Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1888-03-09
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MOST SICKENING HORROR.
FIFTY IERsoNs IMPRISONED IN A
BURNING BUILDING,

BtuHy UniortunateS Leap from the FIftn
Story, to BE Crushed on the Streets Be-
low-Graphic Description of the Heart
rending scenes.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass, March S.--The
new office of The Evening Union, at the
corner of Main and Worthington streets,
was destroyed by fire about 4 o'clock
Wednesday afternoon, and the blaze was
attended by the most s~ickening horror
ever witnessed In this city, six en-
ployes meeting with a terrible death,
most Of them jumping from the fifth
story, and being crushed into a shapeless
mass in the street below. Six others
We're injured. The fire was first discov-
cred in the mailing room, and clouds of
smoke were pouring out of the lower
story window before the fifty souls on
the upper floors 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
made their way to the ground by way Of
the roof in the a The men ard women
WIN CioNdCa " 9lG CulbOfldl IOOLIS
found themselves cut off from escape in
the rear, and had to face the horrible al
formative of burning to death, or jumping
to the sidewalk below, and frightfnl mu-
tilation.
The fire department responded
promptly, but 1t seemed an age before
the firemen were able to reach the win
dows on the fifth story. A ladder was
put to the fourth story, and the sight of
rescue SO near seemed to madden the
suffering groups at the two windows in
the story above, who dropped in success
sion to the sidewalk. Six fell in this way.
Some of them were forced off, and others
made leaps, causing the crowd to groan
and turn their heads as the descending
bodies whirled through the air.
The following is a list of the dead:
Henry j. Goulding, foreman of the
Union composing room, burned to death.
Miss ca Thompson, proof reader.
Mrs. Frederick Z. Farley, editorial de-
partment, fell from a window and was
killed,
j. i. Arson, of Quebec, jumped, and
was killed.
w. Il. Hovey, of Boston, fell to the
sidewalk, and was killed.
@, Thrown, u cempositor.
The injured are as follows:
Thomas Donohue, compositor, bad cut
on the head, and left leg broken at the
knee.
Timothy Dunn, a compositor, arm
broken.
Joseph w. Witty, compositor, head,
neck and ears burned. He chung to the
window until the fire ferced him to drop.
He fell on a ladder and was saved.
q. =. Ellsworth, compositor, compound
fracture of the leg.
It Is thought that the fire started
among the lumber in a closet on the
ground floor. The flames were drawn up
the elevator, and spread through the
composing room on the fifth floor, where
thirty compositors, men and women,
We're at work. BY the time the fire de-
partment arrived the top windows were
filled with poor, despairing human beings,
who did not at first seem to realize their
dreadful position. The crowd under
meath cried to them to have courage, and
on no account to try to jump OF climb
down, and they at first seemed determ-
ined to obey. There was so much
delay in raising the ladders,
victims became panic-slricken at their
danger and began to jump or let them
selves drop from the windows. Shrieks
OF horror issued from the crowd of spec
stators as the bodies were seen to fall
through the mir, and EXPLANATIONS Of
sympathy mingled with the groans of the
Wounded, who were picked up and car
ried to the hospital 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 1t, but the shock was SO great that
they struck the ground with great force,
though, of course, the fall was somewhat
broken. They were picked up insensible,
There were no pumps or buckets In the
Office which could have been used In
quenching the flames.
George q. Ware, q press correspondents,
who had anarrow escape, tells the fol-
lowing story: II heard the alarm
sounded just at the same time that /
noticed the room filling with smoke.
Mrs. Farley, Mrs. Rowland Mew Eng
land EDITOR, Mr.. Warren (news editotor),
and Mr.. Hill managing EDITOR, were in
the same room with INK. We jumped to
the door and saw that the passage-way
was full Of smoke, and the escape by the
elevator cub off. Mrs. Farley started for
the elevator. ] shouted to her to go the
other way, and pulled her out of the
smoke, She struggled to free herself
from my grasp, and succeeded. She
rushed out into the front of the building,
/ followed Hill, Warren and Mrs. Howard
through q window to the roof on the east
era side.n
Joseph n. Sanford, who was standing
on the sidewalk where Mrs. Farley fell,