The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1874-09-21

that her first announcement of the danger
was received by the girls from the othel
end Of the room rushing toward hel
shrieking and crying, many ofthem Sc
terror strickerft that,their3limbs became al
most useless. lASome of the girls were
praying and lamenting their situation
while others were so possessed with feal
that they stood in mute agony watching
the brave conduct of one, man, who, To-
-pardless Of his own safety, worked with
heroic arder, and by means of rOp(
landed onthe ground aunumber Of girl;
in safety. One man who WAS completely
cut of, made his exit to she roof by meant
of the scuttle, and with a rope lowered
himself over the roof and 10 the grOunc
in safety. He stated that his companion
who WAC just behind him, had fallen
back suffocated. Many of the girls be-
came unconscious from fright ere the
flames reached them and though the num-
her of the lost at this writing is unknown
il cannot but be great Some leaped
from the windows, preferring to be
crushed and manned than burned. A
shocking heart rending sight met the eye
ON ALL sides. The ,wailing of mothers
brothers and sisters over their dead was
terrible TO hear.
RosToS, Sept. 19.-The loss of life by
the fire at Fall River SO far as known is
twentv-nine. The loss on property i,
S5O0,0OO.
Further Account.
BosroS, September l9.-The following
account of the fire in Fall River to-day,
is taken from q dispatch to the Boston
JouJmdl:
Mills numbers one and two had been
running about twenty minutes, when the
onerstivcs in number one were startled
with the cry Of fire and the escape Of
smoke from the fourth story. In this,
next to the upper floor, was the null"
warp spinning department. and there
we're nearly q hundred girls at work
under male overseer. On the upper
floor the fifth story, about thirty girls
were employed spooling and warping
cotton. These were the youngest of the
operatives. With the alarm, the flames
seemed to leap to this attic, coming from
the windows below and up the great
tower in the centre Of the building, in
which were all the stairs communicating
with each story. The fire caught in the
mule spinning story in the northwest
end of the mill. from friction in the mule
head. and spreading by means of the oil
ON the floor and about the machinery
with great quickness, rushed towards the
centre tower, the only means of escape
for those in the fourth and fifth stories,
besides four fire escapes, two on each
gable end. Once getting into the tower,
the flames ran up to and through the
single entrance to the fifth story; then
springing to the roof timbers, filled the
two grcat rooms, $50 by 90 feet, with
dense black smoke and flame. While the
flames were making such terrible head
wav the operatives became fairly wild.
The oyersrcrs saw there was no WAY
possible to check the fire, and gave their
sole attention to those whom they
had at work. They called I" them
to save themselves, and pointed out way
of escape. The overseer Of the spoof
room, who remained until nearly Suito-
Gated, states that the scene in his room
and it must have been worse in the
rooms below-cannot be depicted.
Children ran about CRYING and begging
piteouslv to be saved, yet wrcnchlng
themselves away when taken forcibly 70
the tower, while Yet there were some
chance to get to the iron ladder, which
sached to the scuttle windows of the south
end, opening upon III" roof of the balco-
nv. At the foot of Twelfth street there
were fire ladders but there was an in
possibility to get It great majority 10
lake even this method 10 save their lives.
As the fire frightened them away from
the ladders, they rushed to tn" win
dows at the south gable end, nearly
sixty feet from the ground but dared not
lump down. Cotton ropr> were put out
for them to slip down hy, but no sooner
would the rope be lowered than there
was rush for it from the story below
Too many would tax" hold, when it would
break and all ciinging t" it would com"
down in n bunch. Similar scenes Were
going on in the mule spinning room. The
flames had assembled rapidly to the m
trance of the tower on the fourth floor
cutting off this mean, of escape, but ih"
operatives had til" two ladders ot the
south gable directly before them, and
were urged by tn" oyrrsccrs and the cit-
l =. ,.,l. Ill l,,,t
Others rushed hcaiIoug upon the balcony
and threw themselves from the guards.
There was amp" time for every gone
to have been saved had girls taken itbe
course directed. The superintendent, a.
soon as the alarm was given, rushed to
the upper story, and with the ovcrscerS.
did all possible ;o save life. When the
means provided for escape in the mill
were rendered unavailable by the heat,
flames and smoke, the people procured
beds and mattress, for the poor unfortu-
mates to jump upon, and many did throw
themselves from the windoSs to, Dl al
most every case, receive fatal or terrible
injuries The tremen worked to keep
the flames out # the south end, whittier
many operatives had fed. Ladders a
long as at command were used to rescue
the girls; and il is said four frcmen lost
their livef while thus engaged: One fire
man was lowered from the roof by other
tiremen, into the building and remained
so long trying To drive the girls forth
that he had u he let go ysthOse who
held his rope and being drivdn away BY
the smoke b.. was lost. MorgueS and
hospitals We" speedily improvised, the
Mission Chap being taken for the latter,
, and as fast a, the girls could be picked up
from undcf the windows of Che mill
stretchers we're ready TO carry them to
either the Chapel or the Central Station.
At the latter place twenty-five bodies
were soon wing and other unf"rtunatcs
had been ;ssen to the stations or to their
homes. /. a number Of Instances the
bodies cd not be recognized they
were 81 -. Gw,rnJ kaprirnn6 and dirt