Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-05-22
A TERRIBLY PATALFIRE
MANY LIVES LOST At CINCINNATI
Tsa Girls Sm0xhsred in One Room
The Old Stosy Of so MsaRs OF rs
cape-An Elevator tor Flue.

CscIssArI. 1ag zI--At1.5o this afternoon
a ars broke 9gt u ave story building Al
the corner u 5sxth and Walnut streets. oceu-
pied bg Sullivan a Co., printers. There -
also a laundry IA the baiAiing. IA which
number of girls are employed. The hanlee
spread =, rggi,ly that Il eat OF their escape,
aad several girls jumped from the tnird
story <inao~s AID we're Instantly allied
The ars originated AZ a hatei.way - the
elevator Oh the second door. boy bad
just carried ap q can Of benzine, and set Il
dOxn Al lhls point, when IL almost immsdi-
atsiy exploded The burning DenzIue was
t.lrOsn over the already Zreasy wood work
Of tho elevator, and Ia aa instant the IRE sas
drtxn up - the fourth and hfth doors. Ca
this tOos there we're employed nfteen or
tEenty yOung xlfls. and here an awful scene
OF death concentrated There Sas no posi-
bic aFsnur II escape Ia tho rear and front
alike, bat barely tHo ~ three narrow win
dOSs. with Ao means 0f leaving the room
save down Il uarrOs stairway from h0or 20
noof. and a clumsy elevator running through
the center OF the building. Every door was
packen with paper which. together With the
light pine wood S0rk, made rich iOOd Tor
the fame. The fifth tO0r vas also Occa-
pied a. folding room aud here, TOO, there
we're several girls employed. No escape
va possible Nothing but death could re-
hege them and even had there been chance
the IRE Vas 80 sudden and fierce that the
poor victims were obliged % give up their
lives without struggle.
Among the allied Is JOhn Sulllvan. nephew
Of the proprietor, Who was on the second
hOor 40 the time the fre started. tie 40 once
rushed up % the fifth hOor 10 save the
women employed there, and undlng
his own escape cut Od at tho steps
set % work % save the women through
the Windows. Some one had got upon the
roof from an adjoining building and threw
a large rope down, and this he clntched and,
standing on the wiadoW- slli. shrOuded IN the
hot binding smoke and flames, aided two of
the women 10 grasp the rope aud let them
sci le- down thea. seeing that No more
pressed forward % be saved, he himself
reached 0gt and caught the line and began
himself to descend. Before n had descended
two yards the rope s.apped above his hands
and he fell with a crash 10 the sidewalk 20 De
mashel into q shapeless mass RE
never breathed. josie Hooks, the last
girl who came down the rope l.
severely burned, and was taken home.
Chief OF the Fire Department Nlsebey said;
when / was able 10 get into the fourth
story | had no suspicion of what should
ind there. The house l. not gutted, IN fact
the fire was chiefly IN the fifth story. and the
OHlN.A. ~ e4o tDN' 80 - N'' eoA-Nt~ei avAe.
40 | dIdp - expect % meet such a sight a |
.aW. Tn the smoke that still tiled the fourth
hOOr | counted Ten girls lying upon benches,
tables and other things. or stretched upon
the hOOr with not a hair siuged. | DO not
wonder at it. however, "a, excepting the
hatchwsy. Twas unable 10 ind any way up or
down from that ioOr, although suppose there
must b. a stairway. 1t was a terrible sight, the
worst | ever saw IN my experience. They
lay IN all conceivable positions where they
had lain down or had fallen while wildly
moving about IN despair.
There were fourteen lives lost altogether
by the fire. and number OF injured. All
the killed were girls and women, except John
Sullivan.