The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-09-15
THREE FIREMEN KILLED.
ONE BRTILTINT nut FEdRFULLY
COSTLY EXPERIMENT.
Testing n New Piece of Pirc Apparatus Be-
yond its strength - The Breaking Of nm
Aerial Ladder that had been Overloa ded.

Aerial Ladder that had been OverIoa ID.
The triangular space formed by the
junction OF East Broadway with Canal and
Rutgers streets, and known as Rutgers square,
was occupied all yesterday Afternoon by a con-
stantly changing Assem- blage Of morbid curiosl-
~ seekers. They pried down persstently into
the crevices between the paving stones, and
picked out little spllnters Of white pine, hat
they seized upon as treasures and they scrapcd
to one side with their feet the sawdust that rad
been sprinkled over some red stains on the
pavement to look at the clot OF human blood
that made the stain. And until nightfall the
number OF persevering searchors did not de-
crease.
For several weeks past william II. Nash, chief
OF FIRE Battalion No. 4, has, under tnstruC lions
from the Fire Department. been drilling squads
OF nremen IN the use Of the aerial ladder, and
he has frequently chos en- Rutgers square for a
muster ground, as IL Afforded more space for the
evoiuiions of the drill tn n most streets. The
usual time for drill has been at six o'clock in
the morning ana q squad has consis ed OF one
man detailed from each Of the seven companies
forming the battalion. Yesterday morning at
six o'clock the truck bearing the lad
der was brought out, the ladder was
thrown upright In the air, and Chief Nash
mounted TO the highest rung, after
which the ladder was lowered, separated into its
sections. and trunded back to lis house. Tue
construction of the AERIAL ladder Is peculiar. IL
T. the invention OF a Milanese named Porto Pao-
10, who obtained "A patent from the Italian Gov
letters patent to Michaelo Uda and Mary B.
scott Ida, little later. On the 2d OF Septem-
her 1873. Nine. Uda obtained additional patent
rights I'm this country. and on Feb. O. 1874 granted
To the city for $4,000 the privilege OF using
tnem. comptroller Green contested the appro-
priation made To nay her. and after years con-
test in the courts, Nine. Udi was awarded 49,
90. lbe ladder consists usually of eight sec
TONS each twelve feet long. The side pieces Of
the sections are Of wood, but are tipped alter
natey with iron caps and sockets, so that the
caps Of one section nt into the sockets Of an
other, and are held secure by a runR that Is run
through some slote provided for It. The
swings on pivot attached to heavy truck
and 10y means Of a windlass, can be raised from
horizontal to perpendicular position. when
the oder Is To be used, the nremen are expect
ed to connect the sections rapidly, and, when
the whole ladder lies complete. to raise It by the
windlass TO any required elevation. by piece
OF complex mechanism the ladderc n he swung
In circle to dny point within reach. To ac-
quire ease and despatch in handling the ladder
severe drill - required. and this has been rig
ldly cxaCted 10y Chief Nash that when he
brought the machine out at II O'Clock for a sec
ond trial Yesterday, the squad In charge OF IL
swung the truck into position. 1tted the sections
together. and raised the ladder to an angie Of
seventy -nve degrees In less than six minutes.
The movements OF the men were beautifully
harmonious. drawing hearty applause from an
immense multitude. Capt. McElwain and Serct
Snyder had a section OF the Madison street police
TO hold back the thrOng, and clelrod a space
sufficiently ample for the unhindered move
nents Of the hremen.
The LENGTH OF the ladder was ninety-elght
| feet. and, at the Hngle at which IL leaned. the
ment. The ladder rested only In the air, hun
| dfed feet from any building. II was painted a
bright blue. and was still bright In its newness,
| having been used only four times. The light
iron rods aud gas pipes that ran up both sides
were painted red and glistened In the sunlight.
| IL was very graceful and beautiful.
| new movement WIS to be executed. In
which one man was TO rush To the top section,
another following him to the second, another to
the third, and so on to the bottom. Chief Nash,
daring and impetuous, insisted upon being first,
and he rapidly scaled the ddeI's rune. Next
to him w.s Philip Msus of Hook and Ladder
| Company No. q, and next was William Hughes
| Assist.nt Foreman Cusick Of Chemical Engine
Conn. p.ny M. were fourth and nfth ana Rott.
J. Gould of hnsine No. l6s gomuany. William
| Bowers uf Engine No. II, Thomas c. Lee Of
| Hook ana l. ldder No. ., and Cornelius j.
kingsley of Engine No.. II, followed at
the very summit, and the Others were eacn one
! ON his own section when a tremOr IAN through
! tremur became a perceptible vibration. and the
| vibration iengthened rapidly into swayiug
cried Chief Engineer Eli Bates. who stood by
! the side Of the truck. and Without waiting to
give the imperilled men time TO act upon
bus order he shouted loudly and ernestly,
| " Hurry down for Gods sake, boys. hurry You
have done enough iheyha done toOmucn, and
! lt too late for them all to save themselves.
| There was huTrying, panic-strlcken rush
| OF the IN downward, but Chief Nash stood
| still at the top. those who were ON the fourth
! ana fifth sections. Beebe Hnd Cusick. clasprd
| the smooth sides and slid to the thrd section
Gould, who was on the third section lie ned
tuirty feet from his position to the truck, and
the Others scrambled as they could Maus and
| Hughes were making hurried descent; the
| eyes Of the multitude were fastened upon them
| and upon Nash. \ hard or ckliug was heard :
tie ladder beat from the middle OF the fourth
section, ana then broke sharp "a, falling toward
| the ground with three men Chuging to II. Inc
| remaining portion, relieved from the strain
whlch the ialllne sections caused, sprang uack
| to true position, hurting TO the truck In
| the shock the few men stlll clinglng t. IT, A
| cry went up from tue multitude, and women
| tainted.
| Oi the three men in mid air. Nash first lost hls
hold Of the ladder while still sixty feet above the
! h ri pavement. and. after whirling twice hs he
| fell, he struck heavily. Maus was thrown sid :
! " As from the ladder by a sudden, tTeachcruls
| lurch aud was terribly .nangled ana quite dead
when the crowd rushed Ia to raise him To his
| feet. Hughe- fell among the ruins and did not
| breathe after the fall
| Dr. Powell was summoned Immediately: the
! lre signal was sounded to summon Bellevue
| Hospitals amDulances, and Nash, Hughes, aud
| Maus were carried on stretchers To the Madison
| street station. Nash was sti breathing, but was
! unconscious, ana within twenty minutes he was
dead. Jnsi tren Commissioner Brennan APP
! peared with ambulances at the door but they
| were used only 10 carry three bodies to three
! dcsOlate homes.
| Nash's skull was fractured, and 80 was
| Hughes's. Both men were badly cut and
| bruised, and HuRhes's collar bone was broken,
was twice broken. and both arms and one leg
| were fractured. OF the other nremen on the
ladder Lee had his left hand sprdined. and
| Beebe had his face bruised and a thigh Injured.
The side Lieces OF the ladder, which were
made OF white pine, were about six inches wiJe
| huu TWO incneS lnlCk IN lnt pldCth NneTo tney
/ uroke, but they ware weakened by Tung-hOles
that had been bored 6. ..c.S ;n.n one inch IN
| diameter. In the top section wnich was shat
tered by the fail the SIDE pieces we're not more
| than two and one half inches by an inch anu a
| half, and the r.ngs were not more than two
| thl DIS OF an inch In diameter.
Among those whn saw the disaster were Mad
| anne L. da ana VIM. Is. White, who hurled away
! even before the Door victims were carried from
| the spot, ana long before company of saa T.
| faced hremen slowly trundled the hated truck
and LADDER back to their quarters. The ma
chimes nave been In limited use 10y the Fire De-
| part tment Tor two years, aud ON June b, 1873,
Dennis j. Leary, of Engine No. 81, was, 10y an
accident similar to that of yesterday, preolpi-
tated sixty feet down In city Hail Park, tut was
not killed, IDe ladders, though. have not boen
tested in actual service, IL was designed,
though, 10 Introduce them this fall. and six
weeks ago the Concord Wagon Company, of
Concord, N, H., finished four under contract
for 5000. One OF them had been used almost
daily by chief Nash, but the one that broke yes
terday had been out only four times.
Chief VIM. y. Nash was one OF the most
daring and prominent men In the force, and his
record Is a rem Ikable one. lie was born IN the
Ninth Ward Of lhis city, June Is, lHk!, and be-
came glider by trade. lie entered the United
states service in the war, joining Der
dans sharpshooters, In whion command
he subsequently rose 20 the rank Of
major. lie was one Of the founders and an hon
oraiy member OF the Iwenty-second Regiment,
and was at one time its drill -InAster,
lie Depume IA UIemnn attHchad IN anuina