New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-08-04
A TERRIBLE FACTORY FIRE.
SIXTEEN MEN. WOMEN AND CHILDREN
BURNED TO DEATH AND SUFFOCATED.
JUMPING FROM THE WINDOWS ONLY To DIE
HEART. RENDING SCENES IN BIG BUILD
ING FILLED WITH TAILoRSH0Ps BACK
OF THE PEOPLES THEATRE IN
THE BOwERY-THE DETAILS


ING FILLED WITH TAILoRsH0Ps BACK
OF THE PEOPLES THEATRE IN
THE BOwERY-THE DETAILS
OF THE DISASTER
Flames in rear building adjoining the Peoples
Theatre in the Bowery yesterday afternoon caused
greater loss of life than has occurred at any fire
in this city IA many years. Men, women ana
children, to the number OF sixteen. were burned to
death in the building. Several others were burned
seriously while escaping and few OF them died
before the flames were extnguished All OF the
victims were Polish Hebrews, ignorant and too
stupid to make use OF the means Of escape which
we're at hand. Some Of them sacrificed their
lives in their eagerncss to few paltry articles
Of clothing and furniture.
Fremen and policemen were summoned prompt
| y, but the flames spread rapidly, and the build
ing was ablaze from top to bottom before there
was time for any organized work OF rescue from
the outside. There were many scRening sights
while the work of extinguishng the flames was
| In progress and later when the charred and dis
/ figured corpscs were being carried out OF the
ruins, yet the disaster did not long interrupt
business or travel in the Bowery Fire engines
and a big crowd stopped the street cars for an
! hour. but the elevated trains thundered past the
| burning building while the flames were rising
above the roof, and thousands of passengers rode
past the ruins while the bodies were being re-
moved and did not notice that anything unusual
was happening
| HOW THE BUILDING IS SHUT IN
The burned building is six stories high and Is
approached from the Bowery by alley five
feet wide and sixty feet long, which runs between
! the Peoples Theatre and Sherlock & Nolls beer
shop, known as the White House." at No. 81.
| There are only few feet Of space between the
! low front building containing the beer shop and
/ the six-story building which also occupies part
of the lot in the rear of Charles Krumms
nusc-hall at No. l65 Chrystic-st An
alley, barely two feet wide, leads
to the building from Chrystie-st, between
! Krumm's place and beer shop next door.
Nearly 300 persons, mostly men, were at work
in t;,ilor shop, in the building when the fire broke
out soon after p m. There was separate
shop on each floor above the first story, in which
| lived John Stevenson, the janitor, and his wife.
Mrs. Stevenson first discovered the flames and she
said later that she saw them burning the ceiling
| of her kitchen. Her husband was in one OF tho
shops upstairs when he heard her cries. He ran
down to his rooms and escaped with his wife
after his hair had been singed.
| Two stairways, one at each end Of the building,
! led to the second floor. where was Alexander
Korn's shop Most of the men on that floor fed
quickly when the flames came up from below.
| A hoisting shaft went up through the middle OF
the building and it let the fire go up to the roof
! in minute. Then the flames spread rapidly
on each floor Immediately there was ranic.
At each end of the building were freescapcs,
but the frightened Hebrews did rot use them
at the moment when the danger must have been
| evident to all
SENDING OUT THE ALARM.
A few moments after the fire started it was
| br in tba
Carter the janitor of the theatre, and Charles
Norman the stage carpenter called on the other
men to man the fire-extinguishing apparatus in
| the building and protect the stage Norman rang
! the alarm for the firemen on the special building
| signal box in the theatre Later he and other
men went on the roof of the foyer at the end
| of the alley and within few feet of the burning
! building They heard the loud cries Of the
tailors in the shops and saw them tossing clothing
| out of the windows. Norman and his companions
| pushed ladder across the open space to one Of
| the windows and called to the taiors TO come out
of the fire. At first the tailors paid no attention
to the means of escape which had been offered,
! but when the heat of the flames began to scorch
their faces they left of trying to save readymade
garments and made dash for the ladder.
| few of them passed over the bridge in safety,
Then the end of the ladder slipped of the window
/
flames shut the remaining tallors ont OF sight
TERRIBLE WORK OF THE FLAMES
Men with their clothes fire and with the
burning flesh fairly dropping from their hands
and faces were staggering out of the building
when the fire engines rolled up in Chryste-st.
! and in tile Bowery. Facing the narrow court
back of the White House, are three windows
in the second, third and fourth stories, and to
them there was crush Of crazed people, hoping
that this would afford them q means of escape.
Those on the second floor could crawl ont of the
window u narrow ledge that ran along at
the of the court Many of them did So
but the crush around the windows was great
that few could get out, so wild and uncomfortable
had the people became.
One GIRL Ada Frank, seeing all avenues Of es-
cape cut off, sprang from the thirdfoor window
and tried to catch light rope that was hanging
below her She did So but struck the ledge as
she fell and her grasp the line broken. She
fell to the pavement fracturing her skull
HANGING FROM A WINDOW WITH HIS CLOTHES
ON FIRE
Men had hardly time to carry her away when
a loud strie< caused the watchers to look up and
there, hanging by his hands from the sill Of the
window on the fourth floor one Of the men.
His clothing was on fire and he was shrieSing
for help None came, and the flames in the mans
clothing burned deeper into his flesh. Still he
clung bravely to the stone piece 1t was
torture TO those who watched him, and shrek
after shrek caused by the flames and fear OF
death came from the man. But he lost hope and
his strained muscles gave way and with terrible
cry his fingers loosened their grasp and
he Shot down the narrow shaft 10
the stones where he lay burned and
crushed into an unsightly FORM but still living.
Another man, whose name could not be learned,
jumped from the third floor and tried to catch
the ledge. IIc too missed his aim and fell, being
nearly killed by the conclusion.
Abraham Schneider who runs shop on the
third floor Of the adjoining building heard the
alarm and he ran to the rear windows looking