The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-05-29
A CALAMITOUS FIRE.
Many Lives Lost i'm a Cincinnati
Building.
Working Girls Smothered to Death
Affecting Scenes.

AT Les p. NJ, few days ago, bystanders
on the south side of Sixth street, between
Walnut and Main streets in Cincinnati,
heard mufiied explosion in the second story
of No 10, a five. story brick building, occu-
pied from the second story up by Sullivan q
Co. S steam printing works. This was fol-
lowed by puffs of flame and smoke from
the open windows in every story from
the second to the roof The fire
seemed hottest in the second story, and
the great throngs that Immediately filed the
street in front of the building saw that all
retreat from the three upper stories was cut
off. There was no fire escape to the build
ing, and the little narrow stairway within
cooled around the elevator, which served as
flue to conduct the flames upward. A line
telegraph wires In front of the building
proved a barrier to the putting up of the fire
ladders.
Just as the ladder wagon ran out of the
engine house, only two squares Distant
woman leaped from the fifth-story window
and was dashed to death on the sidewalk
Another followed her and met the same fate
Two strong men tried to catch them, but
were dashed to the pavement and
severely injured All four of the fifth.
story windows were full of men and
girls. In one stood John Sullivan, a cousin of
one of the proprietors of the printing works,
The employees of kinsey, in the adjoining
building. climbed on the roof and let down an
old black rope. All other means of escape
Sullivan had his hand on the rope
ready to leap out and let himself
down. Behind him stood two girls.
whose terror stricken faces appealed for help
He turned from his contemplated movement
and placed the rope into the hands of one of
the girls and babe her let herself down
while he stood encouragingly above Amid
the breathesS silence OF the crowd she
slowly made her way to the pavement,
and then, with the fire almost lick
ing his hair and terrible death staring him
in the face, Sullivan placed the rope in tho
hands of the second girl, who bravely slid
down to safety. When she reached the pave
ment a wild shout of enthusiasm went up
from the crowd that as yet did not realize
how many lives were going out above where
the smoke poured from the windows of
the fourth floor Sullivan then took
hold of the rope, while the
flames were sweeping about him, and the
hearts of all stood still as hand over hand he
descended But he was too late. The fire
had burned the rope on the window sill and it
gave way when he was opposite the fourth
story window, and the brave boy passed
swiftly through the air to his doom. Tears
from the throng of spectators drowned the
dull thud of his body as it struck the pave
ment.
After the hero Sullivan was killed there
were others in the windows begging to be
rescued. One was a man hanging from
wlndowsll by the tips of his fingers. Men on
the pavement urged him to hold on until
the tiremen held up a tarpaulin under the
window and shouted to him to let go.
He swung out from the wall,
down she'd the a rpauip a the Si6a-
walk, and was killed. The tiremen held the
tarpaulin higher and told woman to jump
She was badly hurt, but is alive. The fire
men had little to do in subjecting the flames,
which was accomplished in few minutes
Their chief work was rescuing the dead.
'When l was able TO get into the fourth
story" said Chief Wisely, 81 had no suspic-
ion of what should find there. The house
story and the damage in the fourth was not
great, Hence | didn't expect to meet such a
sight as | saw. In the smoke that still filled
the fourth floor l counted ten dead girls
lying upon benches, tables, and
other things or stretched upon the floor,
with not a hair singed. don't wonder
at it, however, as, excepting hatchway, l
was unable to find any way up or down from
that floor, although l suppose there must be
a stairway. 1t was terrible sight, the
worst i ever saw in my experience. They
lay in all conceivable positions where they
had lain down or had fallen while seeking
some avenue of escape from the sutfocating
smoke. There should have been fire es-
cape on the house. 1t would have saved all
those lives. y
The scenes at the fire were heartrending.
Mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers
and friends crowded forward against the cor
don of police, wringing their hands and
moaning piteously. The police were power
less to stay the crush, and even a rope Gordon
was broken through. Whenever dead body
was taken out there was a narrowing
scene As the minutes passed the throng
was augmented by hundreds, until lives be-
came endangered by the passing patrol
wagons. The bodies were taken out rapidly
through the front door on the ground floor
east, and were carried into the establishment
of j. H. kinsey, No. 2l where Dennis Sulli-
van afterward made an effort with the as
sistance of male employees of the printing
office, to Identify them before patrol wagon
should arrive.
The scene at the undertakers was such as
would melt heart of adamant. Outside
great crowd of men and women. They
were very quiet except the broken hearted
relatives, who were sobbing inconsolably As
soon as the bodies could be arranged, rea-
tives We're admitted. 1t was hard to identity
the dead. In one case a policeman of Gov
ingtOn, KY, identified his sisters, Lizzie
Mrs Melers found the body of her
daughter, and had to lie led away from the
terrible sight. Mrs. Leaban had the awful
experience OF finding her three daughters
among the dead The three girls who jumped
from the windows of the blazing buidiny
had no appearance OF being scorched, but
they were badly bruised The total number
Of the dead was fifteen. Four persons were
injured, two of them-a young woman and q
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