Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1886-11-01
Fire and aOss ofH.;Gt..

4 conilsgration, causing the loss uf nearly
q quarter Of million dollars and probably
several lives. occurred in the Knight Il
Leonard six story building, Chicago, oe.
tween ! and 5 o'clock yesterday morning.
The inmates or the dozans OF gambling
houses in the vicinity were l.uawnre CT the
fire at the outset, and ii made such rapid
headwny that none had stirred from the
tapes @nt;l the lives OF most Of them were
imperileG. Then wild stampede ensued.
The proprietors hurre&; their gold and
greenbGcks into sAtchels, others siove!ed
ivory chips into bags. A few Inshed down
stairs loaded with roulette whaes, faro
tables, and gambling psraphernalia OF all
descriptions. But these were the exceptions.
The maj j0ritY dealers, lOokouta, and play
cis-roae together and came tearing out Of
the buildings, .?Gny hatleSs and :oa.less,
and all frightened. after al hours work
b. the trencn the flames were gotten under
comparative control. at this time six OF
the insurance patrol were IL tho build sling
ing tarpaullus over tbs stock .: ;h8 Coed.
year Rubber Company. Suddenly there
was a terrible crash, followed bc = dense
wave of smoke and sparks, which 1uiiea
out into tho street. The roof and top floor
had folen through 10 the Basement, bury
inc the lGcu OF the insurance patrol IN the
luHS. \ minute after tbs crash & Hetach.
men. Of trcmen and insurance ,atgurcu. led
by Chiel SWeenie, rushed 10 the rescue. Tie
cries Of the imprisoned men could be heard
above all the din Hardly were the res
cuers at work, choppiag ana tearing away
the fallen beams aud spintercd flooring
wien there was another crash and Il heavy
piece Of machinery fell from the third floor
Ii HsS so lar back III lnr building that no
one Was hurt and the rc5cuer5 continued
maufully without 81 stop. Geo FugneI was
tho first man out. He came up thrcup; q
hole which had been made in the sidewalk
lights over the basement. He was Only
slightly injured Wan Darby also manased
10 ctawl out Of The ruins with slight Injuries.
The rescuiIg party found Capt. Hume
pinned down under a fallen beam ana
wedged in between two boxes of goods He
was carried out, both legs crushed ana left
foot turned completely around. + L. Mul-
line vas dragged !rcT nudei twO he&Yy
beams he was cut about tho head ard
his body frightfuly bruised. Gus Bocrge.
menke was being held down by Il heavy
piece of printing machinery, So ihst all of-
forts TO release him seemed useless The
imprisoned man clutched yonYuisiyely
at the iron bars and wheels GnG begged his
comrades to kiil him az they could not get
him out. The sewer of the basement had
become chokcs! up, and the immense
amount Of water thrown in the building
was rapidly rising under Eoergemenke's
eyes while the DANES were gradually eat
ing their way toward him. Chief Sweenie
ordered an engine detached fr0m 9 iirc Plug
and set to work pumping the basement of
the floods from the other engines, whose
efforts were redoubled against the fire. The
| water had just reached Boergemenke's S chin
when il began to 20 down, and the
flames commenced to recede With the aid
of jacksCrews the machinery vas at iaat
raised and Boergemenke, who Sor nearly
three quarters Of an hour had given himself
up FOR lost, was carried to the hospital.
One of his legs is broken and one arm is
shattered, but it is thought he will live. {.
Papineau, aged so could not be found and
after & long search was given uD for lost. It
was not until eleven hours after that his
body was found. In the recovery of the
corpse another fireman was fatally injured
and Il patroman seriously wounded. The
fire and the fall Of the roof had damaged
many telephone and telegraph wires.
Gangs Of linemen were sent to the roof ad-
Joining to straighten the tangled mass.
They were requested to wait until the fire.
men found Papineau's body, but the wire
workers did not comply. While pulling q
heavy cable over wall a piece of jagged
| iron cornica was dislodged. 1t fell to the
basement and struck Fireman Michael Nc,
Govern. The sharp iron struck him in the
small of the back and while his companions
picked him up policemen hurried 10 the roof
and intercepted the linemen while helping to
carry out the wounded man. VIM Cornell, Of
the insurance patrol, fell through holein the
broken sidewalk and was so seriously in
| jured that he had to be taken to the hospt-
sl McGovern was horribly manged by the
cornice, and is dying. Eighteen of the line
men were put under arrest but attervard
released, telegraph officials becoming their
surety The building was occupied by o
number Of large firms, and is owned by
Judge l.. c. p. Freer, whose loss is believed
to be about $50, 900; fully insured.
|