Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1890-07-26
GUTTED BY FIRE.
The Western Unions New York
Building Burned Out.
Seven Persons Rescued from tho ROOF
After Heroic Efforts of tho Firemen
Loss About $780, 900 - Many
Valuable Books and Papers q.
Destroyed.


operating room on the floor above and
the restaurant on the ninth floor were
completely destroyed and seven lives
were miraculously saved. few min
utes before seven o'clock the operators
began to arrive to go to work. About
fifty men and young women had reached
the operating room. A messenger boy
named Matthews first saw a puff Of
smoke under table in tho checking de-
partment on the floor below the opere-
ting room. He had scarce time to in
vestigate the cause when wooden table
was in flames and the fire was spreading
with lightning like rapidity. He rushed
up stairs to notify the new arrivals that
the building was on fire. They were
compelled to go through tho checking
department to go down stairs.
A panic was the result of the messen-
gers warning, the young women
screamed and the men rushed poll NELL
down stairs to escape the pursuing
flames which in less than two minutes
had spread throughout the entire check
ing department, burning up wires, in
struments and tables as if they were so
much tinder. The entire room when the
panic-stricken crowd passed through it,
was filled with a dense sitting smoke.
They fell over each other in their wild
effort to reach place of safety. The
little messenger, with an operator
named Skidmore, were the only two per-
sons who retained presence of mind
enough to take in the awful situation.
The boy rushed down stairs and out of
the building and sent out an alarm,
while Slidmore got down a fire extin-
guisher and endeavored to quench the
flames. The flames ate through from
floor to floor in short order.
At the start of the fire six women en-
ployed in the restaurant at the top of
the building, finding their egress to the
street cut off, made their way to the
balcony that runs around the roof and
there, hurrying up and down it's narrow
confines, frantically wrung their hands
and between the puffs of smoke and
flames that came from the windows of
the battery room below them made APP
peals for help. Chief Lally with hook
and ladder 10, under the command of
Foreman Binns, with the lines of engine
companies 90, 6 and 4, entered through
the Dey street side and dragging the
heavy lines to the eighth floor fought
their way into the battery room floor
and driving the powerful streams of
water right and left made their way to
the stairway leading to the operating
room.
For five minutes the fight was ter
rible one to sufficiently subdue the
flames to get up on the floor above, from
which the windows opened on 10 the
balcony, where the women were. At
last the water gained the victory and
when the way was sufficiently clear the
men of No. 10 hook and ladder, with
chief Lally, dashed up and quickly TAX
ing up the thoroughly demoralized
women, carried them down through the
smoke to place Of safety. About the
same time five men were taken from the
windows on the north side of the build
ing that overlooked the roof of No 201
Broadway. This rescue was effected by
lieutenant McCann, of the Murray street
insurance patrol
1t was not until eleven o'clock that
the fire was eXtinguished in tho top of
the big tower on the Broadway side.
The stairs being narrow and of iron the
intense heat had made them so hot that
it was necessary to cool them off, as the
firemen drew up their heavy hose. BY
half past eleven but four engines re-
mained at work and the horse cars re-
Bumed running.
The entire upper part of the building
was Quilted and every instrument and
wire rendered useless. The loss is esti-
mated at $780, 600. How the fire oripi-
mated no one seems to know positively,
but it is surmised that two of the COM,
pany's electric light wires became
crossed and set the flooring on fire. Had
the fire broke out an hour later the loss
of life might have been enormous.
Fully 700 girls and men are employed
on these two floors. The offices of the
associated press suffered rather more
than any of the others in the great
building. The floors were flooded with
water to the depth of a foot or more and
destruction which was SO we'll started
by the fire was absolutely completed by
the water.
The large switchboard in the opera
ting room alone cost $50, 900. The Asso-
.iated Press loses instruments, type-
writer's, furniture and all of its books.
papers and records, dating from 1s45,
ind valuable reference library. This
loss is irreparable. All of the material
.or history of the growth of the press
n America contained in letter books
md files is destroyed and can never be
replaced. The money valuo is estima-
led at $4,000. There is no insurance.
William Henry Smith is personally a
heavy loser by the destruction of rare :
books and papers, many OF which cannot
be duplicated. Among these were hum
ireds of rare pamphlets collected by
Stevens in Europe which Mr.. Smith
supposed were secure in this fire
proof" building An extensive cores
pondence Of great value was also CON-
mmed.
CHAUNCEY DEPEW was called upon re-