, 1890-08-02

or DIT OF wire was DeIItR IIScU ilhc d Ndl1f
fine match beneath the enormous pressure;
it meant. TOO, that each one of those innO-
cent looking wires which formed the cable
was becoming a partner III lis devastating
work that the mpn were fghting an enc.
nv more swift and subtle than the qulntes-
seslce Of flames.
Above them was the great operating room
whence messages were sent to all parts OF
the world. There were fifty persons there,
ever then, for the immense force OF opera
tors necessary for the days business had not
vet arrived; Yer somehow these men were
80 eigfU sed in fighting the seductive little
fame that they seemed tU lose ali idea OF
the terrible danger IN which the ~lerSohS
above them were. MeanWhlie& however,
the rubber and paraffine insulation of the
cables and wires which came anywhere Into
contact with the cause of all the disaster
had become ignited, and famed by tue
strong southwest breeze, which entered the
Opened window hummed with heat; then
began to roar. Wider and wider grew the
expanse of the fiery network as the flames
ran along the ceiling lines greater grew
the heat and although the "PrOteSSOr' and
his assistant worked like men who had
their lives to save, with hose, with ex-
tinguishers and grenades, they could not
cone with that steady current of electricity
which was consuming ali before 1t.
"Jim! [ say, Jim Y shouted the PRO
fessor through the door. "We'd better get
out of this and tell the folks upstairs"
1t only needed the suggestion to take
the men away from the unequa battle.
The battery room WAS left to itself, and
there for seconds, which meant 1OHrS for
importance, the electric. fed fire rOared and
burned steadily tOward the eastern or
Broadway front.
It took a very long time for the two bat
terry men to get up to the seventh floor Of
the building, where the operators were.
Those of the latter whom / saw declare
that they never came; that they had to
discover the fire themselves, fight 1t them
selves and to appreciate the dangers OF the
furnace which was fearing below them anu
Zee for their lives.
Tie men who had begun work at one
O'Clock Friday morning still had a pile of
night messages before them, but they were
to be relieved at eight o'clock, and so they
were taking thugs rather easy. Only four
of the sores of women operators who
were to begin work in a short time had ar"
rived and they were standing about quiet
ly chatting with such operators as were
unemployed. Que of these WAS A. M. Lewis.
Near him sat Michael sherman, one of the
oldest and best known operators in tue
city division. Miss Emma Anderson was
talking with Lewis when the latter remark
ed
There, there's something wrong about
the wires again. You smell that rubOerf"
YES" those around him said, t'but that's
nothing. That's only because Que of the
wires iS Il little hot"
To those in the room whose attention was
called to the odor it seemed to continue for
something like ten minutes, growing con-
t~imually more noticeable.
When the men were getting accustomed
to the unpleasant OGor there came q shrllt
cry from one of the boys from the distribut.
ing ring.
"Hey there Here's f~recoming up! And"
with o Shiver of terror dts coming up
mighty fast" I
The men nearest the, distributing ring
made q rush for the hand grenadeS Within
reach others rushed for the FIRE ~extinguish.
ers. still others for the four lines of FIVE
inch hose which lay reeied mp at the sides
of the room. Miss Andersen, Miss Adams,
Miss Foley and Miss Dawley, the women
Oper%tiges who had arrived before the body
0t their companions, also ran to where the
fire was coming up through the flooring.
The flames seemed to have burst theiI way
throRgh the lllanking and heavy concrete
pavement of the room, anil before anything
esugald be attempted to StO1y tlEeir progress
slsy we're dancing merrfly in the centre OF