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

stairway. and after some dlncuity ""n"oS
press through the smoke and hames 10 .ne upp,.
aoors In the smoke-flled rooms the onlcei iu'V
about TO sec IL he could find any one anu 'na,S
no entered the second-story back ROOM oh '"o
floor was something that impeded MS Pfosie's.
Stonping TO see what it was he discovered ~ "a'
the body of person that afterward proven " -.
Secretary Tracy The officer tried In vain W hau,
tho Secretary over to the window, and was SUI
endeavoring to do so when Chief Parris airNeu'
Charles Boss. the foreman Of the first engine
70 reach the house after the alarm was given,
corroborates the statements OF the fre Chie'
and Policeman Cattell in the main, but seems W
think that Miss Tracy was not quite dead when
found in the hallway. He says: was awakened
by a veil of fire. looked at my watch IL
was four minutes to 7. / jumped OUT Oh oeu
and turned the engine out. when we reacneu
the house. q mass Of flames was pouring ouD oi
the first or parlor floor / turned in the alarm
and Immediately afterward general alarm.
Two women who l afterward found were MIS-
Wilmerding and her daughter were at the second
story window in front and were screaming for
help. yelled to them not to jump. but almost
instantly one of them jumped, falling on the
marking. We ran up a ladder which was short
and were preparing to put the other extension
III.
ladder and bounded off, also falling on the park
ing. We fought our way in the front door and
up the stairs, which were one sheet Of flames
We found Secretary Tracy and his younger
daughter in an unconscious condition. We
brought the young lady out the front way She
was still breathing slightly, although she was
very far gone. Other took the Secretary
out the back way. No flames were coming from
the basement floor and as far as | can Judge at
present the fire originated on the first floor
The footman In the employ of the Secretary is
q Young man named r. G. Turner. He gives an
account of the fire as follows: 1t was about Z
o'clock had just dressed myself, was in the
basement and was going up into the dining
room to clean the silver when some one rang
the basement doorbell. The laundress went to
the door. In a moment she called the butler.
I heard him run up the stairs and then rush
down again. My God, the house is all on fire !
he exclaimed. Their we all ran out into LIST.
1t seems that colored man, servant at the
Arno Hotel. was passing tire house and saw smoke
coming from the first floor doorway and win
dows He rang the bell and gave us the alarm
Then he ran down TO the engine-house ami turned
in the fire alarm. The engines were soon there
Just as they arrived l saw Mrs. Wilmerding and
her little daughter appear at the front window
NJ tho second story She was in her night Clothes
and was screaming wildly. The 6remen were try
ing TO get ladder up. I waved my hands at
her and shouted to her to wait. cloud of
smoke burst out of the window behind her, and
taking the little girl in her arms, she sprang
from the window, falling upon the pavement
dozen men rushed forward and picked them up.
Mrs. Wilmerdings wrist broken, and she
and her little daughter were both bruised"
John A. Gray, jr., young colored man who
was on his way to market at 7 o'clock, thus
describes the scene when Mrs. WilmerdLng and
her daughter jumped from the front second story
window to the terrace below st was about
7:1O o'clock when ! saw flames leaping from
the parlor floor of the house When l got there
7 noticed two ladies on the point of jumping
from the second story window. 1t seemed as
though the firemen were unable to get the ladder
I'D in time Mrs Wilmerding struck on her side
on the wet grass, and her daughter hit the
end of the ladder, and this broke her fall. They
were in their nightclothes, and 1 pulled of my
coat and wrapped it around the elder lady. They
were unable to walk, and I, with the assistance
of colored man, messenger In one of the
Departments, who standing by, carried the
two ladies TO the house of DR.. Baxter in Connect
cut-ave. They were in pitiful condition. They
might have waited until the ladder was raised,
but they seemed paralyzed with fear, and hardly
seemed to hear the cries of warning from the
people assembled below. / think that they were
remarkably fortunate. Had they struck the
pavement instead of the soft earth, they would
have been instantly crushed"
Mrs Sommer, the cook, who was rescued from
the roof at the rear, was taken upstairs in DR..
Rheem's house. She barely talks English, and
in a broken way she said - was in bed when
I heard o scream which awakened me. The
room was full of smoke. One of the kitchen
maids, who has the room next TO mine. shouted
to me to Jump. / then got on the roof, the
kitchen maid going down the steps. l stayed
on the roof until the ladder was run up and
came down.
The woman was not hurt, but was scared and
suffocated by smoke.