The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1885-05-28
Women and Girls Suddenly Ushered into
Eternity by Being Imprisoned in
Cage, With No Means of Escape.
Horrible Details of Death.

| 1E;@Nz
CINCINNATI, May 22.-One of the most
horrible affairs that has ever occurred in
this city took place Thursday afternoon at
about 80 O'Clock, when fifteen human lives
were sacrificed in the building No. lowest
Sixth street, occupied by Sullivan & Co.,
printers The place is death-trap from the
6rst floor to the roof The man who allowed
people to work in such a place deserves the
everest condemnation. Every floor is filled
with machinery, paper, pamphlets and
books In different stages of work and added
TO this are inflammable material in keg and
| cans of printers ink. The stairway leading
| from the street to the second floor is about
| 5wO and half feet wide, and about the
same width from the second to the third floor.
| But the stairs leading to the fourth and fifth
| floors are still worse. They run in such
manner that in the center a space if left fl II
the elevator to operate, and are only two
feet wide, without any protection to keep
| the people from falling through the elevator
space They are extremely dark and dingy.
The fire started on the second floor, about
forty feet from the front window, and burned
| with such rapidity that the poor creatures
On the upper floors did not even have time
TO reach the stairways that led to the street.
The whole interior of the building was al
| most instantaneously filed with fire and
moke, which sent CONSERVATION to the hearts
If the poor beings on the upper fooFz They
NEW full we'll, poor things, that to attempt
% escape by the rickety stairways meant
leath, SO they did not make any effort to
| make their exit in that way. On the fifth
floor nine girls were at work when the fatal
ire started. They rushed, not for the stair
way, but fer the front windows Of the build
ng, fully sixty feet from the ground. To
jump meant to be dashed to pieces on the
pavement; to remain meant the most horri-
ole of fates, that Of being burned to death.
They stood at the open windows wringing
sheir hands and imploringly calling ON those
below to assist them. But their cries were
Of no avail, as those below had not the
means at hand to assist those who were in the
very jaws Of death. Men ON the roof of a
building adjoining on the east, a few feet
above this building, had the presence of
mind to let out rope to reach to the side
walk
Among those who descended by this was
! girl, who grasped the rope, and letting her.
self out of the window, descended with ter
ribls rapidity to the ground. She went so
fast that the friction tore the flesh of her
hands to the bone A Mr. Sullivan, who had
helped the women to the rope, sprang out of
the window with tight grasp on the impro-
vised fire escape. He had descended only a
short distance when the rope broke, and he
was precipitated to the sidewalk. Bystand-
ers rushed to his assistance, and he was car
ried away bleeding from his injuries and in
an unconscious condition. While oil this
was transpiring the nine remaining girls
stood at the windows hOrror-stricken unable
to help themselves, and the crowd below
anx GUS, but not in position to offer assist
ance. Presently the flames surrounded the
poor creatures, and in q few minutes they
fell back exhausted, while the fire played
around their forms and hid them fronPthe
view of the multitude below. By this time
the fire department. was on the scene. Hook
and Ladder Company No. were promptly
at work, but the telephone wires were strung
across in front of the building in such pO-
sition ss to retard the work of the firemen.
After the ladders were raised to the proper
place and the firemen entered the building,
the poor girls were beyond human aid
Within a few feet of the east window on the
fifth floor a terrible sight met the firemen.
Six bodies, charred, cut, the skin burned
from the faces, fingers, lower limbs and
arms lay close together, with life extinct,
Near the west window on the same floor
three more bodies were found in about the
same condition.
The news of the holocaust soon spread all
over the city, and in short time nearly all
the engines and patrol wagons in the city
were on the scene The work of removing
the bodies then began As they were carried
down the stairs, as tenderly as possible by
the firemen, men, women and children in the
crowd turned their faces from the terrible
sight, and were with difficulty driven back in
order to allow the remains to be placed in
the patrol wagons by the firemen. One by
one the bodies were taken from the building,
and when the patrol wagons were filled they
hurried off to the morgue with the remains
j. j. Sullivan, the principal owner of the
printing office, stood on. the sidewalk almost
crazed with grief. Some friends were en-
deavoring to lead him away, but he appeared
not to understand them and kept saying:
'sMy Go /! my God! isn't this terrible" AZ
ter awhile he became so weak that he had to
be carried away
Coroner Carrick started to make an inves-
tigation as to the origin of the fire. After
proceeding through the building from the
second toor to the fifth, nothing could be
found by which clue might be established
to fix the origin of it. On coming back,
however, a tin bucket, which had been lined
with glass was found. The Coroner imme-
dated remarked, "This solves the mystery.
This can was iiiiel with benzine, and it ex-
pIodetl, and thlt has caused this terrible
state Of affairs" The glass lining Of the
bucket was broken into pieces from the force
Of the explosion.
The bucket was supposed to be air tight, |
and the benzine, it was thought, would not
explode in the vessel, but such proved to be |
a great mistake. The vessel was foud in
the rear part of the second floor, lying on the
floor between two printing presses, both OF |
which are situated near the elevator. The
flames once started, had every opportunity
to reach the floors above, as the elevator
space furnished an excellent hue for the FL },
and it lost no Tina
The Killed.
Lizzie Myers, 345 Broadway, Cincinnati.
Kate Leavin, 206 East Sixth street, Gin.
.innoti
Mary Leavin, 2O6 East Sixth street, C:n-
.innati
Della Leavin, aO6 East Sixth street. C;n.
.inuati.
Kate Pruden, 4S Columbia street, New
'ort, KY.
Mary Pruden, 46 Columbia street, New.
;ort, XIV.
Mrs Annie Bell, a6 Look street, Cincin
ati.
Dorothea Handel, us Scott street, Coving
on, KY.
Lizzie Handel, 71s Scott street, Coving,
on, KY.
Fannie Jones, 572 Freeman avenue, Cincin
att.
Lille Wynn, ss East Fifth street, Cincin-
nti.
Kate Lowry, 134 Central avenue, New
orr, KY.
Mamie Sheppard, 81 Harrison street, Gin
innati.
Annie Mcintyre, Fourth and Bakewsll
treets, Covington, KY.
John Sullivan, 3J5 Broai iway, Cincinnati.