New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-02-04

basement to roof before the first fireman reached
the spot to ofe- any resstanc, to the flames
or any means of escape to the imperllcd inmates
The general testimony seems to be that the
alarm was given with promptness. and responded
to within reasonable time Yet so rapid was
the spread of the fire, fed, no doubt, by a great
mass of iniammable material in the house, that
in scarcely five minutes from the time the smoke
was first seen the whole building was ablaze, and
every means Of egress cut of from the members
of the family still upstairs and only half awake
to a sense of their danger. Three Of them. Mrs
Tracy Mrs Wilmerding her married daughter,
and Miss Wilmerding, her granddaughter, sought
safety in jumping from the second story windows
The fall was fatal to the Secretary's wife, long
an invalid, enfeebed by protracted illness. The
other two fortunately escaped with slight IN
juries, Mrs. Wilmerding breaking her wrist ana
her daughter sustaining only number OF bruises
The Secretary was rescued at the point OF
suffocation and remained several hours insenslble
His second daughter, Miss Mary Tracy, perlshed
before help could reach her, and with her died
her French maid, who was found after the lire
burned almost to a crisp. Another servant,
who had been caught on the top floor, got out on
the roof and was taken down safely by the fire
men.
APPALLING sUDDENNEss OF THE CALAMITY
1t was all over in less than half an hour. The
fire was subdued as quickly as it had flashed up,
and the suddenness Of the horror only added to
the grief which the news of the disaster spread
through the startled city. People prominent IN
every branch of official life hurried to the scene
of the fire TO offer whatever help could be given
to the stricken family. The President came over
to learn the full details of the calamity, and
sympathetic friends from all over the city crowded
to the neighboring houses TO which the victims OF
the FIRE had been carried. The Senate met and
Immediately adjourned Business was almost at
a standstill, and the latest news from the scene
Of the disaster was eagerly awaited everywhere.
All day lona, and even after darkness had set
in. a crowd stood patiently in Farragut Square
looking at the charred and backened building In
LIST. speculatine in whispers on the causes OF
the fire. and gloomily watching the policeman
who walked up and down the beat in front OF
tbe ruined structure. 1t would be no eXaggera-
tion TO say that the sad incidents of the morning
have already thrown a shadow on the
whole social life of the capital and
will darken for many weeks to come
even the most innocent of its gayetles.
ooNJECruREs As TO THE CAUSE OF THE FIRE.
No one seems to know clearly how the fire
started or what conspired to give it it's unusually
swift and destructive character. The Secretary
has been in the LIST. house only month or two,
and it is said that he recently had New-l ork
firm put in new furnace pipes 10 these new
pipes the experts are disposed at present to lay
the blame for the fire. They may have become
oyerheated during the night and hnally about
daylight set fire to the WOODWORK near them
There was no sim Of fire from the outside OF the
house at 7 a. m when letter-carrier named
Donocan went by, making his collections a
few minutes later the whole front was wrapped
in flames The first alarm was given by col
ored man passing along the street, VINO nouced
smoke coming out of the windows, and his signal
was followed soon BY a second alarm, anu then
by general alarm. But before the engines got
to the house and the iremen were ready to go TO
work. the lives of two of the family had been
lost and the others were almost beyond reasonable
hope of rescue.
The Secretary's house is two-story one with
mansard roof il. the middle of the block N l-st.,
between Seventeenth-st. and Connecticut-ave.,
facing Farragut Square. On the first floor were
two large drawing rooms and the dining-roon, all
richly furnished and all communicating with each
other Upstairs on the second floor were the fam
ily bedrooms. Secretary and Mrs Tracy slept in
the large back room, and Mrs. and Miss Wilmerd-
ing In the front enc. On the third floor were Miss