, 1872-12-28

time yesterday when the fire broke out. Ttg
girls, as it was Christmas, were eagerly longing
for the half hour to strike, when suddenly some
OF the printers from the rooms below rushed up
to the girls apartment with the intelligence that
the building wa5 on fire. scene OF wild con
fusion Immediately enBucd. Tue only modo Old
ogress from the upper floors was.b .bY means of ~
narrow stairway and
ADJECTIVE E1nE ESCAPE.
and to these two points m indiscrirninafa 7ueh
was made when the alarm was first given. In the
direction Of the stairway, with sucn tcrrihlo
rapidity had the fire spread, dense smoke was
beginning to rise, and the panic WAS further in:
Cured BY the supposition that the connection By
way Of the stairs was cut of. The girls, in tho
Wild terror Of the moment, lost all control oi
themselves, and their screams could be heard fos
olocss away. Some ran to the windows OF the
rooms Ii which they worked and some to the
oeo5s, and IN the hurry they knocked aud tram
eo on the same floor and the two upper ones
were almost as 1auct frightened as tho girls, and
completely LOST their presence of mind. the ex-
c'tement on Ehe street WAS inteneo. Sixty hu-
maa lives we're lHperilled and their salvation
was depending almost entircl; OF their o,7a
efforts. There were
~ BRAVE len AND TRUE
I I ~ Ine crowd. hremen and policemen, who we're
| OF service but until those Who we're Within hs5
| made Bonie effort those without conI rondar
! little or no assistance.
some OF the girls, more courageous than the
| others, determined to try the stairway. and as
the communication with the lower part Of the
building fortuna' ely not cut of, theysucceed.
ed, efter penetrating through tie smoke, in
reaching the street. In the meantime higher and
| higher leaped the flames. Stone and iron Offer
ed but feeble resistance to the dread elemcn;.
and in few minutes after the girls were ii.=3
alarmed by the CRY Of "Fire!" had reachc;
almost to their rooms. As stated. o:e, the srz-
escape was defective, and 1t wcs E.a withou: ex-
working order. At length it Was attached to tho
window and . number Of girls rushed oa
to it. William Dean, policeman c:
! the Sixth Precinct, mounted to the tn
and rendered valuable assistance to the g;r.i,
| and by this agency number Of girls we're r:s-
! cued. George Middleton, who occupies SALOON
! on tho corner Of Centre and Worth streets, AL
Detective Dolan also exerted themselves, aid
did good and valuable work. What rendered to
! task Of
! 1EscuEa TEE GIRLS
! so difficult was the fact that the escapes woro
provided with no ladIera> and had it not been
! for tho e1ertions OF Captain Kennedy and Lis
men, who hurried themselves IN providing lad
ders, the task would have been more Gificr!=
one. As the girls one By one we're taken gu: Ito
multitude cheered. and when they reached tho
pavement they were tcndeziy cared for,
and those, who were injured we1o
: hurry the girls had neglected to secure their
, effects, and most of them lost their gloves.
! muffs, and their better wearing apparel, which
they were in the custom Of changing for rouG;ic1
i suits each morning before they commenced
! work. Severe this loss vas to them they di
! not grumb1e, and were extremely Thankful thai
! they had escaped with their lives. Oae g:7l,
i Emma Francis, of Jersey City, pretty, br7wa-
haired, brown-eyed girl, who worked in no
nearly down to the ground whca, fearing TIA
! escape Was about to give way,
| SIZE DROPPED THE GDoUSD
and sprained her ankle, but rot severely. Sic
! WAS taken to the station-house, ard III sEor.
! time WAS well enough to go home with Ter faihe.
! to Jersey City. Mary Hopkins, young girl c:
10, living First avenue also fell from :l.e Erc-
| escape. and was wounded in the check. She v;ac
taken homo.
t It ia greatly feared that somo Of The girls nre
missing, as there were two or three who had Eo:
] been heard from up to O'Clock. One girl,
| named Mary Donovan, WIS for @ time reporsei
killed, but she turned up aftcrward Ill right. &c
tho great joy of her relatives, who were arx-
iously searching for her. Jennie Stuart is yet
| missing, and at late hour last evening he
brother and sister, who could succeed L
finding no trace Of her, run about frantic in tie
station house. An old man. who worked on TIC
same floor with the girls, told the reporter tEat
he had grave fears that ct least three Of them
had perished as he considered it impossible that
all could have escaped in the panic and terror
| that succeed ID the alarm. Had the fire escapes
| been good oil would have been well, but
THEIR WANT OF LADDERS
! and loose construct III might, and probably has,
! caused serious loss Of life. The spectators
breathed more freely when the imminent danger
in which tile poor girls.wore in was aycrted ara
sincere admiration was expressed for the hero
ism and daring with which the policemen ana
! tremen acted.
! Scarcely had the employees Of the establish
ment been rescued, when another striking lnc;'
dent took place Standing e. On & the TOP ct the
; and Howe t. Iummcl. wero five 1rcmen, who
had stream of water in operation upon the wal
It It soon u became apparent that thoy could not 5e
of much service, but they bravely held until,
suddenly, the wnl1 fell with sefrihc crash, send
ing up million Of blazing sparks, and envolor-
lug everything around in dense smoke 4 crJ
! of terror went up from the spectators.
| ''The fremen are lost!" ''They are lost!"
| shouted every one. They were not lost, Lo"-
ever. The middle part Of the wall slowly COM
menced to give why first, and the fremen, Per
ceiving this, had time to get down from tho 1uoe
/ ;,~ 30