Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1885-05-13
ROASTED ALIVE.
4 Nunher u Lives Lest ~ the Col.
lApse and Burning Of . Brook.
lyn Death.Trap.
The Escape Of the Unfortunates Out OF
Before Assistance Gould Be
Rendered.
brooklyn IN. Y, telegram. !

Shortly after 8 o'clock this morning there
WAS = crash at IS Atlantic avenue, Brooklyn,
and people or looking up from the street
NV that the roof Of the building had fallen
in and that aportion Of the walls had fallen.
They could hear the screams Of people in
jured, and II seemed but a moment when a
volume Of smoke rolled up, showing that
the building had taken fire. Hundreds OF
-people-men, women and girls-were ut
work at the various branches OF
business carried on in the building.
which covers considerable ground,
having three wings, and which ex-
tends through from Atlantic avenue to State
street. As soon as the crush was heard Of
the falling roof hundreds Of those employed
in the building fed or endeavored to make
their way out by every avenue Of escape
which they were familiar with, and some
who were the last to reach the street APP
peared with begrimcd faces and blood
streaming from wounds they received from
falling timbers.
The excitement In the neighborhood be.
came very great, and in a short time
the wives Of the men who were known
to be working In the building and the
parents of the girls who were employed
there blocked the streets and wrung their
hands and wept. Three alarms of fire were
sent out, and the services of a large num-
Der Of the police force had to be called i'm
to requisition to keep the crowd of people
out of the way of danger. 1t was reported
ut first that about one hundred girls, who
were employed in the Milo Hyncs Button
Works, which was on the top floor where
the roof fell in, were killed, but there are
other reports that most Of the girls made
their escape by climbing on the roofs of the
adjoining tenement houses.
The building was occupied by twenty
small manufacturers, and there were about
500 men and women employed therein. 1t
was five stories high, and erected twenty
seven years ago, the woodwo.k being like
finder. When the fremen arrived they
found many Of the young women at the
windows, screaming wildly for help. Their
| retreat had been cut of, and the firemen
quickly ran up the ladders; but the girls
were hemmed in and some fell
back into the flames before help could
reach them. The infiammable char
acter Of the building hindered the efforts
Of the tiremen. II was sscertained that the
engineer of the factory, Daniel J. Lowry,
was n of the victims. He was killed by
the falling of the west wall of the middle
Wluk Ou ASibutlS uSCAuCs 1AC SuuSC vi
| the fire was the Overturning of the boilers
Of a soap factory on the second fioor. The
west wall of the middle wing on At antic
avenue had settled; workmen were screw
ing it up with ja ks: the middle jack had
been screwed up too high, and it was
lowered, when the whole weight Of the wall
came upon the two jacks at the end aud fell
with a crash.
In the different manufacturing places in
the buildings there we're 700 people. In
the New York Tin Company's employ there
were thirty or forty girls, and whether all
escaped is a question which can not he
solved. Some of them were seen Shrek
ing wildly upon the iron fre-escape of the
fourth floor, where the tin factory was To-
Gated. The flames seemed to leap from
floor to floor and building to building with
q CELEBRITY that battles description.
The fire now rapidly extended to the
building that fronted on State street. and
the buildings went to pieces like houses of
cards. The crash of falling walls and
floors, the vast clouds Of smoke, dust, and
steam, the spires of fame that shot from
the crumbling ruins gave terror to the spec
tacle, and the general excitement grew into
q panic when it was reported that several
employees had been burned and crushed to
death in the ruins.
The walls fell rapidly. and two hours aft
er the fire had broken out nothing but q
few fragments of wall indicated that q
building had formerly stood there. In
places where these fragments buiged out
ward and threatened to fall the firemen di-
rected streams Of water against them at
short range, and crumbled them down
brick by brick.
BY moor the fire on the State street side
was extinguished, and several engines had
left, but steam and smoke still rolled in
heavy volumes from the charred and smol-
dering ruins.
y The excitement around the scene of the
confiagration was intense, and there were a
hundred anxious people looking for miss
ing relatives and friends employed in the
building. What human life is lost will
never be known until the firemen have
thoroughly searched the ruins, but there
seems to be little doubt ON all sides that a
considerable number have persisted.
Four dead aud charred bodies have been
taken from the ruins. A dozen or more
persons were injured, some Of them very
seriously, and about twenty five are miss
Walter w, Marcus, a workman in one of
the factories, who was standing at the cor
Eer of Hicks street at the time of the con-
fiugration, stated that he glanced at one of
the upper windows and noticed a puff of
smoke coming from it. and in less than a
minute it seemed as If fire and smoke were
leaping from every door and window. II
was caught in that place last September, y
said he, when part of the building was
burned. As / was sleeping on the third
floor l was awakened by shouts on the
street, and got down stairs just in time to
save a roasting. There was nothing in or
about the place to check a fire; no hose or
extinguisher or fire. escape"
Lowrey. the engineer of tbs building,
who made periodical visits to the various
floors, was on the third floor at the time of
the crash, and ran to the roof to see what
was the matter. That was the last seen of
him.
Milo Hine, who occupied the top floor
for the manufacture of buttons, made this
statement: cat 8 o'clock I was in my room
directing the work OF my employees. OF
whom there were forty. mostly women.
The first we hoard of the accident was
when we heard a crash, md this was fol-
lowed by part of the flooring giving
way. In one Of the corners OF
INV room there was a ladder leading to the
roof, and all the employees made a rush for
it. There was a panic among the women
for a time, and two or three Of them faint
ed. but the fol eman soon succeeded in re-
storing order, and then, in single file, the
employees climbed the ladder and gained
the roof. The girls marched ont in good
order, gained the roof of the adjoining
building, which was o injured, and
reached the street by descending the fire.
escapes"
The insurance on the property destroyed
is about $500, 900, while the damage will
aggregate at least $3.50. 0Oo.