St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-02-04
CAUSE OF THE HOLOCAUST.
The Fire Originated From a De-
fectiVe F'lue.

The Fire Originated From a De-
fective Flue.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 3.-There are sew
eral stories as to the cause of the fire,
but the most plausible one appears to
be that it was the result of a defective
fue. James Welch, the secretary's but
ler, told his story of the fire. He said:
81 sleep in the basement, and this
morning [ got up about $3.50. There
was no smell of fire and no appearance
of anything wrong. At about o'clock
| started to clean my dining room, when
there was ring at the bell, and when /
answered it cOlored man said, Your
house is on fire. At once / rushed up
stairs to arouse the family, and, al
though the smoke was very thick, sue
ceeded in knocking at every door
and from each one in the rooms
| secured response. Then | started to
go down stairs and nearly choked with
the smoke. l fell three times, but finally
got to the front door. / went around to
the rear of the house and tried to get
ladder so as to reach the secretary and
Mrs. Tracy'S bedroom. Mrs. Tracy was
then at the window, and while the few
of US who were there appealed to her to
keep still for one minute more she
climbed out Oh the sill and lowered her.
self until she hung by her hands on the
narrow stone projection. Everybody
who saw her yelled to her to hold on
for moment, and we looked around
for something in which to catch her
so AS TO BREAK THE FALL
which had to come. Mrs. Tracy may
have heard our cries, but it is not GER
tain that she did. The cook, who was on
the roof, was screaming so that we
could not hear anything dis
tinctly. How long did Mrs. Tracy
hang there? Not more than a few
seconds. She told me afteward that she
slipped. She fell in the areaway, al
most touching me in her swift descent
q was OH the ground level), and struck
on her left side. No sound, save little
incOherent murmur, came from her lips.
picked her up and carried her into
Mr.. Rheem's house. 1t was the most
awful occurrence of my life." Police
man Cattel was the first person to reach
the secretary's room. He turned in the
Z o'clock call at the Pennsylvania ave-
nue. and Seventeenth street, in the di-
rection of the secretary's house. Just
after crossing Ii street he heard some
one call Fire" Running to thelcorner
he saw the flames pouring from the
windows. He went to the front door,
but it being locked he turned
and went to the basement door. Find
ing the door unlocked, be entered the
house and made his way to the stair
way, and, after some difficulty, man
aged to press through the smoke and
flames to the upper floors. In the
smoke-flled rooms the Officer felt about
to see if he could find any one, and
finally he entered the second story back
room. On the floor was something that
impeded his progress. Stopping to see
what it was. he discovered it was the
body of person that afterwards proved
to be Secretary Tracy. The officer
tried in vain to haul the secretary over
to the window. and was still endeavor-
| ing to do so when Chief Parrish arrived,
and the secretary was rescued from the
burning building and carried to place
Of safety.
The fire originated in the parlor near
the open fireplace. Whether it origi-
| mated from the CRATE or heating pipes is
not known, as no one could be found
who could tell whether there was fire
in the CRATE last night or not. The
framework adjoining the mantel was
where the fire started, and it no doubt
| burned some time before it was discOv-
cred. The furnace is in the basement
directly beneath where the fire started,
and the pipes leading to the upper
stories pass in the rear of the wood :
work. The fremen generally think that
| the woodwork caught fire from the
heated pipes. The commissioners of the
| District of Columbia held board SeS-
sion to-day, and directed Inspector
| Entwiste to make thorough investi-
| CATION into the cause of the fire and re-
| port.