New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-04-20
FLAMES DO AWFUL WORK.
oyE NAN INSTANTLY KILLED.
..uo RIG ELEVATORS AND OTHER BUILD
NGS DESTROYED

yrERs OF TIE HUDSON RIVER hAhhnoAD' a
STORAGE WAREHOUSE, LARD REFINERH
AND MUCH MERCHANDISE LosT-MEN
INJURED BY JUMPING FOR THEIR
rIvEs-rHE FLAMES SPREAD
wrrH GREAT RAPIDTrY-
sanAr DIFFICULTIES
orTHE FTREMEN,
Dense clouds Of smoke rising high INTO tne alr
AZ the foot Of West Fifty-ninth-st, aoont p, m.
Yesterday. save to many Newcomers 'neiS nlso
;rformation that big FIRE was raging IN tne Guy,
n, yinss and hook and ladder trucks oasneo onrougn
,hs streets toward the danger point from tne
aia4sict above Twenty third-st, as repeaoeo caifS
o., rsinfcrcements were sent OUT ana tne e&oi'e-
,n.r, uas increased by the ominous ringing Oh
ar,hnlanoe eones. 1t was the biggese nfe onao has
.ncpyred in this city IN recent years ihere was
- % Hfa ana several men who escaped death
W. - mt becoming in o large lard refinery
!, tho North River front at Fifty-ninth-st, the
as,n.s sn,eaa n an adjoining storage oulloang'
49, l.anaa aaross an open space OF nearly 100
go to ons N the huge grain-elevators OF the New
yo,p Central and Hudson River Raliroao Oom-
ranv iumped like distance to the next elevator
"a consumed all Of the, massive structures WIN
she,r contents, and adjoining smaller puiiHngs'
E,ht;no mn. the west side OF the ciW Isr in0o
tbs night. and destroying property woren owe
go, ,rIIlions of dollars Tens Of thousands OF peo
-. Aoebed TO the FIRE and saw one OF the grahoeSo
ss,.c,aoIes of destruction that they ever were
likely to witness
TEE R1sHr MATERIAL FOR A FIERCE STARE
The IRE started in the fve-story brick building
xzhioh extended from the North River on the north
side of Fifty-ninthst., back distance OF goo
feot and wss separated by only narrow alley
from the great stock yard building on the east.
Until lately the building was used by the W. d.
wilcox Company Qimited) as lard rennery' ana
in il were stored many thousand tierces OIL lard.
Every part of the building was greasy ana reaoy
10 burn like finder. Most of the men who usually
were employed in the place were absent on Gooo
Friday, but a few men were at work In every
part Of the building when the flames were ds'
covered at 40 p. m. The men who hrst saw
the Sre were In q new lard cooling room at one
southwest corner. They shouted to their comrades
70 run for their lives, but the flames ran through
the building so swiftly that there was no omc
for the men upstairs 70 escape by the coors. sew
eral of these jumped out Of the windows with the
Are at their backs.
Henry Benning, who jumped from third-story
window, was killed instantly. Several Others
were more fortunate, but were hurt so seriously
that the ambuIsnces carried them to hospitals. In
the excitement and confusion which followed the
outbreak it was not possible to tell il all Of the
workmen had escaped from the fire, and there was
reason to fear that some had been burned TO death
HOW THE FLAMES STARTED
The alarm was given by James OHata, OF No.
SEA J.2 West Fifty-second.st, at twenty five
minntes to 4, at Fifty-ninth-st and Eleyenth-ave
: Whom arrived at the bdiding," said Mr.. O'Hara,
' the only suspicious sign was a little
smoke coming from the southeastern
corner Of the lower door. But In one
instant it seemed that the whole house was ablaze
and the people were springing from the windows"
Although the opinions as TO the cause Of the hre
were various, that given by workman whom q
. Tribune reporter saw, seems to be the correct
one. From his statement it appears that the lard
In the great tank In the basement became too hot
and boiled over. Although the refiner attempteu
h suppress the flames which broke forth in few
minutes, he was unsuccessful He acted with great
o,aqance of mind. turned the hose belonging TO
he hnilding upon the flames and rushed TO announce
he FIRE and ordered men to draw the fires under the
boilers and open the safety-vaIves, an acuon
which doubtless prevented an eAPiosiou'
WATER SEEMED TO HAVE NO EFyEcr.
From the beginning the flames devoured every
thing within their grasp with awful iury'
Rpf1r6
fire was looking out Of every window, and in
,eu, r,inntes the walls were trembling under the
,orce Of the imprisoned heat Water thrown by
The engines seemed to have no effect on the
earoes. 1t was like throwing oil into merry
furnace Chief Shay called the fire-boats and all
the available companies Of flremen IN the dstrlco
but ne soon saw that there was no hope OF Saving
the refinery. The fremen turned the streams OF
water on the stockyard building and on East
mans slau ahter-house, on the sonth side OF fhV-
ninth,st.. determined to save them If possible
Separated by thick wall from the burning re-
f,ncry was a building of equal size extending to
1t was known as the Rossiter Stores
and was leased by Rossiter & Skidmore for storage
purposes. Every foor was loaded down with
cotton, barrels of ale and boxes Of general mer-
ehandise In less than half an hour after the
FIRE started the storage building was abla1e also
From the roofs of the two buildings, 200 feet
square. the flames rose to height Of fifty feet nike
4 monster torch, while the thick walls were
,rranped In fire that shot out through the win
dows.
The heat Of the fire was so great that
n seorehed the faces of the fremen
and drove them back. Here and there fireman
staggered away from the street, overcome Tor tns
The sfockyard building were prostrated by the
heat. hut The firemen heroicaly held their ground
aud ultimately saved the stockyard building ana
Eastznan's slaughter-house from injury.
THE BIG ELEvAToR ATTACKED.
Before 5.p. m. Chief Shay said he did not think
n yyouM be possible to save the big grain elevators
Tho wind sent the flames toward the south end
of Elevate. A. which lowered up TO height Of
l2s feet. about 100 feet north of the burning
storage building. Superintendent Phelan, Of the
elevator. had sent men up to the windows near
the roof and they directed streams OF water upon
the satecovered sides of the big structure but tho
FIRE engines could not get near the elevators.
The high bIuff on the east and the stockyards and
burning buildings on the south prevented the en-
gires from going where they could be OF service
in The emergency At 6:1b p. m the south
end OF Elevator A was seen to be on fire. and