Morning journal and courier., 1888-03-08
News by Telegraph
FROM ALL QUARTERS.
FIRES DREADFUL WORK.
The Springfield Union
Burned Out.
SIX LIVES LOST IN THE FLAMES.
Terrible Scenes In The
Burning Building.
EMPEROR WILLIAM VERY Low.
Another Of McGlynn's
Friends Suspended.
EMPEROR WILLIAM VERY LOW.
FLAMES SPREAD RAPIDLY

FLAMES SPREAD RAPIDLY
And Quickly Gut the Springfield
Union Omce-Six of the Employees
| Lose Their Lives and SIX Others Are
| Injured - SIckening Scenes During
| the Blaze-Men and women LeapIns
| From the Fifth Story to Their Death
startling Adventures in the Blaz-
ing MISUNDERSTANDING Tales Told
ny the Lucky Survivors.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass, March THE new
efice of the Evening Union at the corner of
Main and Washington streets was burned out
about 4 O'Clock this afternoon and the blaze
was attended with the most sickening horror
ever witnessed in this city, six of the en-
ployes meeting terrible death, most of them
jumping from the fifth story and being
crushed into a shapeless mass below. Six
others were badly injured. The fire was
first discovered in the mailing room and
clouds of smoke were pouring out of the
lower story windows before the fifty souls on
the upper floor were aware of their danger.
The flames shot up an old elevator in the
| rear, cutting off escape by the stairway, and
most of the employees who escaped found
their way to the ground by way of
the roof in the rear. The unfortu-
nate men and women who crowded
into the editorial rooms met horrible fate.
Some were cut off in the composing room and
there is still terrible suspense as several fell
back into the flames. The employees who
rushed into the editorial room were cut off
from the escape in the rear and had to face
the horrible alternative of burning to death
or a jump to the sidewalk below and horrible
mutilation. The fire department responded
promptly, but it seemed an age before it
reached the windows on the fifth story A
ladder was put to the fourth story and the
sight of rescue near seemed to madden the
suffering group at the two windows, who
dropped in succession to the sidewalk below
Six fell in this way, some of them forced off
and some madly leaping, and the crowd
groaned and turned their heads away as they
whirled through the air.
The dead are as follows: Henry 1. Gould
ing, foreman of the Union composing room
burned to death; Miss g. Thompson, proof
reader; Mrs. Frederick e. Farley, editorial
department, fell from the window and killed;
Mr.. Lamson of Quebec jumped and was kill
ed; w. E. Hovey of Boston fell to the side
walk; Mr.. Brown, composition.
The injured are: Thomas Douahue, COM
positor, bad cut on the head and left leg
broken at the knee; Timothy Dunn, compost
tor, arm and leg broken; Joseph w. Wittey,
compositor, hand, neck and ears burned-he
chung to the window until the fire forced
him to drop, but he fell on ladder and was
saved; G. T. Ellsworth, cenpositor, COM
pound fracture Of the leg; Thomas Donahue,
compositor, broken thigh, fatally injured.
It is thought that the fire started among
the lumber in closet on the ground floor.
The flames were drawn up the elevator well
and spread through the composing room.
There were more than thirty compositors.
men and women, on the fifth floor; there was
no fire escape. A dense black smoke issued
from the windows in clouds and by the time
the fire department arrived the top windows
were filled with poor despairing human be-
ings who did not seem at first 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 disposed to obey, but so slow
were the ladders in being erected that
people began to drop or fall from
the blazing windows was horrible.
A shrek broke from the crowd as each of the
victims fell into the street below. There was
great clapping of hands when q woman was
seen slowly descending the ladder. The noise
Of the crowd was hushed as the wounded
were carried through to the ambulance The
only available article for quenching the
flames in the Office was an old watering can.
There were no force pumps or fire buckets of
any sort. A large canvas sheet was stretched
over the sidewalk. Three men jumped on
this, but broke through and fell out on the
pavement. A woman also fell through the
canvas and landed ON the sidewalk insensible.
George G. Ware, the Associated Press ope-
rator in the building, had a narrow escape.
He was sitting in room on the Worthingten
street side of the block when the alarm
passageways were thick with smoke as
be jumped to the room. In the same room
were Mrs. Farley, Mrs. Howard, the New
England editor, Mr.. Warren, the news editor,
and Mr.. Hill, the managing editor, besides
himself. Ne one had suspected the presence
Of fire until all way Of escape by the elevator
appeared to be cut off. Mrs. Farley started
for the elevator. ST shouted to her." says
Mr.. Ware, "to go the other way and took hold
of her. The smoke was SO dense in the pas
sage way that one could have lived there
hardly moment. Mrs. Farley struggled to
free herself and succeeded. She rushed out
and into the front of the building I followed
Hill, Warren and Mrs. Howard through a
window to the roof on the east side" Joseph
q. Landlord was standing on the side
walk at the end of the building furthest
from the corner of the building when Mrs.
Farley fell. He stood his ground and reach
ed out his arms to catch her. She fell on
his neck, bearing him to the ground and
knocking him senseless. Mrs. Farley was
killed instantly. Mr.. Landlord was not
seriously hurt.
Mr.. Hil1 the managing editor, was in the
news room when he heard of the fire. The
forms had just been sent down stairs and
tho afternoons hurry. Four or five were in
the room smoking, chatting and joking. It
seemed less than minute before the smoke
burst up into the composing room and the
compositors became alarmed. Hill ran out
and told the men and women to start for the
roof in the rear and many of them did SO.
He felt safe for a few minutes as he
saw the men climbing over the roof
near the old quarters of the Office.
About ffseen of the thirty-fve employees,
however, rushed to the front, six of them go
ing into the room of Managing Editor Ship>
ley on the corner. With Mr. Hill in this
room were Dan Phillips, Tim Dunn, the gal
ley boy Mrs. J. Fl. Farley, another woman
and eompositor. Hill opened the windows
and shouted: "For Gods sake, put up lad
dsr'' The crowd below looked dazed. He
took off his coat and threw it out, he picked
up books and files of the paper to attract at
tention The smoke became very dense and
he could not breathe. crowd gathered in
the window of the composing room next,
where the smoke was still denser. Poor
Fred Ellsworth was there and tried to break
into the corner editorial room where the
smoke was less dense. The ladder
started and seemed to creep up the
side of the building. Mrs Farley
saw the ladder and frantically jumped for it.
She seemed to roll down the plane and soon
struck the ground. The copyholder started
to follow Mr.. Hill caught her by the waist
and held her fast. "Do not jump, the ladder
will reach us, he said with as much compos
ure as possible. Forks of fame shot through
the partitions Dan Phillips began to choke.
He could only say: "Ned, (HilD guess our
last day has come: don't care for myself,
| said Mr. Hill. "This is pretty hard, amt
it?" and then they prayed. 1t would be diff
cult to recall or record the words of those
| prayers The woman was struggling
| in Hills arms, the smoke curled around
| them in triumph. One and another
dropped to the sidewalk and the agonized
group at the window could hardly keep back.
| The impulse that sometimes comes to a man
/ to throw himself down steep place seemed
| irresistible and overcame the fear of death.
ST must go down, must go down." shouted
| the woman in Hills arms. The crowd tried
to shout words of encouragement. The lad
der seemed frozen to the post. A wave of
flame shot through the window, singing
Hills hair and clothes. The ladder
had come at last and the copyholder who had
struggled in his arms caught it. The crowd
was breathless. The hiss of the first stream
of water was the only sound. She grasped
the rounds firmly and went down in safety,
/ $50 ahead" Hill said, 81 can watt and the
1 rest of the group went down, sliding and
Al