Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-03-08
DEATH IN FR0NTANDREAR,
sIcKENINe STORY OLA SPRINGFIELD,
MASS, FIRE HORROR.

Thirty Persons Caught ON the Fifth Floor
of n Burning Building-severai of Them
Make IA Terrible Leap to DestructIon--A
Time When Minutes Were Ages-SiN
Dead and ~ Many Badly Injured.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass, March s.-The new
office of The Evening Union, at the corner of
| Main and WOrthington streets, was destroyed
by fire about o'clock Wednesday afternoon
and the blaze was attended by the most sick.
| ening horror ever witnessed in this city, six
of the employees meeting with a terrible
| death, most of them jumping from tho fifth
story and being crushed into a shapeless mass
in the street below. Six others were badly
injured.
The following is list Of the dead; Henry
|. Goulding, foreman of The Union compos.
ing room, burned to death Miss G. Thomp.
son, proof-reader; Mrs, Frederick Il, Farley,
editorial department fell from window and
was killed; Mr. Lamzon, of Quebec, jumped
and was killed; w. +, Hovey, of Boston, fell
to the sidewalk and killed; Mr. Brown, a
compositor
The injured are as follows: Thomas Dona-
hue, compositor, bad cut on head and left leg
broken at the knee: Timothy Dunn, compos.
itor, arm and leg broken; Joseph w. Witty,
compositor hand, neck and ears burned-he
chung TO the window until the fire forced him
to drop, but fell on ladder and was saved
Il. +, Ellsworth, compositur, compound fTac-
ture of the leg.
1t is thought TINT the fire started among
the lumber in Il closet on the ground floor.
The flames were drawn up the elevator well
and spread through the composing on
the fifth floor, whcro thirty compostors, men
and women, were at work By the time the
fire department arrived the top windows
were filled with poor, despairing human be-
ings, who did not at first seem to realize their
dreadful position The crowd underneath
cried TO them TO have courage, and on no &C
count TO try to jump or climb down, and they
at first seemed determined to obey There
was SO much delay in raising the ladders,
however, that the unfortunate victims be
came panic stricken at their danger, and be-
gan to jump or let themselves drop from the
windows Shreiis of horror issued from the
crowd of spectators the bodies
We're seen to fall through the air,
and explanations of sympathy mingled
with the groans of the wounded who were
picked up and carried away to hospitals or
drug stores. A large sheet of canvass was
procured as quickly as possible and stretched
below the windows. A number of men held
its edges. Three men and a woman fell upon
it, but the shock was great that they struck
the ground with great force, though of course
the fall was somewhat broken. They were
picked up insensble. Joseph II. Landlord,
who was standing on the sidewalk where Mrs.
Farley fell, reached out his arms to catch her
She fell on his neck, bearing him to the
ground and knocking him senseless Mrs.
Farley was instantly killed, but Mr.. Landlord
was not seriously injured.
Mr.. Hill, the managing editor, i'll the
NO.
had just been sent down stairs and the men
were enjoying the relaxation after the after
noon hurry. Four or five were in the room
smoking, chatting and joking. 1t seemed less
than minute before the smoke burst into
the composing room, and the compositors be-
came alarmed. Hill ran out and told the men
and women to start for the roof in the rear
which many of them did. About fifteen of
the thirty-five employees, however, rushed to
the front, six of them going into Editor Ship
ley'S room ON the corner With Mr.. Hill in
the room were Dan Phillips, Tim Dunn, the
galley boy, Mrs, }. H. Farley, another woman
and n compositor. Hill opened the windows
and shouted: For Gods sake, put up IA lad
der
The crowd below appeared to be dazed. He
then took of his coat and threw it; he picked
up books and files of the paper and hurled
them out to attract attention. The smoke
became so dense that he could not breathe. A
crowd of compoSitors and others gathered
around the windows of the composing room,
i'll which the smoke seemed still thicker They
were trying to get air. Fred Ellsworth was
seen trying to break through the partition
into the editorial room, where the air was
better. The prisoners could see the ladder
coming, but it seemed ages before it reached
them. Mrs Farley became too excited to wait
L.. 4
of the ladder. She struck it, and seemed to
roll down the ladder to the street. striking
the sidewalk all in heap. The copy-holder,
young woman, started to jump after her
Mr. Hill caught her and held her back, shout
ing that the ladder would soon be up, and
urging her to wait quietly. The flames be-
gan to burst through the partition in vari
Gus places, adding to the terror of the situa
ton. Dan Phillips began to choke for breath. |
He said to Hill: ~ guess its all over. |
don't care for myself, but my poor Wife
Hill said; II have wife too.n
The two men began to pray, hardly know |
ing what they said The girl was struggling |
to escape from Hills grasp and shouting hys- |
terically The smoke became too dense for |
endurance Those hanging to the outside of |
the windows began to lose strength, and |
dropped. The impulse to take the plunge |
seemed to spread like panic among them.
Waves of flame began to roll toward the win
dow. The fire singed Hills hair and clothes
The ladder had come at last, and the
copy-holder, who had struggled in his arms,
caught it. She grasped the rounds firmly,
and went down inSafety. go ahead, y Hill
said, 81 can wait and the rest of the group
went down, sliding and tumbling over the
rounds, but reached the ground safely. Hill
finally swung himself under the ladder and
made his descent with another man in front
of him 1t was reported that he was killed,
and choking and blacliened with smoke he
FASTENED to the telephone office to notify his
wife that he was safe.
The block belonged to Emerson Wight
The Union office had but recently moved in
and occupied the entire fifth floor with the
editorial and composing rooms. Their count
ing room was on the first floor and the mail
ing rooms and press rooms in the basement
a.. a i L.