Daily Kennebec journal., 1877-09-05
THE NEW YORK FIRE.
The Loss of Life Less Than
at First Reported.
VICTIMS OF THE EIGHTH
STORY.

NEW YORK, September l. The loss and insur-
ance in the great fire at Fifth Street and Seventh
Avenue Is still to great extent matter of con-
lecture. Ihe engines are still at work upon the
same parts of the ruins. large force of work
ruen are on hand, and search for the missing will
commence as soon as possible.
lhe hre at the piano factory was not so destruc-
tive of life as at first suspected Up to late hour
this afternoon only four inquiries for the missing
have been made. Jacob HI line, reported missing
has aprened.
No reliable list of the lost can he given. Theo-
dore Staenel, aged Is, employed on the top floor
OF the piano factory, says the men ran to the stairs
TO escape, but found them on fire. The ladder es-
cape was too near the fire to be available and the
men tried the chain escape, but the wheel would
not turn and the men had to go down hand over
hand. The staircase in the corner of the building
was locked and could not be opened. A workman
on the second floor says probably ten or twelve
on 'he top hoor were burned in the ruins, as he
saw several fall back from the windows, overcome
oy The heat and smoke. Foreman Hartell has
nearly complete list of workmen seen since the
hre' and is positive only four or five were unable
to escape.
A man living opposite the factory says the work
men had time to pass from the old building where
the hle broke out, into the new building, through
connecting doors each floor. He saws the
flames swept through the old building in min.
ute, but dld not extend to the new building until
all had time to escape. The foreman gives the
number Of workmen in the factory when the fire
started, as 20 or So
One man who escaped from the sixth story. told
the foreman be descended by a wall rope and lef,
SIXTY men behind, not one of whom followed him
down.
a mason who escaped to the roof and thence
down the cham escape. says fifty men were on the
rnof ana thinks forty perished. The workmen
who escaped from the drawing room floor, where
the hre started. thinks no one else escaped from
tnat moor, nor IRON any except the top story.
spectators IgDOIt thar pOns1era hlp ima nia psal
after the fire started before the inmates were
alarmed.
Andrew Geist was observed working on the Sth
hoor while all below was in flames In answer to
shout he came to the window but seemed to be-
lleve the people were joking. As he returned
however, he opened the door, when the rush of
hsmes drove him to the cham escape. Before he
reached the second floor the chain became so hot
that he let go and fell to the ground. He says the
men on his floor persisted, as their aprons drip
ping with vsrnish and turpenline ignited from the
intense heat, and some were enyeloped in flames
before he descended.
The fremen who first arrived in 36th street, saw
they saw men in all the windows above the Sd
story, striving to escape. Before the firemen could
get ladders up tine flames burst from the windows.
linen ioar men jumped from the Sd story, all ser-
ousiy injured. One truck captain is certain that
twenty or more perished. He saw two or three at
every window on the fourth and fifth stories Sev-
efa Jumped. Some climbed half out other, were
in attitude of prayer. The screams were terrible
A woman IN the third story of a neighboriug
mouse says she saw men struggling at each of six
WINDOWS IN the 9th story of the new building and
Others IN windows below. They fought to get
down the ladder Several were hurled to the
yard and some were pushed back into the flames
those who did get on the ladder fell oil. One
man climbed outside and dropped from sill to SILL
kicking in sashes with his feet. He fell from the
third story to the ground. Two followed him, but
quickly fell. The lack of water was caused by the
small mains