Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1889-12-06
CAUGHT IN A DEATH TRAP
No Chance to Escape from the Burn
ing Building.
The Minneapolis Tribune Building
Was a Fire-Pen.

I MINNEAPoLIs. Mimi, Dec. The
| bodies of seven of the victims of last
| nights terrible fire in the Minneapolis
! Tribune building were recovered and ldeD
| titled before morning. No attempt to re-
| cover any more bodies will be made be-
| fore tomorrow, but III the morning, when
| the ruins have had time to cool off, work
| will be begun and pushed vigorously
! Nothing more definite than has been al
ready stated can be given as to the prob
able loss of life at this time. 1t is certain
that ten, and possibly twenty, lives We're
| lost in the disaster.
Several bodies We're found around the
building last night all of which have
been identified. They are:
| Milton Picketts, assistant city editor of
| The Pioneer Press.
James F. lgoe, Associated Press night
operator.
Walte- e. Miles, night agent and day
operator of the Associated Press.
Edw Olson. president of the University
of South Dakota, at Yermillion.
W. II. Mlllman, commercial editor OF
The Tribune.
Jerry JenEinson and Robert McCutcheon,
| both printers.
THE INJURED.
As far as learned the injured are:
William Lawn, printer. burned on the
hands and face
T. c. Andrews, printer, burned on hands
and face
George f. Worden, printer, burned on
hands and face.
Frank Gerber, deaf mute printer, hands
and face burned.
Adam J. Weishemer, printer, hurt about
the hips by falling.
Charles Alf. Williams, managing editor
of The Tribune, badly burned about the
head and face.
w. H. Williams. foreman of the COM
Posing-room, badly burned about face and
hands.
S. H. Jones, Pioneer Press reporter,
hands and face slightly burned.
Frand Hoover, printer, burned about
the neck.
HOW THEY MET DEATH.
The last man of the Tribune editorial
staff to leave the building was Charles AL
fred Williams, the managing editor, and
although himself badly burned about the
head and hands. he gives the following
ported met with his death, having been
an eyewitness of the death of all but one:
Miles and Millman, together with
number of printers, started down the fire
escape. A blast of hot smoke and flames
struck Milman as he was starting and he
lost his hold and, in falling, knocked Miles
off, both falling from the seventh story to
the ground and at the sixth floor knocking
off Pickett and Prof. Olson, who had
reached the fire escape from that floor.
The four men in falling struck against
the lowest platform, bounded away from
the building and were dead when they
struck the ground. When Williams start
ed down the ladder the fire was burning
his hair and neck, and he narrowly escaped
the fate of those who preceded him, the
heat and smoke being overpowering. The
printers on the ladder escaped with slight
burns. lgoe and Jenkinson sought to
escape by the wires, but had been weaken
ed by the smoke and flames so that both
soon fell off, striking on the roof Of The
Tribune bolIer-rOom, Jenkinson being
dead when picked up. McCutcheon jump
ed from the window ledge for the extern
sion ladder, but his hands slipped and he
fell to the pavement. A net had been
stretched to catch him, but he was too
heavy for it and striking the ground was
50 badly injured he died soon after. Pick
EFT. Igoe, Miles AID McCutcheOn were
married, and Jenkinson was to have been
married in a short time. Millman lost
his wife by asphyXlation couple of weeks
ago and had Just resumed work
Frank H. Jones. of The Globe who
came here from Philadelphia Il year ago,
and who was reported killed in some spe-
cial dispatches last night, was not III the
building and Is safe
1t is known that the list Of dead is not
yet complete. The only doubt is as to how
many bodies remain vet to be taken from
the ruins when they have cooled off suf-
ficiently to permit search to be made.
Two men, who could not be identified,
shot themselves rather than be burned to
death, and to-day the body of a man,
caught in the ruins. is in plain sight to
the crowd on Fourth street.
\ DEATH TRAP.
Four smoke blackened and crumbling
walls, towering up above a steaming,
smoking, smoldering mass of machinery,
brick and debris, are all that remain of the
seven-story brick building at the corner of
Fifth Avenue south and Fourth street, and
hich until to-day had been printing three
daily and one weekly newspaper, and
where was located The Minneapolis Trib-
une, The Minneapolis Press and numerous
other Offices All to-day constantly
changing and ever increasing crowd of
| sight-seers watched the effect of the fremen
to subdue entirely the flames which they
had under control about , this morning.
| The plan of the building was such as made
it well-night impossible for those. who
delayed after the alarm had been given to
make their escape. As there were not less
| than 100 men at work on the upper stories
! at the time the fire broke out and the arm
| ing was late as well as the means of egress
| limited, some loss of life was certainty.
| Several time there had been small fires in
! the building. but they were quickly ex-
| tinguiShed. so that. though ali realized the
| combustible nature of the building, warn-
| ing was less likely to be needed. The
| building had been considered dangerous
| for some time. Its loose construction per-
mitting the heavy machinery to jar the
whole building. There was but one fire.
| escape and it was at the end of the build
| ing where the fire rag9d hercest. The
! single stairway was spiral
| and narrow and da,k, and wound
| around the elevator shaft Three years
! ago the inadequate fire protection of the
! building was considerably agitated, the
| matter beng taken up by the Trades and
Labor assembly and carried finally to the
| city officials, an attempt being made to
have the building properly protected or
| condemned, but nothing came of it. Since
| that time no changes have been made in
! the building until last night a few minutes
after 10. When the alarm was sounded it
was not regarded serious by the men at
work. Although many of them started
| down stairs, no danger of serious results
were thought of when the men started out.
many of them iokingly speaking of it as "a
false alarm. This feeling of safety resulted
in the death of a number and the narrow
escape of Others.
| No CHANCE TO ESCAPE.
! For some time the Union league club
room. where the fire started, has not been
used. and the fires origin Is mystery
/ This room is close to the elevator shaft,
and in the attempts to put out the flames,
a window was broken open. bringing in a
draught OF fresh air. The flames then
shot across the hall and up the elevator
| shaft In a moment. and cut of the escapes
of those who had delayed. A few broke
through the sitting smoke and seorehing
flames. but others sought escape elsewhere
| Being at the south end Of the kidding
| while the only fire escape was at the north
end, the printers found their way to the