Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-12-05
LOSS OF LIFE In AFIRE TRAP
The Minneapolis Tribune Building
Destroyed by Fire.
Employees on the Upper Floor Cut Off
Fror Escape.
The Loss is Estimated at Nearly One
Million Dollars.

and soon the entire building was wrapped
IN flames. On the seventh floor were
situated many of the offices of the Tribune
staff, including editors, reporters and COM
positors. A number of employees in at
tempting to escape. jumped from the win
dows. The number of lives lost is over
half dozen, and possibly ten or more
The building is an eight story one at the
corner of First avenue and Fourth street
1t is occupied by the Tribune, Tribune
Star (evening edition of the Tribune) Min
neapolis Office of the Pioneer Press and the
Evening Journal, besides large number
of offices. The Tribune editorial force is
on the seventh floor, and their COM
posing rooms above it. On these two
floors there were nearly one hundred per-
sons employed when the fire broke out
Access to the building is by way OF the
elevator, around which a narrow and dark
stairway wound. At night this stairway
was the only means of ingress or egress
The building might be called a veritable
fire-trap, and the danger to those located
there had been often commented upon.
The fire broke out In the third
floor and soon the upper stories were
cut off from the street. The building was
on the corner and the only adjoining build
ings were only one story In height, so that
no means of escape were afforded In that
direction. The flames cut off the escape
of the Pioneer Press force on the sixth
floor, as well as the Tribune force on the
seventh and eighth. Reporter Barnes, of
the Pioneer Press, had a narrow escape
from the building and left behind him
Milton Pickett, assistant city editor, and
one of the oldest men In the service of the
paper. Pickett was lost in the burning
building. The Tribune force suffered the
most, they being located higher up and
had less warning Of their danger. John
Olsen, president of the Vermillion Dakota
college was In the composing room when
) the flames broke out. He jumped from
one OF the windows to escape the flames
, and met with even more horrible death
from shattered limbs and body. James Z.
lgOe, night operator of the associated press
met sad death. He was at work on the
seventh floor when report of the fire was
received and Immediately opened the key,
stating the fact to the head office at Chi
cago, and asking for minute time to
investigate. Soon he returned to the in
strument apparently thinking it safe and
told the sending opeaptor to continue. In
a moment he said he would have to skip,
and found too late that escape was cut off
He jumped from the seventh story window
and was so badly injured that he died be-
fore reaching the hospital. ''Old Man. >
2 Pierce, printer, was also killed.
A general alarm was turned In and al
engines in the city responded to the call.
l The imprisoned printers gathered at the
/ windows in the south end and shrieked
r up the ladders for Gods saker' they
- lcb oh oil Il
power that anguished souls of dozens in
t peril of their lives could utter. The vast
} crowd from the opposite side viewed the fire
Y wreak its work and shouted words of en-
: enlargement and good spirits to them
{ In their strenuous efforts to buoy them up.
The long ladaer seemed to move up at a
t snail's pace, but was finally rested in posi-
ton and the crowd began to descend, the
flames making steady encroachments on
! the corner where the frightened men had
huddled. Life nets were brought out and
some were saved by this means. The en-
tire building is mass ofruins.
; The Tribune building was five years old,
a brick structure, and valued at $500, 900.
The loss will probably reach one million
dollars. Insurance not ascertained.
At the morgue lay five bodies, that of
Professor Oleson encased In a plain pine
coffin. On the floor are the bodies of
Jerry Jenkinson, compositor ON the
Tribune, young man who was shortly to
be married. Beside him are two bodies so
bloated and burned, with blood still oozing
from the terrible wounds, that thus far
they have not been recognized. On two
tables are the corpses of Robert McCutch-
con, compositor, and Milton Pickett.
Reporter Jenkinson, of the Pioneer Press,
endeavored to make his escape on heavy
telegraph wire He clamored down a
short way, but was unable to retain his
hold and dropped to the ground.
When picked up he was dead. McCutch-
con, big heavy man, jumped and was in
stantly killed. James F. lgoe, Associate
press telegrapher, make a vain effort to
escape by coming down the wires. He
descended until within about fifty feet of
loosen his hold, and died while being
conveyed to the hospital. He leaves a
wife and family. Another, whose name
could not be learned, appeared at the win
dow, and not seeing the ladder the fremen
were raising, apparently lost his senses,
and drawing a revolver, he placed 1T
to his head and fired, falling
backward into the flames. w. Il. Hoover
and W. II. Williams. the latter foreman
of the composing room, were taken off
just in time to escape the cloud of flames
that swept the window in which they
were standing. Williams was badey burn
ed. Jimmy Koehl, messenger boy on
the Tribune, is said to be missing. The
building burned with such rapidity that
the occupants were enveloped In flames and
smoke almost before they were aware of
it. The sixty-fve men working on the
seventh floor made dash in body for the
stairway. Forty made the run safely and
got out. The rest made frantic efforts to
get through the binding smoke. Five of
these were cut off at the fourth floor and
jumped TO the pavement. Three of them
were badly hurt. and the other two were
killed. A. J. Blethen, proprietor of
the Tribune, says that he heard
cries of fire and started down
to investigate On the third floor he
found the flames bursting out of the Union
League room, some men trying unsuccess-
fully to extinguish them. He jumped into
the elevator to get a fire extinguisher.
which be supposed was on the fourth
floor, and started up after it.
Before reaching the supposed To-
cation with the extinguisher he was half
suffocated by the dense smoke and com
PEELED to leave the burning building which
speedily burned down. Blethen is of the
opinion that eleven lives have been lost.
identified up to 2 a. m.
James E. Igoe, associated press reporter.
Walter E. Miles, associated press agent.
| W. II. Aillman, commercial editor.
/ Jerry Jenklnson. composItor.
n i n