The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1882-02-15
A Calamitous Fire in New York.

A Calamitous Fire in New York.
At 10 o'clock in the morning the large five
story building on Beekman street, extending
from Park row to Nassau street, New York,
was discovered to be on fire, and in about ten
minutes tho whole structure was in flames.
Tho building was commonly known aB the
World bull ling, q part of it having been occu-
pied until recently by that newspaper. 1t WAS
I'D and peculiarly constructed, having a large
well in the center, up which the flames rushed
with fearful rnpidi.y, cutting off many of tho
tenants from escape by the stairs. The story
OF this fire one OF the most disastrous that
has visited the metropolis in many yoars-ls
told rs follows: About five minutes after the
smoke was first observed the flames shot up
lrJm the basement through an elevator way at
the Nassau street door, spreading in every one
of the five stories, reaching the top IN an III,
-tant. blazing right through the roof, and
m~inglinS luridly with the column OF smoke.
70 most Of tho $50 to ITS persons III the
many offices which occupied the struc-
turr, the fire itself gave the only warn
ius. Few heard any cutlery. Flames
cracking at tho doors were in some instances
The first sound of the danger; and instant.
deadly danger it was, FOR the Railways and
,rairways were filled with fire before two
tn rds of the inmates could escape through
hem. The rest got out by the windows or not
At all. Tic fire had other ways of rising and
pre- din. Than by the pine boarded elevator,
though That would have been sufficient by it.
elf to distribute the flames quickly. In the
.rntcr ofthe building was q huge we'll, reach
iny / ON the second story to the roof, and hav-
ing windows opening into the adjoining rooms.
In this the fire roared as in q chimney. with q
mig " draught, kindlinS the woodwork of the
windows and shivering the glass. The large
square openings made by The we'll in two of
nc floors were rallied around with wooden bal
nsirades and formed galleries from
which offices opened, and all this space was
speedily ablsze. Those who escaped with,
out hindrance did so in the wild
rush down the small row of stair
Ways into Park row. They were men, women
and boys. Many of them were bareheaded anu
without overcoats or wraps, 30 hasty was their
Hight. A few carried books and bundles,
caught up on the instant. There wore similar
-t4irs leading down to Nassau street, but along
side these was the elevator, and egress waslm-
pn sib!e by them within two minutes after the
ire gained a Roadway. 1t is said that there
were $50 persons in the building and that
Tcarly, or quite, fifty were still inside when no
u.liher hope of escaping by doors and stairs
scattered on all the floors above the lower one.
They were chiefly the editors, publishers,
clerks and printers of the Scientific
AMERICAN, tho Observer, the Scottish
american, the Retailer, the Turf, Field and
Farm, and Thompson's Bank Note Reporter,
$. NJ. Pe,tcngill l. Co., the Paine Brothers, and
sew. raj patent solicitors also had employees
there. The World establishment had lately
been removed, and twelve carpenters wero al
tcring the vacated rooms for other occupancy.
The adventures of tho imprisoned fifty we're
varied in their degrees of peril, from a COM
p,ratirely easy climb down q ladder all the way
20 hOI rible death. -.
4 fallen horse or q car off the track will
ransc 4 crowd in Park row. Itmay be realized,
,lcrc ore, that the spectacle of a five-story
building all ablaze-half q block Of led 1lamo
reaching solidly to q height or $50 feet, and
oppcd with 200 feet moro of dense smoke
drew 4 multitude which filled Printing House
suuarc. The heat drove everybody out OF
Mas I'll and Deekman streets, but on the Park
row SIDE there was plenty Of available space,
and its earlier occupants were Mortified by what
they saw.
Af.cr the first outpour Of panic-stricken per-
sons from the doorway on Park row came SOW
cr. ! stragglers, singed by tho flames which had
touched them rs they stumbled down the stairs,
c',uked by the smoke and wild with terror.
then n big blaze burst out, and the spectators
know that no more could como out alive at that
point. A general cry Of sympathy and alarm
arose as the ii cures of men and women appeared
at the windows of the fourth and fifth stories.
FIrcmcn had arrived, an alarm at 1O:15 having
been promptly responded to, but their longest
ladders oufy reached well up to the third story.
A gill tainted at sight of these seemingly
doomed prisoners, and ordinations Of pity
were couchod IN the strongest terms. From
the third story it was easy to climb down the
ladders, and many did so, with the assistance
of tho fremen. But there were not ladders
enough for all who were on that floor even, be-
cause the fire was already in the rooms, catch
ng in The p l IS of paper with which nearly all
The newspaper Offices were incumbercd. and
ito utmost haste was requisite to escape burn
ing or suflocatlon.
Two MN threw up q window Of the Observer
office, and climbed out on the narrow sill. A
rcd glare behind them, with a black back
ground of smoke, showed how holly they were
"ursucd. They were the Rev. DR.. S. Ircnnrs
Prime, editor of the Observer, and the Rev. DR..
S,oddIrt. A wide signboard served as q guard
for them, and they edged along behind it until
they got to tho Times building adjoining,
where they entered q window. At the same
time Edward L. G. Bruce, OF the 1ay,, F'eh1
and Farm, climbed from a window OF his OIL
fee, in tic next story above, and by means OF
a handy signboard reached Thompson's adver-
Using upclCH III VIC tbC uAANiHS D"S
without 4 burned hand and lace. a cneer "en'
up f. ON the crowd.
But the cheering was only for an instant. IL
was silenced by a horrifying sight. Mrs. Ellen
Bull, colorcd, the ~janitress of five offices in the
building, aged about fifty years, came to q
tlird-story window and called loudly for help.
Some men held a largo sheet for her and she
jumped, but missing the sheet, fell with terri.
bic force on the sidewalk. She was raised and
taken at once 10 the Chambers street hospital,
where slo died in about an hour.
Eichard s. Davy, printer, a native OF Eng
Iani. forty years old, was seen on the root
running wildly up and down and calling loudly
for Hep helpl" Suddenly he was seen to
slip and full. On his way he struck against
the telegraph wires and was badly hurt. Re
bounding ION the wires lie fell 10 the sidewalk
with a crash, breaking his leg and injuring
himself badly in the face. He was taken to
the Chambers street hospital. where he died.
While these scenes were being enacted by
the firemen in Nassau street similar ones were
going on in Park row. Hook and Ladder Com
daring and bravery of private John j. Horn
commanded the admiration of the spectators.
He ran up the ladder in Park row, near the
Beekman street corner, and rescued two men
and one woman. To do this he had to
be supplied with another ladder ten feet
long, which was held by one Of his com
panions on the first ladder. After that
Horn placed the ladder against o room
on the same floor near the Times building. Two
faces had been seen to disappear from the win
dow. He could see nothing when the window
was reached, as the room, which was nearly
fifty feet square, was thick with smoke. Inside
he heard groans. He jumped through the win
dow and in q minute afteIward reappeared
,,;,l, q ,,op ~ b,o anna Tho n Nraa f0Nnd
almost unconscious, lying on the floor. Horn
went intu the room twice afterward, and each
time he found q man almost lifeless from suffo-
cation. As he descended with his last man the
crowd cheered Justify.
Another of the rcscuers of Hook and Ladder
No. 10 wa John E. Nolan, who had charge of a
ladder on the Park row side. He he'd q ladder
that reached to the third story, and from there
he passed out two Women. On the floor above
in the windows were others who were crying
piteously for help. Nolan wound his legs in an
cried out: "Jump into my arms; it's your
only chance" There were two women ira win
dow directly above, and the crowd shouted to
them to leap, and one, after a moments hesita-
ton, did 80, and was caught safely in Nolan's
arms. A cheer rose up from the crowd as the
girl was carried, fainting, down the ladder by
smother fireman. Tho other woman, encou-
RACED by the result OF her companions risky
leap, poised on tho window-sill to leap also.
Nolan held out his arms ready to catch her,
and she jumped, but from dizziness or ner-
vousness, it is thought, missed her footing and
fell. A shout of horror. went up from the
crowd. The woman was not killed, however,
for she fell into an awning and was hut slightly
hurt.
As the fire burned out the beams between tho
walls and story after story of the building fell
in, the walls began to totter. The first to 80
was that on the Nassau street side, rs it was
here that the flames were %fercest. Then that on
Bcekman street leaned in and finally fell. Tho
fal ing of this wall WAS fortunate in this re-
spccs, because before it fell the heat in Beck
man street was 20 great that the firemen
could not work. The fall Of this wall en-
abled the men TO carry in their hose and throw
water upon the walls Of Kelly's and tho Mails
old Office. The fire-wall between the burnt
building and the Times was kept cool by the
water from the water tower, which was working
in Nassau street, and that from The combina-
ton nozzle, supplied by Engine No: q, tho
most powerful steamer on the ground, playing
f,om fine Park row side. It r%cQuitcl four men