Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1883-01-18
A TERRIBLE CALAMITY.

The Newhau House at Milwaukee De-
strOyed by Fire-A Large Number of Per-
sons Burned to Death or Killed by Jump
ing from the BuIlding-Terrible Scenes
OfAgOny and Death.
MINIATURES, Wis, January 10.
The Newhau House, the six-story brick
building, corner of Michigan street and Broad
way burned to the ground this forenoon. The
fire was discovered at four a. m In less than
half an hour the whole building, long desig-
mated as death-trap, was enyeloped in flames.
Scenes of the utmost terror prevailed, the in
mates of the doomed building jumping by
| dozens from the upper stories, covering the
stone sidewalks with hfeless bodies. The
shrieks of the unfOrtunates filed the air, in a
! heartrending manner, people below being I'M
able to render any aid. Quite number of the
| terrified guests and employees of the hotel APP
| peared at the windows, and, seeing the dis
lance to the ground, fell back to perish in the
| flames. /.
The employees of the hotel, which acommo-
dated 500 guests, numbered eighty-six, mostly
lodged in the sixth story. Exit by the way of
! the roof was cut of by the fire, and the two
stand pipes, with fre-ladders, were not avail
able for the same reason. A very few were
saved by jumping on canvas.
All the stores and offices on the ground
floor, with contents, were destroyed. A num-
Der of wholesale establishments on East Wa
ter street were damaged.
A SEA OF FLAME.
At five O'Clock this morning the doomed no
| tel presented a sight which will never be for
| gotten by those who beheId it. The whole in
side of the building was one mass of roaring
flames, and a perfect shower of sparks and
cinders was blown by brisk southeast wind
| over the northern part of the city. The sky
was illuminated as bright as day, and the hiss
| ing and roaring of the devouring element
| could be heard for blocks. The large, heavy
/ .s,fX 1VffIE
! ing came down with fearful crash, burying
under its ruins Ben Hall, a fireman of steamer
| No. 4. He was quickly gotten out from among
| the red-hot plates of the galvanized iron Of
the cornice, and it was found that he was Sc
| riously but not fatally hurt. The sixth, fifth
and fourth floors broke through at once, and
| carried everything with them to the ground
floor. A huge bulk of flames shot up about
fifty feet high when the floors came down,
and an agonizing shout from the multitude
went up.
From that time the fire had its undisputed
sway inside the bare walls, and toward six
| o'clock the buildings on the east side, front
ing on Water street, began to burn. Two
steamers were sent around to East Water
| street to protect the establishments of that
thoroughfare. AT this time all the stores and
offices under the hotel were enWrapped in
| flames.
The fire was extinguished at 9:15 a. m. Near.
|
HEROIC FIREMEN
| The Fire Department fought the fire heroic
ally, but all they could do was to prevent its
spread to the surrounding business blocks.
The heat was so intense that the cupola of the
Chamber of Commerce began to smoke as If q
| fierce fire was raging within. The men of hook
and ladder trucks and2 worked almost ike
demons. They had put ladders across the al
ley from the bank building to the burning no
tel, and crawled across. First, Edward Riem-
er and Herman Strauss, from truck ]. The
latter carried an unconscious girl right out of
the flames across the dangerous and tiimsy
passage-way. John Bornlesser, A. a. Worth,
S. E. Nodine and Garrett Green, of truck No.
2, followed, and about twelve people were
saved by the brave laddies.
AT THE MORGUE AND POLICE STATION.
At the Morgue q horrid sight was beheld.
The two small biers were soon filed with
bodies, tightly packed, and then the bodies of
girls, women, men and waiter-boys were laid
promiscuously on the stone flags, almost in q
heap, as the police patrol broughtin the bodies
three and four at a time. At $50 seventeen
bodies were laid down in the dreary place
which was locked up between the trips of the
patrol wagon, and, therefore, no Identification
was possible. The floor of the general Office
of the Central Police Station was turned into a
lazaret, persons fatally hurt winding them
selves in the blankets on the floor in excruci-
ating pain.
THRILLING ESCAPES.
Edward Pollock, of Lancaster, Wis, was 8
guest at the house. He occupied a room on
the fourth floor of the Broadway front, nearly
over the balcony. At about 1886 he was
awakened by the breaking of glass in the
transom over the door, and the fierce flames
through the opening. He Immediately gath
cred up his clothes as far as possible, and
stepping out on the balcony, he put on his
clothes and swung to the balcony beneath,
where half q dozen others were gathered
Here sheets and bed-clotheS were tied to
gether, and the ground reached by the rope
Mr.. Pollock was at one time representative
of the Sentinel at Lancaster, and came to Mil
waulzec to buy the outfit for u new paper al
his place. He said to a reporter of the Sen
tifleI that the ire seemed ali above him when
he first awakened, and an instant after the
flames had engulfed everything.
Another escape to be recorded is that of 6
man, whose name could not be learned, who
was seen swinging himself from the fifth floor
of the burning building until his feet touched
the window below. Kicking in the window he
dropped and grabbed the sash. This was re
peated until he reached the balcony, from
which he was rescued with his hands badly cut
Cashier Condee, of the Manufacturers Bank
accompanied by his son, reached the fire short
ly before FIVE o'clock, and entered his office
He rescued from his safe box containing al
the valuable papers, checks and cash, amount
ing to $660,0)O, which he carried to the door
but was in a considerable state OF excitement
and was unable to rescue it from the building
until two volunteers assisted him to carry i
across the street to the American Express of
fee, where it was put into safe quarters.
SPECIMEN HORRORS.
At one time there were six persons hanging
from six wiDdow-sills at the fifth story at tn;
same time, crying in agOnizing tones fol
the help that could not be rendered them, and
one after another loosened their grip and me
their fate.
Mr. Allen Johnson and his wife sprang from
a fifth-stoFy window. He was caught in th'
jumping canvas, but sustained injuries from
which he died. His wife struck on the teIe
graph wires, bounded over, and was ais
caught, but was SO badly injured that she OnI!
survived her husband about an hour.
A number of people dropped out Of the diff
} ferent stories on to the jumpIng-canvas. but
5 in majority of cases they were killed out
right or sustained injuries from which there
little hope Of recovery.
During the progress of the fire two men az
peared at a window in an upper story, and
as they looked down upon the scene below
the foor of the room gave way, and, with a
agonizlng shrek, they fell backwards into tn
/. vortex OF flame.
Another man jumped from the hfth-stor
,vs,,dovr1 sfrrotr tho foIeerranh yviraG on Mich