St. Landry democrat., 1890-03-01
FEaAsuL CALAMITY.
Burning of the Residence Of Secretary
Of the Navy Tracy. g

MRS. TRACY KILLED BY JUMPING FROM
wrNDow-M1ss MARY TRACY AND
FRENCH MAID BURNED TO DEATH.
A terrible calamity visited the house.
hold of Secretary Tracy on the morning OF
the Sd inst, whereby three persons lost
their lives and three others were badly IN
iured. It is impossible at this writing TO
state the exact details The house is
tbree-story and basement brick, situated
on E street. between Connecticut avenue
and Seventeenth street, and had recently
undergone extensive improvements. fer-
sons passing the house at o'clock IN the
morning saw smoke issuing from the 1ront
windows. and at once raised an alarm OF
6re. The fire and police departments re-
sponded promptly. The premises were
almost concealed by dense smoke, Whlch
was thickened by heavy fog, which was
Just lifting. 1t was soon discovered that
The house was all ablaze inside, and the
main stairway was burnt, thus cutting OIL
communication with the sleeping apart
ments on the second and third floors. Sev-
eral streams of water were played on the
flames. and every effort was made to check
the fire and rescue the inmates.
A scene of the widest confusion ensued
when it was known that all of the mem
bers of the family were in the house. The
| fremen behaved like heroes in the emer-
gency, and went through ire and smoke
IN searching for them in the different
| apartments. Mrs. Wilmerding, the Sec
retary's daughter, and Miss Wilmerding
forced their way through the blndlng
smoke and jumped from the second story
| window front. Ladders were raised 1or
| them, but in their excitement they faileo
| to see them. Mrs. Wilmerding broke her
| left wrist and was severely bruised. her
daughter was badly injured about the
| lower limbs, but broke no bones. Ihey
! both suffered severely from the shock.
They were taken to the residence of DIR.
Baxter, near by, and restoratives were
applied. ..o
raging element by dropping herself from
her bedroom window, and in her effort TO
decrease the distance to the ground she
| erasped the narrow stone window sill and
/ lowered herself as far as possible. Those
/ who saw her in her perilous position
/ shouted to her to hold on, but either she
! did not hear or her strength failed her, for
| after hanging but moment she fell forty
| feet below before anything could be done
to rescue her She was Immediately taken
to the house of neighbor, DR.. Rheem,
and placed upon lounge in the sitting
i room She was conscious, and did not
seem to suffer pain. Occasionally she
complained of al impression in the neigh
borhood of her heart, and found difficulty
| in breathing. She talked while, coughed
/ slightly, and then became silent. The
nhysicians looked at each other signif-
csntly. Mrs. Tracy was dead.
The immediate cause of her death was
| supposed to be from injuries of her heart,
sustained in her fall from the window,
which flooded her lungs with blood. 1t is
said that had she delayed her movements
q couple of minutes ladders and mattresses
and other means of escape would have
been at hand.
Her body was soon removed to the resi-
dence of Attorney General Miller, on Mas
sachussetts avenue.
Almost at the same time two bodies
were taken from the burning building.
One was the Secretary's daughter, Miss
| Mary, a young lady, and the other is that
I Of the French maid, Josephine. That oi
the former was found by Chief Parish.
| living ON the floor in the second floor hall
at the head of the stairs. The body was
not greatly disfgured by the fire. She
had evidently died from suffocation.
The chief lifted the 1ifeless body in his
arms, and although the staircase was
ablaze, he brought it safely out into the
street, 1t is said that Miss Tracy could
have saved herself if her strength had
held out few minutes longer. She fell
in the hallway of the second story. only 9
few wards from the bath room, which, II
she had reached and closed The door would
| have insured her against fire and smoke
until assistance could have reached her.
OF the French maid, little is known save
that her dead body was found on the tor
floor of the house burned beyond recog-
nition.
Both the bodies of Miss Tracy and he1
maid were taken to an undertakers estab-
lishment in the vicinity. Secretary Tracy
himself had most wondrous escape ano
is now lying in q somewhat precarious
condition at the residence of Hon. J. Q
Bancroft Davis, on 81 street, near lotE
street. like the others, he was overcome
in his sleep with the smoke which filled
the house and rendered him completely
helpless. He was discovered in this con-
dition and with considerable difficulty was
/ u
dows. Cries for ladder were quickly
answered and many willing hands were
rsised to assist him to the ground. H
was at once removed to neighbori
house and was soon surrounded by physi
clans. including Drs Waller and Ruth
He was suffering from asphyxia.
4 The doctors applied artificial means t.
j induce respiration, and succeeded, after al
hours work, in restoring him to semi
consciousness. 1t was then thought SAT-
to remove him to Judge Davis house
He improved slowly from that time on
and soon regained consciousness, recogniz-
ing friends who called to inquire in regart
to his condition. Among the tirst OF thes
were the President, Vice President ant
several members of the Cabinet.
DR.. Wales, who is one of the ply ysician
IN attendance upon Secretary Tracy
said this afternoon that the Secretary wa
getting along very well, and that the onl.
danger now TO be feared is that the smok
} ID his lungs will cause bronchitis. Th
Secretary, he said, was bearing up bravel
in his great affection. His greatest anx
iety was In regard to his wife, and tn
frst words uttered by him on regaininI
consciousness was to urge them to saw
: her lie, aSsve her! Save her !" he crie
J piteously, and then relapsed into state
, insensibility Il lasted q short time only
however. and he again called out to tn
, doctor to leave him and save her. He sui
sequently inquired for his daughter, an
i told the doctors that she, too, must b
I saved. Finally it was concluded that th
t best course would be to tell him the trut
I as the terrible suspense he was sufferin
y might retard his own recovery.
i. The President was with him at the tim
and it was from his lips that he learne
8 The Sad news that his wife and daughts