The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-09-22
I'm, MON ers shs astisss reached thers


were terrible to hear. The flames spread SO
rapidly and the smoke was go thick that The
loss of life was terrible. Those who jumped
from the windows fell fifty or sixty feet, and
were either killed outright or suffered such
shock that they died soon afterward.
EXTENT OF THE FIRE.
The fire was under control shortly before
$50 O'Clock. Then the entire roof had not
fallen IN, nor had the walls erumbled much
below the eyes Of the north side. The fire,
as alluded to, was kept almost wholly out OF
that part of the building south Of the tower,
and so q portion Of the fourth and fifth
floors was left. North Of the tower the de.
struction was greaier. The roof Of that Sec
ton fell in, and took with 1t the tops Of the
gable wall, and carrying portion of the fifth
floor with it, crumbled through to the third
story, thus leaving sound the carding and
the two weaving floors. 49,.
The Granite Mills have been some time
running full time, and turned out five thou
sand pieces of print cloth per week, and it
is supposed that considerable amount Of
stock is ruined, either by fire, or water, or
smoke. 31rrz'
A large amount Of machinery has also
been rendered useless, principally, however,
that in the two upper stories. The most eX-
pensiye is still good, and the engines and
boilers are uninjured. The insurance, it is
therefore expected, will cover ell loss to pro-
perty.
When the fire was seen and understood
by the managers Of the Merchants Mill or.
derS were issued TO suspend work, and the
hands thus relieved were marshaled By the
oyerseers and went to do what good they
could to the unfortunate girls In the Gran
lite Mills, and their services were appreci.
ated. 1t is reported that the walls Of the
mill No. l will have to come down, as by the
heat the granite Of which the building was
constructed had cracked and become soft.
The total insurance is S45O,000 in eastern
companies. Insurance agents who have
viewed the ruins estimate the loss ut sixty
per cent. of the amount. They estimate the
value of that portion not burned at $l57 800.
Part of the machinery in the lower stories
will be saved in damaged condition. All
the larger mutual companies in the country
had risks on the property. The Manufac-
turers Mutual, of Boston, had about $4,000
on the Granite Mill, and some mutual offices
had almost as large an amount. Most of the
managers Of mutual companies in Boston
have gone TO Fall River. Policies are also
held by the following mutual companies: :
al nj " VI bOStou al le'NSk ~hubAois VI
Fall River; and Worcester, of Worcester.
CASUALTIES.
The following is a. list of casualties as far
as aScertained:
Dead-Thomas Keaveny, Annie Smith,
James Smith, child, limbs burned to crisp;
Kate and Margaret Murphy, and third sister
missing; Ephriam Keith, Robert Smith,
James Newton, James Mcdonald, Mary Hea-
ley. jumped from window, brains dashed
out; James Turner, Helen j. Hunter,
Anna Healey, Maggie Harrington, Gertrude
Gray, Victoria Warner, Jahonna Healey,
Mary Lasonda, Annie Sullivan, Ellen Han
ley, and Mary Burns.
Wounded.-k Katie Smith, cut on the head,
hip, and back; Joseph RamSbottom, ankle
spraincd; Hannah TWomley, fatally injured !;
Maggie Twomley, her sister, badly hurt
about the legs and head j; Isabella Moor.
head, arm and side; Hannah CBriep, spine
hurt fshe came down rope to the third
story window with two other girls and then
dropped to the ground; Albert Nichols,
nearly suffocated: young man named Por-
ter fatally injured, and bis sister badly. The
following are also more or less badly wound
ed: Mary Regency, Mary A. Healy, Annie
Daily, Mary Sullivan, Annie Towney, Mar
garet Towney, Kate Healy, Della Warner,
Kate Harrington, Julia Mahoney, Mary Bow.
Ter. Nancy Mulln, Arabella Keith, Bertha
Wordell, Margaret Sullivan, Annie Z. Ha-
ley, Nellie Jones, Hannah Stafford, James
Mason, E. D. Keith, Della Porter, and
Thomas Gibson.
Mssinq.-Mike Devine. Miss Murphy,
Maggie Dillon, Catherine Healy and sisters.
A coroner's jury has been summoned to
thoroughly investigate the sad catastrophe.
They will meet to-day. Citizens demand
this. Humanity will sanction, and justice
to the relatives and friends of the sufferers
requires it.
CAUSE OF THE GREAT LOSS OF LlFE-ALLEGED
IScAPACITy OF THE FIRE DEPARTMEST-lN-
ADEQUATE MEANS OF ESCAPE, &C.
dispatch says:
.sThe feeling of indignation at the way
the fire was managed is growing very bitter.
Chief Engineer Durfee is censured for inca
Dacitr by many, and accused of losing all
control over himself and his men. The Mill
Company is blamed for inadequate means OF
escape from the building. There are two
hook-and-ladder companies here provided
with ladders thirty-tive feet long, which
could have been Spliced, so as to
reach the upper stories, the highest OF Which
is sixty-three feet from the ground No at
tempt was made during the fire to splice
them and save the women in the top story.
MANY declare that this could have been
done. and would, had not the fremen and
their chief been paralyzed with fear.
"The chief says that box 72, over quar-
ter of a mile from the fire, was the
first struck; after that there was
interference between the. alarm from
box No. y and the box in the mill. so that
it was impossible to count. He believed the
disaster due to the coWardice of the WORK
men in the fifth story, who knew they were
TO blame for not having the machinery oiled,
and thought to put out the fire without an
alarm, and save themselves from censure.
They must have waited at least fifteen min
utes before sounding the alarm. lie was
sure of this, for he noticed that all the bar
rels of water had been emptied.
"The foreman Of one company declared
that the cause of the loss OF life was the
keeping of the operatives on the sixth floor
shut uD too long. This story was told from
the first, and was corroborated by the state
ment of one of the girls, who declared that
she begged and prayed to have the door
opened, but it was refused.
"These statements are somewhat at vari-
ance with those made by the agent OF The
Granite Mills. He said there was no lock or
means of fastening and no attempt made to
shut them up"
EXCITEMENT IN SOUTH CARoLINA.-Au.
o,.sta Ca, September 20.-A report reached
this city this afternoon that about four hum
dred negroes, under the leadership of a
negro named Tenant, intended to make an