The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1889-12-06

JONA j d, NNSAEA DAA\y1
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dropped safely to the pavement, with no
other injuries than blistcred hands
and badly scorchcd face. A minute
later and whole length of the escape was
olscurcd with the flames and smoke. But
for MIR. Williams presence of mind i'll
keeping the door shut it is probable that u
dozen or more lives would have been lost ut
this SPOT.
PORLoRN HOPE.
The sickcning sight that met my gaze
shortly after II o'clock, that memorable
Saturday evening, aitcl fruitlcss half an
hours search for my dear co-laborcr, Mil
ton Pickett, shall never forget to my dying
days. In company with Mr.. Cl:apin, Mr..
Jones and Mr.. Mannix, had asked the
sad, simple question of all we met: Had
they seen Pickett anywhere? Once some
one gave us u ray of hope, saying that lie
had seen one who rcscmblcd lin on the
street. This intelligence was comforting
only for Il brief period. Traced down to
clear hard facts, the hope that he was alive
proved to be wcll-nigh illusory. Mannix
was running around nrc-hcailetl, in an
agony of grief, his big Irisl, heart o'crswcll-
ing will, sympathy. In order to protect
him from exposure to the raw air sue
cecdc.l finally in getting linn away from the
crowd long enough to obtain hat from the
A. d. L. Office. 1t was then some minutes
after II O'Clock. We separated, and ho
went back into the crowd that was watch.
ing the blaze. My attention was attracted
to the drug store on the opposite side of
Nicollct avenue. where some one said the
dead bodies had been carried. A small
crowd surrounded the entrance, and it was
with difficulty that those inside would let
me in. From the outside of the door
could see two bodies lying on the floor.
Once inside | felt that l had stepped us
never before in the presence of grim death
himself. There, full length on the floor,
lay stretched the dead bodies of two men,
One w:ls told was that of Dr. Olson. II
tins eminent educator was large and we'll
rr"r"r'i"nr'l i'll life, his figure was truly
majestic in death. Ills jet black ovcrcoat
lay folded about him like IL uvcritablc mantle
of the grave. There seemed to be no signs
OF blood upon his face or head, hut did
not care t"takra more careful look. Myat-
,'hti"n, in truth, WAS rivctcd upon the corpse
of the man in front. Who lie was seemed
To l,ca mystery To those in the store. The
dead strangers head WIS elevated and his
mouth was wide open, showing set of
prominent front teeth. His beard and mus
t;'rlr had been cnrlcd and singc,l by the
fire $" that they almost disguised the i,cl,-
tity OF the man. The vest was wide open,
showing II plaid four-in-hand nccktic of
some light material and spots of dirt on the
short bosom. The trowscrs were drawn up
50 that they revealed the tops Of his neatly
laced shoes. The dress and the appearance
nf the man bctukcncd one who was neat,
though not i;>,i,lious in his attire There
were present two other reporters. Frank
Jones, "t the Globe, and Rchcrt Strong OF
the st. Paul News Both scrutnizcl the
face and declared us in one breath that it
was I'ickctts.
"ol! no il is not Pickett" cried almost
'lcslnirin;,ly. Pickclt's forehead did not
slope back as much us that, and Pickett,
know, did not curthat kind of Il nccktic."
Still they insisted they We're right, and
Strong, VIII" had been looking at the dead
mans hands, suddenly asked:
"l'ariicS, did Pickett wear Il gold ring ON
the little finger of his right lalnl?"
81 don't remember that he did," I re-
piled, i;l'rringly, and then repeated, almost
nrgrilv, "It cannot he Pickett; you must he
mistaken"
Strong then appealed to me to scarcl. his
pockets for card Coroner Towers entered
at this iuncturc, and think il was he who
stopped down and extracted from the dead
mans p"rkct card or letter bearing the
convincing and simple words "AIilton
Pickett" The gllastIy identification was
complete. had battlrl against hope and
lost, and my heart sank within me.
: l.. Il. BARNES.
STAYED TOO LONG.
James Tgoc, the associated press operator,
whose Office mljoincd the Tribune local
rooms. made Il fine fight for his life, hut
the laics were against him. Waiting too
long he was cut otrboth from below and the
fire escape in the next room. There was
only one chance LEFT, and tlIa, was Ia Slide
down tie telegraph wire that stretched
t;,"m the seventh floor to Il pole on First
avenue south in the rear of the building:
lie started down the wire hand over hand,
and it seemed at the start that lie
would make it. The crowd in the rear
cllcrrc'l him ON, but the wires cut his hands
terribly and when getting about llalf way
'l"wnto relieve his hands, he tried to throw
his lrgnvcr the wire. He was toocxla,,stci
to accomplish it. however, and after hold
ing desperately for moment, he lroppc,l
like lead TO the ground below, u distance of
iully lilty lcct. a groan went up from the
crowd and Il rush was made to pick him.
lie was alive, but died an hour later at the
city hospital. He was thiry-two years of
age and leaves wife Walter j..
Miles, the day operator of the associated
press, ais" met his death. but just how is
yet unknown. lie was picked up dsat at
the rear of the building, horribly mal,yIcl
about the head and neck, as though he had
fallen On to the wires while lcaping from
III" burning building. He was twcnty-ciyl,t
tr,.s vi ng: He lived at Stt5 Fifth street
south and leaves wife and two children.
There have been alarms of fire in the
building before which have increased fears
as 10 the danger in case of fire. But the
previous: fires have been easily put out and
the excitement has passed away. Archi-
tccts, builders and people generally had
commented on the danger from fire. IT,.
'Ilaycr had charge of the building for the
second mortgage bondlodcr The Nu-
,innal Bank of Commerce did not own ii, AS
reported.
THEiLIISG EPISODE.
One "fthc most thrilling episodes of the
fire was The remarkable feat of Frank Gcrlcr
and Billy Lown, compositors on the Trib-
.inr, in drnpping from tho seventh to tho
sixth ilnor. From where they were ,lcy
could not reach the ladder which the gal
liant iircmen were pushing up to the rescue
of the mlmricd men in the seventh and
eighth floors. 1t seemed to be an open
question whether or not the ladder would
reach that nnnr: The fire vas swiftly mov-
ii!g down toward that end Of the building
and wcaric'i of further waiting Lown
sraspc,l the stone Gaping at his feet, swung
himself clear of the building, and holding
on for moment. dropped to the
Gaping of the floor below. lie struck
straight on his feet, toitcrcd for moment
and then sraspcd the window casing and
recovered his balance. lie waved his cup
trunphantly, and the crowd below re-
sponlr'l with cheer. A moment later
Gerber dropped in the same manner, and
was equally successful in keeping his bal
ancc. Another cheer went up mighticr
than the first. They then broke out win
dow in the sixth floor, crcpt into the job
department., and, cutting Off couple of
small belts from the machinery. returned
to the window and threw M end to their