Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1888-08-09
a BOWERY HOLOCAUST

a BOWERY HOLOCAUST.
Fifteen Human Beings Cresnsted in :
Death Trap-Thc Terrible Results or .
Fire in an Unapproachable Tcnement-
Heuse in Now York, Densely peopled BY
Polish Jews-List OF the Victims.
New York, Aug. 4.--The Bowery yes.
| terday afternoon was the scene of the
/ most horrible fire that has visited New
/ York in many days. Fourteen dead
bodies were taken from the ruins, and q
| number OF persons were taken to the hos-
! pital badly burned or injured by jumping.
/ The building burned was q six-story
! death-trap located in the rear Of the Peo-
/ ples' Theater in the center of the block
| bounded by Bowery, Rivington, Christie
and Delaney streets, and was unapproach-
/ able save by an alley way scarcely three
| feet wide and hundred feet deep. The
| first, second, third and fourth floors were
| used as tailoring shops by four different
| firms who employed nearly one hundred
| men and women in the manufacture of
| cloaks. All Of the employees were Polish
! Jews. The building, which was filed
with infammable material, burned
fercely and rapidly, and by the time the
! firemen reached the scene it was q roar.
ing furnace.
Back of the building is narrow court
yard about six feetwide and covered with
tagging. All roads of escape being cut
off, many Of the affrighted inmates rushed
to the windows and jumped from the third
and fourth stories to the narrow pen bs-
low, only to receive broken limbs or
heads. Many were overcome by smoke
before the fire reached them, and were
unconscious while their bodies were being
burned to crisp.
The fire, which lasted over an hour, was
| drowned out at 40 p. m, and search was
Immediately made for the victims. One
body was found In the alley way; one on
the first floor, occupied by Marx & Clein,
tailors; three dead bodies were found on
| the fourth floor. occupied by Davis, tailor;
five were found on the fifth floor. All the
corpses appeared to be those Of men, and
were burned beyond recognition. An un-
known man died while under the sur.
geon's hands at the White House saloon,
No. 1917 Bowery, making total OF fifteen
dead.
The injured, SO far as known, are:
Phillip Trott, aged thirty; fatally
burned aud injured internally; will die.
Sir Michael Rubenhouse; arm broken
and badly bruised.
Ed. Mapastie, both arms and legs
broken.
Harris Bereschied, ankle br oxen.
total loss, including 81, 900 to the Peoples
Theater. will not exceed $4,000.
The scenes attending the fire were heart.
rending. Owing to the peculiar situation
of the building, the firemen were unable
to reach the people from the windows and
prevent their jumping, and the construc-
ton of the place was so faulty that 1t Is
doubtful If the suffocation and cremation
of the inside victims could have been pre-
= l.. l.1 III
to get to work earlier.
Crowds of Polish Jews and people Of
all descriptions thronged into the Bow.
cry, screaming and weeping and greatly
impeding the work of the police and fire.
men. The lamentations uttered by rela-
tives and friends, as the dead and wound
ed were brought out to the street, were
appalling. The injured were cared for on
the sidewalks until ambulances from
various hospitals arrived, and the array
of bleeding humanity was a CHASTITY one.
The building had fire escapes, but the
fire ran up the rear of the structure, cut
ting off egress by the stairways. Some
of the victims might have escaped by way
of the roof il the dense smoke had not
overpowered them. 1t is doubtful, too, IL
they knew that there was a hatchway
there. The fire was probably caused by
the upsetting OF a can Of benzine.
Mrs. Graft, who lived on the third floor,
was about to become mother. When
the family were startled by the flames
coming up through the floor, Mr.. Graft
caught up baby, and calling to his two
other children, Joseph and Celia, to fol-
low, rushed down stairs, hoping to return
with help and save the mother. Graft
and the baby alone escaped. An hour
later the firemen found Mrs. Graft and the
newly-born baby and Joseph and Celia,
all dead.
Charles Forman, property man of the
Peoples Theater, saved many lives by
breaking down a partition and throwing
ladder over the alley to the third story
windows Of the burning building, over
which the occupants of that floor could
pass. When they were all out Norman
threw the ladder up to the fourth story
and rescued many there. He says he was
astonished to see the frantic people try.
ing to save their little property by throw
ing 1t out OF the windows while their lives
were in danger. There was but a mo-
ment or two in which to work. The fierce
heat soon made the ladder bridge use
less. He thinks the large loss OF life is
mainly due to the people being panic.
stricken.
The following is a list of the dead:
Mrs Adele Graft, aged twenty-e eight,
with her newborn babe; burned to
death.
Joseph Graft aged seven; ditto.
Celia Graft, aged four; ditto.
Philip Taloph, aged twenty two; killed
by jumping from sixth story; skull
crushed.
Henry Schwartz, tailor; suffocated.
Unknown woman, and ten men all
burned so as to be unacceptable.
These eleven bodies are at the morgue.