Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-07-24
DISASTROUS FIRE.

| ern Union Telegraph Company Du-
ing in New York city Quilted by Flre-
| providentia, Escape of All the Em-
| ployes on Duty Some Irreparapio
| Losses-Gallant Work by Fircmen In the
Rescue of Imperiled Employes-Com
mercial Business Badly Wiped Up.
New YORK. July 19.-The western
| Union Telegraph building was badly
damaged by fire yesterday morning.
A few minutes before seven O'CLOCK
| the operators began to arrive fllty
men and young women had reached the
operating room. A messenger boy nameo
| Mathews first saw puff OF smoke unoer
a table in the checking department. on
the floor below the operating room. he
| had scarcely time to investigate the
cause when a wooden table was IN
flames and the fire was spreading Win
lightning-like rapidity. He rushed up
stairs to notify the new arrivals that
the building was on fire. They were
compelled to go through the checking
| department to get down stairs. A panic
was the result of the messengers warn
ing; the young women screamed ana
the men rushed pell NELL down stairs
to escape tho rushing flames which in
less than two minutes had spread
through the entire checking depart
ment, burning up wires, instruments
and tables as if they were so much
| finder. The entire room where
the panic-stricken crowd passed through
was filled with dense, sitting
smoke.
The messenger boy rushed down stairs
and out of the building and sent out an
alarm.
At the start of the fire six women,
employed 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, budding up and down its 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 of Battalion
Lally with Hook and Ladder No 10,
under the command of Foreman Binns,
with the lines of engine companies Nos
20, 6 and 4, entered through the Dey
street side and dragging the heavy
lines to the eighth floor found 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.
1t was through this opening that the
fire had made it's way to the upper por-
ton of the building.
For five minutes the fight was a ter
rihle one to sufficiently subdue the
flames to get upon the floor above from
which the windows opened on to the
balcony, where the women were. At -
last the water gained the victory, and
when the way was sufficiently clear the
of
Chief Lally dashed up and quickly TAX
ing up ethe 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 building that overlooked the
roof of No. 2O1 Broadway. This rescue
was effected by Lieutenant McCant, of
the Murray-street Insurance Patrol
1t was accomplished just in time,
for flames burst up through the,
cornice and soon enveloped the roof
The tower of the building was caught
by the flames. 1t was beautiful, and
at the same time terrifying sight to
see the fire shoot out from the windows
around the entire building fully fifty
feet, and blown back like great fiery
Had the fire broke out an hour
later the loss of life might have been
enormous Fully 700 girls and men were
employed on these two floors.
All above the sixth floor is destroyed
Carpets papers, ETC., on the fifth and
other floors below are soaked with
water. The battery and storage room
occupied the sixth floor. The operat-
i'm md Ibn
the work of the Gold and Stock Com
pany, occupied the entire seventh floor,
and the Associated Press and part of
the bookkeeping the entire eighth
floor On the ninth floor were the
Western Union files.
The loss is very large and it will re-
quire long time to replace the mate
rial. The switchboard in the operating
room cost $50 000 The Associa Press
loses instruments, type-writers, fur
niture and all of its books, papers and
records, dating from 1915, and valua-
BILE reference library This loss is ir-
reparable. All of the material for
q history of the Growth Of the Press
in America" contained in letter books,
ETC., was destroyed and can never be-
replaced. The money value is $4,000
HcEe 10 ilO william H9nrV
Smith is heavy loser by destruction
of books and papers, many of which can
not be duplicated. Among them were
hundreds of pamphlets from Europe
which Mr. Smith supposed were still in
the fire-proof building An extensive
of great value was also
The telegraph company
has divided its operating force among
sub-offices at Twenty third street,
New York; Jersey City, Brooklyn and
Weehawken, from which business will
be done temporarily
In the Cotton Exchange tho absence of
reports from the South was severely
felt, and the business was less than
half its usual volume. The grain DEAL
ers made strenuous efforts to keen
posted by private messages over Postal
wires and to- gather quotations by mes
but the results were mearer
Ind the loss in commissions was so
arge they feared even to estimate.
hem.
Effect of the Fire on Commerce.
NEW YORK, July 19.-The effect of
,he fire in the Western Union Telepranh
building yesterday morning is felt in.
he commercial exchanges, which were
cut off from all their tele-