The Brookhaven leader., 1888-08-09
A TENEMENT HORROR.
A Crowded New York Tenement House
Destroyed by Fire re-Eighteen Persons
Burned to Death and Many Injured.

A Crowded New York Tenement House
Destroyed by Fire Eighteen Persons
burned to Death and Many Injured
NEW YORK, Aug. 4.-Eighteen people
were burned to death in q six story brick
building in the rear Of No. 197 Bowery
yesterday afternoon. Six more, burned
so badly that they will probably die, were
removed to various hospitals.
The house was ramshackla affair, hid
den i'm the middle of the block, the pnly
entrance ~ II being a narrow alley from
the Bowery. In front ~ II was four
story building on the first iiOOt ~ which
was a saloon called "The White House"
Adjoining this is Harry Miners Peoples
Theater.
In the rear If the burned building were
two houses hemnng t IN on the Christie
street side. In this caged-in building
lived about $50 people. Each Of the six
floors was occupied by . single family, the
head Of which was n tailor whD made
clothing for the cheap wholesale clOtHHg
houses. and employed from fifteen -
twenty men, women and children IN addd-
tion to his OWL family, in making up the
clothing. They were all Polish Jews, and
employer and employed worked, a" and
slept in the crowded rooms of the dingy
tenement.
At 4:11 O'Clock in the afternoon, while
all the occupants Of the building were
buslv at work in the closing hours prcced-
ing their sabbath eve, flames broke Oat on
the lower floor. The fire had, when dis
Covered, already gained such headway
that it was in full possession of the stair
way and escape by it seemed impossible.
a stout German womah rushed frantic-
III ;,,t, he rrir "a d.
screaming out "Mimc Gott, Mine Gott dose
peoples are burning up" This was start
ling reminder that lives were IN peril, and
great excitement ensued. The police re-
serve were called out and in short order
100 blue coats i'll charge of Inspector
Williams were on hand, ready to assist the
firemen.
Alarm after alarm was sent out for am
| bulances and i'll a very little wbie sur
| geotis rolled in from st. Vincent, Chambers
| street Bellevue and New York hospitals,
while the department of charity and cor
| rections sent two of their ambulances.
/ Their services were badly needed. Many
| Of the frightened inmates rushed down
| through the flames aud escaped TO the mar
row court yard with clothes ablaze and
! hands and bodies burned. Six Of them
were SO badly burned that they were taken
| to the hospital and may die. There were
escapes on the front and rear of the house
! perpendicular iron ladders running down
the front and rear of the building but be-
I fore any of the inmates had tried TO escape
bv them the flames had assembled through
the house and were reaching through th'
! windows, SO that descent by the hre es
Capes was impossible. One man, already
half burned to death, leaped from fftt
! story window, and fell a mangled mass o
flesh in the little court yard. Other
Jumped from the second story windows
and escaped with bruises.
Charles w. Norman, property man of th'
Peoples Theater, with several of his com
rades, ran to the roof of the theater carry
ing a small ladder, which they stretched
over to a window of the burning building
A woman with her hair and clothing al
ready abiaze appeared at the window, anC
Norman called to her TO cross over on the
ladder. She cried back that she could not
leave her two children. Norman tried tc
cross over on the ladder, but the flames
drove him back and he could not save her
Afterwards the charred bodies of the
mother and two children were found IN the
building. Three men, however, availed
themselves of the ladder and escaped to the
roof of the theater.
. When the firemen had at last drowned
the flames so that they could enter the
house they searched floor by floor
as they assembled, and on the
third floor they found the dead
bodies of q man, woman and boy. On
the fourth floor they found five bodies so
badly burned that it was impossible to tell
whether they were those of men or
women. On the fifth floor to bodies were
found, but on the sixth five more bodies
were found, and they also were burned so
that it could not be told whether they were
the bodies of men or women This made
thirteen bodies found in the building
That of the man who leaped from the htth
story window increased the death list to
fourteen, while it is feared that the death
of some, if not all, of those in the hospl-
tails will make this number greater.
/ The death list, as corrected is as follows;
Adel Gruft. aged %, with her new born
babe, burned to death, Joseph Gruft, I
wears, burned to death; Celia Graft, 1
wears, burned to death; Philip LalOp, %
years, killed by jumping from sixth story;
Henry Schwartz, tailor, sutfocated on
fourth aeor; woman, unknown, at morgue,
burned beyond recogh!ticri Abraham
SCHNEIDER, SO years, burned to death :
Solomon Weinberg, burned almost beyond
recognition, ten bodies at morgue, burned
beyond recognition.
Iniured-Michael Reubenhotf and Har-
ris Reubenhoff, father and son; the former
will rec over, the latter will die. Asarlas
Sonnetz, Russian tailor, - years old, Sc
riously burned, likely to die. Bernard
bethrssn. Russian tailor, AZ years. mar
ried; seriously burned. Phillip Ter,ellC, %
years old, single; seriously burned. Mich
olas Reunef, single, "a years old; serious
burns about body. Sarah -, tailoress,
single, 10 years old; serious burns, likely
to die Ida Frank, Russian tailofess, SIN
gle: fractured skull from falling, likely to
Gle. Fotolsky, Abraham, Russian tailor;
slightly injured by fail, Mapostic,
! Edward, Russian tailor; injured about
limbs by jumping from third story. Bris-
I cheir, Morris, Pole tailor; broke leg by jump
/ ing from third story. Leannie, Nathan, Rus
sian tailor, 50 years, burned about the body
/ - . -
| Yellow fever.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 4.-Surgeon- Genera
! Hamilton has received the following tele