The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-07-19
FIRE AMONG THE WIRES.
r uEsTERN UNION BUILDING
NEW YORK IN FLAMES.

vo,r Man and Three Women Cut Off
Erorn Escape to the street and
0r,ven to the Roof-Firemen Rescue
rha,,, When Their Death Seemed
Inevitable.
Nrw YORK, July 1s.-The Western
Union Telegraph Companys magnificent
building at the corner of Broadway and
Dev streets caught fire at Z O'Clock this
morning. The battery room on the sixth
aoor the operating room on the h 1or above
and the restaurant on the ninth floor were
completely destroyed and seven lives
miraculously saved.
A few minutes before Z o'clock this morn
ing the operators began to arrive to go to
work. About fifty men and young women
had reached the operating room.
James Larissey, wireman who was on
dutv in the building, was the first to dis
cover the fire. About the same time Mr..
Tobin. the night chief, noticed the odor OF
burning rubber, and, on looking into the
iron shaft leading from the battery room to
the operating room, saw smoke very dis
tinctly.
TIME OF THE OUTBREAK.
This was five minutes before o'clock.
Two watchmen were supposed to be on
duty. but no alarm was given by them.
When Mr.. Tobin discovered the smoke in
the shaft and descended to the battery
room, he was surprised at the great head
way the fire had already made. The flames
followed the wires, which, being covered
with rubber, oil and paraftine, were very
iufammabe, to the room behind the great
switch board, and soon all of the woodwork
was burning. The fire leaped from
table to table and the window
and door castings and all the
efforts of the men on duty to suppress the
burning by the appliances at hand were un-
availng. Firemen were promptly oa hand
and took possession of the building The
day force of operators were reporting for
duty, but found it necessary to retire. Five
female operators were led out Of the build
ing by the firemen.
A messenger boy named Mathews saw the
puff of smoke under table in the distribut =
ing room lust as Wlreman LarIsSey DIS
covered the flames.
SPREAD LIKE LIGHTNING.
The fire spread with lightning rapidity,
but the boy rushed upstairs to notify the
new arrivals that the building was on fire.
They were compelled to go through the dis
tributing room to get downstairs. A panic
was the result Of the messengers informa-
ton, and the young women screamed
while the men rushed poll NELL
which in less than two minutes had spread
almost over the entire distributing room,
burning up the wires, instruments and tables
as if they were so much finder.
the entire room when the panic-stricken
crowd passed through it was filled with
dense, sitting smoke, and they fell over
each other in their wild efforts to reach a
place of safety.
TWO COOL HEADS.
The messenger, with an operator named
Skidmore, were the only two persons who
retained presence of mind enough to take
in the awful situation. The boy rushed
downstairs and out of the building and sent
out an alarm, while Skidmore got
down a fire extinguisher and endeav-
ored to quench the flames. He isaw
it was impossible to be of any
service, and to save himself he rushed for
the stairway before the fire should overtake
him. By this time the flames had reached
the ceiling of the distri yuting room and
were eating their way through to the
operating room, where were the instruments
that connect with the wires that distributed
the news through the world. In less time
than it takes to tell it, this entire floor was
ablaze, and the flames were eating their
way to the floor above, where the Western
Union restaurant was.
SEVEN PEOPLE IN DEATHS JAWS.
minds of the frightened operators who had
escaped that there were seven others on the
restaurant floor who had not been warned
of this danger. A IL exit had by this time
been cut off whereby the people could es-
cape, and they were not warned of their
danger until the smoke rushed up the stair
way leading to the operating room
in volumes. There were four men
and three women. Seeing escape
cut off from every quarter there was an
awful panic. The three women were
walters in the restaurant and the men were
cooks and choremen. The women rushed
around the restaurant screaming and
wringing their hands, but none of them
tainted.
RUSH FOR THE ROOF.
One of themen, finding it hot there, with
no possible means of escape downward,
rushed for the scuttle mole in the roof The
trap door was pushed off and the prisoners
climbed to the roof. The streets sur
rounding the building were a
perfect sea Of faces of persons on
their way to work. Flames were shooting
out OF the front window, and volumes Of
smoke puffed heavenward under the caves.
Inc hlmes were shooting and the building
seemed to be crowned with fire. When the
great crowd on the street saw the men and
women rush out on the roof, cry Of hor-
ror went up, for it did not seem possible
that they could be rescued. The women on
The roof screamed and wrung their hands
and the mon yelled for Goods sake do some
thing to save u.s."
THE FIREMEN AT WORK.
The first engine had arrived before the
terrifying scene was presented on the roof.
and volume of water was pouring into
the burning building, which cracked and
Missed and spluttered. A second alarm was
sent out followed Immediately bp a third,
and soon fourteen engines and hook and
ladder companies and water towers were on
Lhe ground Water poured through the
hatnlag windows and beat down upon the
roof, but the flames were stubborn in spite
o. Oh the tons of water poured upon them.
Inc water poured from the roof to the side
n walk like cataract from all sides, and the
II spray was dashed hundreds of feet in every
II direction.
STILL PRISONERS ON THE ROOF.
q \, Still the human beings were helpless on
Il the roof. They could be seen like specters
euVeloped In smoke and mist. All of the
houses surrounding the building were much
lower than the roof of the Western union,
ana Tor those on top of it it meant death
Two lines Of hose were run up
through the building and two
tuedVy streams were played on the rear of
AZ 1ue structure from which fames and snnoIy.