New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-02-03
TERRIBLE CALAMITY!
BURNING OF A TENEMENT HOUSE.
GREAT LOSS OF LIFE.
N A ROW E. s c AP E 8
NAMES OF THE SUFFERERS.
DARING OF THE FIREMEN.

street involving the loss Of many valuable hyes ana
the manning of a number OF the SURVIVORS one vi
those immense human packing-boxes called tenement
houses ak stories high above the sidewalk, ioo iee'
deep and 50 feet front and made to mVe y Ism"'es
took fire. and before the unfortunate inmates eCu'u
eseape, a great many OF them were sunocaseo. ihe
BUILDING was No. 142 Elm street The nrst moor WAS
divided into stores-a baker occupying that on one
,de and grocer the otherhe entrance TO the tene-
mepts being between the stOres narrow staircase
led to the upper part OF the building from the street.
and another stairway descended from the second story
the yard in the The upper stories were
cached by The staircase in the center of the badng-
a narrow iIl-hghted, and dangerous passage. Each
floor wss arranged for four famiee, the doors Of the
apartments opening upon narrow hall. There were
AZ the time Of the FIRE nineteen families in the house,
exclusive Of those who occupied the stores The back
apartments on the sixth story set apart for wash
rooms for the use of the various families and the roof
was arranged for drying purposes
About O'Clock in the evening little gir in the
bakery, while filing fluid lamp set the iuid on fire.
and. dropppg the burning vessel upon the floor, its
blazing contents spread over the floor, and eommnn-
Gated with pile of shsvings under the staircase In
an instant the store was enveloped in flames and
people up stairs warned of their terrible danger, the
TIE blaze Rad burst through the stairway and eaping
upwsId, cut off their escape.
When the dIesd cry of 4" Fire" resounded through
the halls, and mp the stairways, the human swarm
within the building snsicbed up their offspring, and
rushed panicstricben from their apartments choking
mp the passages by sheer numbers As they thronged
upon and trampIed down each other in the darkness,
hale hIn1ir
and sitting them in its folds.
Those who lived on the lower floors were enabled TO
escape in comparative safety the remen and citizens
rulhpg up from the street. and dragging them through
the smoke Others raised ladders TO the sscond-soy
windows, and bore down the frantic women and help
lese children.
But higher up, beyond the reach OF the ladders,
where the smoke was more Dense the suferngs Of the
poor inmates were truly heartrending The parents,
with little ones in their screaming with alright,
and other ite ones behind, whom theycoudnot carry,
CRYING Father, mother, save US crowded
down, till the foremost started back before the
sILes now fast leaping toward them Ihen arose the
wall Of women, and the yels OF men, rs they vaniy
struggled to escspe their doom. Some sPrang oack 70
their ROOMS, and rushing the windows, leaped forth
into the lev Streets woundiug themselves by the fail
Others ran 10 and fro, beating tner breasts tearing
their hair, and frantcay beseechiDg aid from t9e
crowd of people below; threw their children on.
first and then followed Themselves as the quick fire
singed their hair, and laid hold upon their gar
ments. Most of those in the passages, after strug-
Cling yainly against fate, had suceumbed to the
,uocatino vapor but at nearly all the upper windows
were women and cbildrtn whose vain appeals for aid
rent the air and fell heat piercing upon tue mpoent
IL 81. hgaf1
could save. The lover part of the house was all
sblaze and 10 they too had yield at length to their
fate for it were az certain death TO leap from hatdzzy
hight 80 10 stay till the fire Front and rear
TIE ghastly faces looked out of the windows
upon the hundreds of uptuFned, Borrowing cOunte-
nance below, as blanced as their Own. The oldes
fremen say it was a fearful seene, such they had
never witnessed before. The first Company upon the
ground was Lady Washington, No. 10, who did gori
Gus service in rescuing the people also did the police
from the detective office. Those who got out
were taken to the Fourteenth-Wsrd StatiOn-House,
10 Police Headquarters, and to various houses in the
vicinity. The wounded were removed to the City
Hospital.
In spite Of the beet efforts of the fremen whotuned
out in strong force the building completely gutted,
and nothing but the rear corner walls left standing.
great fires in the street to prevent the engines from
freezing up. The water froze az it struck the
wala, aud men and buildings were covered with
an lev coat of mail The steam fire engines proved Of
great value in preventing the spread of the fire. and
it was the adjoining buildings sustained considerable
damsge.
sTATRnEsr OF ONE OF THE OCCUPANTS
Francis Titnar says: am a tailor and lived with
al NJ
has wife, and a little girl named Verenige. We were
all at work when we heard the cry of fire. i iuue-
diately rsn TO the door, and found the entry full Of
smoke, when exclaimed to the fOlhs, My God, the
house is on fire. arc we had better yet out quick
we can" started with Mrs VaaseI aud the little girl
to 90 down stair but could get further than the
Top Of the third-story stairway, 70 deuse was the
smoke, ano 70 thick did il come up. We waited a
little while not knowing what TO DO when the smoke
became no thick that we concluded 10 90 back. We
went NJ 10 the fourth story, where i lost
Mrs. vassel and the child in the hall. succee led
in getting to of the back windows, but finding no
chance Of escape there went of the frontroom
windows. / got out OF the window and let myself
down by one Of the shutters little way, after which
I DO not know any thing that occurred. On the
same floor with III were Mr.. Paret and lis wife aud
I'VE children. Mr.. Vassel was At home, bat do not
know what became of him. was 80 confused by
the smoke that do not know what 1 did. The last
that ] remember was climbing out of the window,
and thinking would jump out. think Ars. Vsssel
must have been burned. There no ladders that
l could reach. The hall and starways were crowded
with women and children crying for halP. saw
several fall down in consequence Of the smoke
STATEMENT MRS. WHITE.
Hftet