The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1860-03-30
THE LAST NEW YORK HORROR

l SIDIJOstU BufmeU
I Dead Bodies Recovered---Over Twenty
Families Made Observation-Disclosures oi
the Dead--A Woman Leaping from Fourth
TFronp the Evening Post of Vednesdav1
Another of the horrible caamites which must
be expected until the Legislature takes measures to
protect the occupants of tenement houses in this
city, occurred in Forty fifth street. at an early hour
this morning, by which at least nine and probably
ten human beings were burned to death.
ABOUT quarter past four O'Clock, when all the
occupants were sound asleep, fire broke out in the
wooden tenement house No. 90 a little west of 9th
avenue. The fire originated in the hall and is sup
posed oy some to have been the work of an in
cendary. The building is four stories high and is
divided into four parts. Every thing was of wood
anu ana 1lgnly comoustole. The four houses together
mad 20 ieet 'front.' giving lSA feet breadth to each
house, with 45 feet depth. The railways were only
i've feet six inches wide, including stairways which
were only about two feet wide. Into this wretched
structure, combustible that fire must of necessity
spread to every part almost instantaneously, were
crowded from twenty to thirty families men, wo-
men and children without sufficient means of egress
When the fire broke out, the flames spread with
great rapldlty through the entire structure. The
lower part OF the house was mass of fame before
the wretched inmates of the upper part we're
aroused; and when they awoke to consciousness
OF their situation, scene of horror ensued which
oeggars description. The cries for assistance
which could not be rendered. and the frantic efforts
OF those who had escaped, to save their friends or
children, made up scene which can only be i'm
agined by those who have witnessed one equally
terrible.
No 80, on the first floor, was occupied BY Martin
hedman, as grocery and liquor store. He is we
believe insured. In the remaining parts of the
house were six families, and the remaining three
houses, Nos. "a, 90 and 90, were filled wholly bv
families, in all, over rtwenty-probably about thirty
families
Andrew Whaen, with his wife and four children,
occupied the third floor of No 80. in the rear
Jane McMalley, sister. in-law of Thomas Bennett
Of No So WRen aroased 51 b the ha
she attempted to escape by the stairs but was
met by solid mass of flame. Finding every other
means OF escape impossible, she jumped from the
wlnaow OF the fourth floor into the yard, breaking
her thigh In the descent In addition to the ipiu-
rles sustained by falling, she was badly burned
She was conveyed to the Hospital and the phvsi
clan who dressed her wounds is of opinion that her
recovery is impossible
Mrs. Whalen and her four children were burned
to death The names and ages of the children were
as follows:
Bridget, aged four years; Catherine, fourteen
Thomas. aged twelve; an infant daughter.
Mr.. Whalen, the head of the family, is nipht
aborer in the stables of the Sixth avenue. railroad
and was not at home at the time of the fire. He
heard OF 1t, and hurried home. only TO find the
charred remains of his entire family.
Another entire family, with the exception of the
father, was burned to death, namely, Mrs. Bennett,
wife of Thomas Bennett, and three children
MIR. Bennett is also night aborer in the Sixth
avenue railroad stables, and was absent. William
Irving occupied part of the fourth floor of one of
the houses. and jumped from the window to save
his life. Everything he had was burned up; he
has no insurance. The furniture of the building
IN fact, was of a very poor kind, and was mostly
destroyed. 1t Is heavy loss to the poor families,
though small in value. Some was saved, and NAV
be seen piled up in the street. watched by women
and children.
After the flames were subdued, the search for
the remains commenced. Nine bodies horribly
burned, Ia frOm he rnin
the Twenty-second ward station house. corner of
Sth avenue and 4Sth street. The bodies are so
burned that it is difficult to recognise them Mr.
Bennett recognized the remains of his wife by
ring on her finger and his infant child by its size
no other child so young having been burned The
scene when the friends and relatives gathered about
the bodies, to discover, if possible some traces by
which they might be identified, was deeply affect
ing and tragic. The sObs of the women and the
more silent grief of the husbands and fathers were
enough to move the hardest. One, approaching
the remains of his wife, raised the cloth with his
left hand, and, gazing silently for moment
pointed with his left hand to the almost shapeless
mass, and said TO the spectators ''There is NV
wife; there is my infant; there is my boy | be-
lieve, though am not sure it is all that is left of
my family" and.walked away with bowed head
and tears falling fast young man who board
ed in the house is missing and is supposed to have
oeen killed. From the fact that the fire broke out
under fight of stairs, where there was no stove
or other heating apparatus it is strongly supected
that 1t was the work of incendiary, but the ori
Fire Marshal Baker.
Coroner Gamble empanneed jury, and pro-
ceeded with an inquest at l2% o'clock Dr. Woos-
ter Beach was first called, and described the ap-
pearance and condition Of the human remains re-
covered.
Thos Bennett, father ofthe family lost on the
fourth tOor testified that he left his house on Tues
day evening at O'Clock to attend to his business
Besides his family there was his cousin Jane Nc
q IN rtF1Na,a 70 l.
OF fire about p o'clock in the evening and heard
soon afterwards that the house he lived in was on
hre; he Immediately ran there, and found the
fire so hot iu the hallway that he could not;
he then ran round to try and discover where his
family were; he supposed they were out of the
house; he heard nothing of them until he saw their
remains this morning; he could not identify any
bodies; thought the largest one was that of Mrs
wheeler; he saw no one inside of the building
while it was on fire.
James McCue, who lived opposite the fire tes-
tIhed to seeing the fire Immediately after it broke
out, and going to the assistance of the inmates; he
first heard the scream of woman, as he thought,
which was shortly repeated.
Several other witnesses were examined and the
case given to the jury, who found the following
verdict:
awe find that the deceased persons came to their
death by burns received at the nhagration of
the house No. 80 West Forty-ffth street, on the
morning of the 2Sth inst The Jury further CEN
sure the owner Of said building for not providing
ladders to the scuttes which, had they been pro-
vlded, would, in our opinion, have prevented the
accident and loss of ife.'
THE HEPHILADELPHIA FUGITIVE SLAVE CASE
The Negro Remanded to the Custody of the
Claimant-A Writ of Habeas Corpus issued
by Judge AllisOn-The Attempt at Rescue.
From the Ledger Of yesterday.l
The case of Moses Horner, claimed by Charles Il
Butler, of Virginia, as a slave was resumed yester-
day morning, at ten o'clock, before Judge Cadwal-
ader. No witnesses appeared for the prisoner, and
the counsel proceeded to argue the as present
ed by the claimant. Mr. Earle took the ground
that, under the act, the Judge must have "satis-
frctory proof as to the identity. Nothing was
left to doubt In this the Judge could not
be perfectly satisfied the witnesses did not re-
cOgnize the prisoner by any distinctive marks
nor was there full description in the certificate
Mr.. Bul then proceeded with his argument in
behalf of the prisoner. He took the ground that
the title of Mr.. Butler was not clearly estab
lished.
Brewster for the claimant, and accordingly, when
Mr.. Bull closed, the decision was rendred The
Judge said that, as to the principal question: that
of identity, the claimant had examined witnesses
whose means of knowledge made them competent
to testify to the identity of the prisoner. The
Judge rebuked the latitudinarian tendency of the
argument INDUCED in by the counsel in their ar
gument; and, in conclusion, be remanded thenegrO
to the custody of the Marshal to be delivered to
the claimant Immediately upon the announce
ment of this decision, loud cheer was sent up
in the courtroom, but the officers promptly checked
all manifestations of approval or disapproval.-
After the room had been partially cleared, Lu-
cretia Mott, who was present, made her way to
the bar, in front of the Judge, and commenced
an animated argument at his Honor, on the in
justice of the law. Judge Cadwalader took it
good humoredy. While this was going on, the
counsel for the prisoner created considerable ex-
element by serving upon the Marshal writ of
habeas corpus, issued by Judge Allison, of the
Common Pleas, commanding that officer to pro-
duce before him this morning, at ten o'clock,
the body of Moses Horner. Considerable dis
cusson indulged in by the members of
the bar present, as to this question of a State
Court Interfering in case decided by Federal
Court. The decision in the Wisconsin case was
quoted to show that no power vested in the State
Courts to interfere with the decision of Judge
sitting in United States Court. All the morning
and up to the time the decision was rendered, the
neighborhood of the courtroom was throDged with
coored people, but disturbance took place until
the officers made their appearance with the negro,
and attempted to place him in carriage to be con-
veyed to the county prison. This excited the mob,
and rush was made upon the vehicle. The pO-
lice, who stationed along Fifth street in force,
succeeded in keeping the crowd back while the
prisoner was seated in the carriage, but so as
the driver started towards Chestnut street, the
horses were seized and forced upon the pavement
Again the police forced the mob back but the riot
rallied, and as the carriage turned into Chest
nut street. the horses again stopped aud driv-
en- on to the sidewalk. Then ensued scene of wild
confusion, lasting for several minutes. The pole of
the carriage broken, and the horses became
he tbo