
store near the office. I had j,ust sold a box of candy
to a customer. The boiler came down through the
ceiling with a terrible crash, setting everything it
touched on fire. The smoke and the dust of falling
plaster made such a confusion we hardly knew what
had happened. Tom Schumacher, the book-keeper,
locked the safe and made his escape through the win-
dow into Little's trimming store. I made the best of
my way after him, and Mr. Ernest Greenfield crawled
out behind me. There were ten or fifteen persons in
the store, mostly young lady clerks. Mary Radamer,
Annie Connolly, and a young lady named Josephine
were near the place where the boiler fell. It did not
strike them, but I doubt if they got out of the build-
ing." Mr. Leininger's neck and the back of his head
were badly burned. He says there were from fifteen
to twenty young boys at work on the second floor.
The utmost consternation prevailed all over New
York through the disaster, the dire consequences of
which as regards the loss of life had not been realised
when the Germanic left. The pecuniary loss was
estimated at half a million dollars.