The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-10-14

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PHsI.ApE1rHIk, oeteber l8.--Ihe Gre q,
Loundesbergers MIL last nfehf, which WAS
80 disastrous 70 Vie and property, orisina-
ted In the iinishing-room, on the second
floor, and spread upward through the
building with amazing rapidity. About
forty-five OF the hands, twelve OF whom
were girls, were at work on this floor, but
the majority were engaged In the spinning
and weaving departments on the upper
floors. lDf
The wooden stsirways at either end Of
the building was soon ablaze. The bridge
connecting the building with another mill
was shut OF from approach by fre-prooi
doors, and In the absence OF any fire-escape
panic instantly ensucd among the mea
and women confined within the building.
They rushed to the windows, crying fran
ticaly to the crowd below 10 save them. IL
was proposed By the crowd 10 form squares
In the street and catch the men and girls az
they leapcd out, but before anything could
be done a young woman leaped from the
fifth story. IL seemed that every bone In
her body was broken, for she never breathed
again.
After this the imprisoned people seemed
70 become frenzied, and although the crowd
outside sought to encourage them by shout
ing that help would speedily be there, they
began jumping. from the windows like
sheep. One man, apparently bereft OF rea-
son, flung himself headlong TO the street,
and while his body was st;Il In the air others
followed, now man, then woman. or
half-grown girl, until in five minutes eleven
human beings, ono and all unconscious,
with fractured skulls and broken limbs,
we're being carried by tender hands to q
neighboring saloon, on the floor OF which
body after body was laid in n row until
vehicles were procured to convey them TO
hospitals.
By this time the relatives OF the victims
began to gather outside OF the building,
and the cries OF the mothers outside 10
their children still in the burning rooms
and their lamentations over those who had
jumped and been literally dashed to pieces
were heartrcnding to hear. When the
fircmen were able 70 enter the building
they found on the third floor the bodies OF
two females burned almost to crisp and
man badly sc0rched and dead. Before they
could search further the fourth floor, with
IFS heavy machinery, came crashing
through, and they barely escaped with
their lives.
The firemen were compelled then to de-
sist i'm their labors because the floors had
gone through TO the ground, and the ma
chincry, charred wood, and what remained
OF the unfortunate operatives Qen or
DOZEN were mingled together in m unre-
cOgniZable mass, which was scething and
sending out columns OF steam as the cold
water was poured upon il. Seven are
known TO be dead and twenty-three iniur-
ed, mostly young women.
The victims were carried of In all direc-
lonesome to their homes, some to houses
close by, and others to various hospitals,
so their exact number cannot yet be stated.
The physicians say that nearly every one OF
the eases admitted 10 st. Mary's Hospital
will result fatally. The total number OF
deaths will probably exceed twenty, there
being ten dead bodies in the ruins. Had
the fire occurred in daylight fully 100 peo-
pie would have been compelled to fight
for life with the flames.
Within on hour the flames were brought
under control, leaving the walls standing
but the inside completely Quilted out. The
loss in property will amount TO $4,000, to
offset which there Is an Insurance OF $780,
600. Some OF the workmen attribute the
origin OF the fire TO sparks from the electric
light falling among the waste. Others at
tribute it, sudden spread to the influences
OF oyerheated wires. The same mill was
burned in 1877. Two bodies have been
recovered this morning from the ruins.
Up to noon to-day the number Of desd
bodies recovered, as reported TO the Coro-
ner, was eleven. OF which five are st the
morgiIe, two ut their homes, and four in st.
Mary's Hospital. The deputy coroner
visited the scene Of the disaster this morn
ing and learned that the means Of escape
from the building were inadequate. The
only theory OF the origin Of the fire is that
already advanced, the electric light.