Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1885-05-30
AHORRIBLE FATE.
Ten Females SuffOrated in 4
Burning Building.

hal Its share OF shocking disasters,
but never has one happened where
such frightful loss Of life has oc-
currel a5 that oftp-div. with 50 little
occasion. In less than fifteen minutes
after the fire began sixte or seven
teen persons persisted Looking
over the .ene OF the event it is plain
that every life could have easily been
saved. short as the time was. There
were displays # thoughtful heroism
that saved two lives, but
one OF THE HEROES
lost his own life.
At half-past one o'clock flames
were discovered in the buildings Nos.
II aud II West Sixth street. An
alarm brought the eniines almost
instantly, and as the fireman could
reach the building from the front
aud rear, it was no. fifteen minutes
until the fire was - much under con-
troll that Chief Engineer Wisbv, wa4
able TO reach the fifth or top floor
but WAS too late 10 rescue the girls
employed there, and to his horror he
found
TEN DEAD BODIES
living with their hands TO their fices
and their faces blackened and dis
torted in death. The chief said, in
speaking of it: "The house is not
burned, hut in fact tho fire was chief
ly in the fifth story. In the smoke /
counted ten girls living upon benches
tables snd other things. Some were
on the floor. Their clothing was not
burned, but the rkin on the backs Of
their hands was scocched. 1t
WAS RRIBIE SIGHT.
The worst ! ever saw in my expert
ence. Tie girls lay where they had
fallen in tier Wild and helpless de-
spair.
1t has now been fairly ascertained
that the fire started from can of
benzinc on the second floor, near the
elevator shaft. A boy on that floor
saws lie heard a shout and instantly
the flames leaped to- the elevator
shaft and duted up it. The shaft
reached to the top Of the building,
and from the third story to the fifth
it was encircled by wooden stair
way, which was the only means of
access to those floors. The elevator
shaft, to add to its combustibilitv,
was encased with a thin wooded lat
tice work, and the second floor, where
the fire started, was the press room;
the third floor the composing room;
the fourth storage and waste room,
and the fifth was the folding room
As soon ~ the fire started John
Sullivan, young man, cousin of the
proprietor, ran Up the stairway to
the fifth floor aul gave warn.nt to
the girls. Instantly almost he found
he
WAS TOO LATE
to get them down the stairway and
that his own retreat was cutoff
What lie did for the frightened girls
could only be told by the glimps S
that could be seen of him at the
window from whence four
of the girls had already
LEAPED To THEIR DEATH.
J. r. Kingsley, son Of his fOrempn
had gone to the roof Of their build
ing adjoining this on the west, and
knowing that the girls were impris
oned OH the floor below, they pro-
cured rode and lowered it to the
window, where Sullivan was. He
instantly grasped it and
FASTENING ONE OBJ THE GIRLS
to it, helped her out of the window
and Kinsley and Shrader lowered
her safely to the side walk. The
rope was brought up and Sullivan
again quickly fastened it to another
girl and
SENT her DOWN SAFELY.
The rope came up third time and
as the other girls by this time We're
all suifocated or were afraid to ven
ture, Sullivan fastenened the rope to
his own body and was being lowered
when, as he was half way down the
flames shot out of a window, and
HE FELL FOREMOST
TO the sidewalk, in the presence Of a
Mortified crowd Of people who had
witnessed his heroism. When the
girls were jump;nt from the windows
a large colored man heroically tried
to catch them, and SO break the force
of the fall. He nearly lost his own
life in the attempt.
Within ten minutes after the fire
began the patrol wagons were called