Telegram-herald., 1891-04-07
NINE WERE BURNED
Awful Result Of . Fire In Ro-
chester Pa Tenement
Wo1Ey ROASTED II IHfIR BEDS
Haay Of the In&Asss Meet . Horrible
OsAth-A GirI saver Her hifs ~
Isaping-sesnes and Iaei-
asnts Of the Fire

ROCHESTER, Pa. April 6-The most
frightfai accident that has ever befallen
this place occurred At ! a M. and as
result nine lives were lost Between
the Rose building. corner Of Brighton
end New York streets. and the rail-
read crossing was . row of frame
tenement houses. the first floors OF
which were occupied IS business
housea shortly after midnight IRE
va discovered In the tenement build
Ing and In . very few minutes ell were
ia AAmeA In the midst Of the hottest
part Of the IRE An Italian girl about
is years Of ago appeared 1t the window
Of one OF the burning buildings and
lespsd toward the grc1ndSs two Of the
Gremsn cstching her before shs struck
che ground Between her sobs she
stated that AL her fathers family were
IN the burning house. but - the flames
now had full control OF the building II
was impossible TO save them and seven
persons periahed in the Italian family.
The rooms occupied by the Italians
were In the center of the building. and
when IL was found that lives had been
lost careful inquiry was made regard
ing the occupants Of the first build
ing to take fire. 1t was inhabited
by . shoemaker named Edward
j. kesne. with family con-
sistiag of wife and three children
None Of the family could be found for
. time, but during the height Of the
excitement Mira Keene with two Of her
children arrived from Pittsburgh. It
was then feared that Mr. Keens and
his eldest son, Walter. boy Of
years of age. were lost Brave men
at once went to work among the burn
ing timbers and soon discovered the
charred remains of father and son
close together, but burned to an unrec-
ognizable mass The corpses, with
those Of the Italians that have been re-
covered, are lying in stall at Hayes
livery stable. The names of the vic
tins are:
Edwsrd J. Keene, 50 years old; his son. Wal
ter 0 years; Busteito Cespio. Is years; wife
Annie. - years; son John. II years; daughter
,Risa. years; Victoria Cespio. . brother; Joe
Romio. age unknown
Tho bodies are so badly burned that
they are unacceptable. There has
also been $500 in gold found among the
ruins which belonged to the Italians.
The Italian girl. the only one saved.
says $500 is still in the ashes. She talks
incoherentiy, and seems to remember
but little of the frightful struggles Of
her kinsmen. She says that when she
swolee the fire was burning below and
q L.
slept in the back room, her mother and
the children in the middle room and
her father and his brother, Vittoria Tic
lio and Josef Raema, both visitors, oc-
cupied the front room Maria tried
to rouse her people, but they were al
ready ssphy xiated- She stayed until
the fire burned her and she was COM
PEELED to jump for her life from . win
dow.
All the bodies have been recovered.
They are lying side by side in an ad-
joining building. Each body is burned
beyond recognition. The sight of tho
row of blackened bodies is horrible.
Annie, the baby. had one foot and arm
burned completely of. The others are
eli fearfully mutilated.
There is no definite sort Of evidence
~ to how the FIRE started. but it is tho
opinion of the authorities, and il seems
60 be the correct one, that a lamp left
burning by Mr.. Keene In his kitchen
exploded and fred the house. There
appears to be no indication of incendiar-
ism The total il loss 5000, which 10
fully covered by insurance.
nj VI A
WASHINGTON. April 6.-Franccs Lew
Is. an old colored woman. who was cook
in n restaurant, was burned TO death at
her home The old woman had made a
bed on some chairs near the stove, and
her screams aroused the police, who
broke the door in TO find the woman q
mass of flames and charred flesh. She
died almost instantly. IL is thought
that spark from the stove set fire to
her clothing.
DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT LOWELL
LOWELL. Mass, April s.-The worst
FIRE Lowell has had in many years oc-
CURED Sunday afternoon. Boys set fire
70 . box of waste paper in the alley
back of the Edison block and the fire
dropped into H. C. Church a Sons cell
lar. IL spread rapidly, and the base
ment OF this store and c. J. Maynard 4
Co.'S dry-goods store were soon aflre.
The Edison block. owned by the Wyman
heirs. of Baltimore. was . complete
wreck. only tho frcat and back walls
standing The total damage done
Was 500, 900. The Goodyear Rubber
Company's store in the Masonic temple
was burned out The temple was dam
aged 1000 In the Masonic temple
WAS the public library. and il Is esti-
mated that 10000 volumes were
lost In the masonic quarters,
fitted mp ct an expense of S2o.-
600. the damage was mostly By
water. The organ was burned up.
About 500 Knights Templars' regalias.
worth about $4,000. were somewhat
damaged By water and smoke. A
blanket policy cove~ the lodges prop
erty. but the loss on r-galias will fau
On the individual members
q Youth Com uDgxs SvtrsS>