Omaha daily bee., 1890-07-19
DISASTROUS NEW YORK FIRE.
The Big Western Union Building Badly
Damaged by the Flames.
MIRACULOUS ESCAPES FROM DEATH.
a Panic Among the Employees, but All
Of Them Safely Ia ken from the
Iurning Structure 10y
Brave Firemen.

fl fth floor, the operating room on the floor
above, the Associated press rooms and res
taurant on the seventh floOr were completely
destroyed. Seven lives were miraculOusly
saved.
few minutes before Z o'clock the opera
tors began arriving to go to work. About
fifty men and young women had reached the
operating room A messenger boy saw
q puff of smoke under a table
in the dstribut room on the floor
below the operating room. He scarcely had
time to investigate the cause when the
wooden table was in flames and the fire
spreading with lightning apidity. He
rushed up stairs to notify the new arrivals
that the building was on fire.
They Were compelled to 90 throu Oh the
distributing room to get down stairs A
panic was the result The women
screamed and the men rushed pell
nell down stairs to escape the
flames, which in less than two minutes
spread almost over the entire distributing
room, burning up wires, Instruments and
cables as if so much tindcr.
The entire room when the panic stricken
crowd passed through it was filed with
dense, sitting smoke They fell over each
other in their wild efforts to reach place Of
safety.
As soon as the smoke was noticed Night
Manager Tobin cried fire, and in moment
all the men in the room jumped for the hand
grenadeS which hung about the walls. These
they began to throw down the hole where the
flames Were The contents spashed out
when the glass broke and the liquid sputtered
little when il met the fire. That was all
the visible effects. The hand grcnades could
not fight fire like this. Tobin called mes
senger boy to 90 down and send in an alarm.
AS soou as the boy started down stairs the
operator unrolled a big hose wheel which is
kept at the south side of the floor always
ready for an emergency of this kind. They
unrolled the hose and Tobin turned the water
on. 1t was pretty good stream and il looked
at first as II it would beat the wave of flame
out OF existence, but IT did not-not Il bit.
The only effect it seemed To have was to make
the fire shoot up higher, and it was
noticed that the smoke came rolling out of
the big hole in greater volumes than before.
These operators worked the hose until the
smoke became so thick that they could not
see where the fire was. Three ladies of the
day force who had arrived kept cool and tho
operators worked like beavers. They soon
found however that their efforts were use
less. The elevator man had brought the
the women went into the cars with
some of the men. They began to realize
by this time that the fire was a more serious
affair than at first thought. When the last
IcW CIOWuth lhlu lsiSl IllSy WcTc JuSJ
a little bit frightened. AS they passed the
floor below the hole wave of smoke passed
over them which made their throats dry
and parched and as the car proceeded
and burned their clothing. When the
car reached the bottom they were all
glad enough TO get out. Not until then did
these men realize that escape had almost
been cut off, ana 1t is not on record where
men worked so hard under such fearful Cir
rlstul- and lrainSt SnCl pllS did
these thirty men.
BY this time the flames had reached the
ceiling of the distributing room and were eat
ing their way through TO the operating room,
where The instruments that connect with the
wires that distribute news Throughout the
country were located In less time than it
takes to tell this the entire floor was ablaze
and the flames were extending to the floor
above, on which the Western Union com
pany's restaurant was located.
On the restaurant floor there were four
men and three women, who, seeing escape
cut off from every quarter, became panic
~~stricken The young women were walters in
the restaurant and the men were cooks and
choremen The women rushed around the
restaurant screaming and wlinging their
hands One of the men, finding
there was no possible means to escape down
ward, rushed for the scuttle in the roof. The
trap door was pushed off and the prisoners
climbedto the roof. The flames were shoot
ing out of the front windows and volumes of
smoke pulled heavenward. From under the
caves of the great building the flames were
shooting up and the structure seemed
crowned with fire.
When the great crowds on the streets saw
the men and women rush out upon the root
Cry of terror went up. for it did not seem
possible that they could survive. In "a few
minutes after the fire started there were
fourteen engines and hook and ladder com.
panieS and water tower on the ground
Wat, was poured in through the Naming
hn, f,llt
to the ground in perfect cataract.
All OF the houses surrounding the building 9
were much lower than the roof of the West
crn Union and for these. on top Oft, deatf
seemed certain. A long ladder was raised tC
the roof of the building adjoining and place.
against the rear Of the burning building. i
did not reach within fifty feet of the roof o
tho Western Union. Two hremon, however
scaled the ladder and threw a rope t.
the roof which was caught ant
tied, The fremen then pulled them
selves up hand over hand until they reached
the roof, and amid the cheers of the assem-
bled thousands let the seven down to places
of safety. ltwas accomplished Just in time
for the flames Immediately burst up through
and soon envelopcd the roof
The immense amount of water soon began
- TO have telling effect upon the fire, and fin
ally the flames died away altogether. Tn,
ana every instrument and wire rendered use
less. How the fire originated no one seemc'
to know, but 1t is surmiSed that two of tn
comrany's electric light wires became crosse
and set the hOoring on fire.
Had the fire broken out an hour later tn,
loss of life might have been enormous Full,
seven hundred girls and men are employed ii
the great building, The floors are flooded
with water to the depth of a foot or more
= and the destruction which was started.by tn
fire was absolutely completed by the water
When the day force arrived shortly after
O'Clock 1t WAS but too evident that the use
fulness Of the great building was at an en-,
for the present The ruin o
the operating room rendered ever
Western Union wire on Manhattan Islam,
useless, so the associated press opened head
quarters in Jersey City, every facility bein
afforded them by the officials OF the Pennsy
mania railroad company, and before the fir
was under control the various circuits of tn
associated press were in active operation.
No exact figures can yet be given as to tn
loss, but IL will be heavy, The building
filled with Offices on the five lower floors
which are occupied by some OF the creates
railroad magnates in the world Tho vas
system of the Pacific railroads is operate
:, through instructions given from the buildin
and there are the private Offices OF jay Goult
Sidney Dillon, DR., Norvin Green and other
who are famous throughout the country,
The vice president of the Western Unio
Is of the opiniOn that the loss of that con