New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-03-20
ANOTHER FATAL FIRE.
BROTHER AND SISTER SUFFOCATED.
TWENTY-FIVE FAMILIES IN a TENEMENT HouS1
Thrown INTO a PANlC-TWO BODIES
FOUND

FOUND.
Another in the series of fatal tenementhouse
fires occurred last night at No 2l5 East Twenty
ninth-st., double siX-story tcnement-h0use, owned
by Michael Shea, real-estate agent, of No. BIZ
East Twenty-thrd-st The house was occupied
by twenty-five families, mostly of the working
class. Two old people, Mary Cryan, sixty years
old, and her brother, Peter Cryan, fifty years
DID, who lived the top floor with Bernard
1ierney, were taken out dead from the ruins Of
the building.
At a few minutes before O'Clock, Henry Camp
hell who, with his wife and thsee children, lived
on the first floor, while lying on the sofa in his
sitting room became OF a strong smell Of
smoke. He went out into the hall and found it
full Of smoke. The smoke came from the Of
the basement the west side Of the double house.
The front part of this basement was occupied on
the west side by Jacob DaDenhauer, who runs
bakery store there, and on the east side by
William McCiann, butcher The back part OF
the basement served seeping-rooms for the
family of Bernard Hollander, Hebrew, who has
shoe store in Second-ave lie with his wife and
children left the house every morning for the
store and did not return home until p. m.
Campbell sprang up the stairs screaming fire
at the top of his voice At the sound every one
into condition of the widest excitement At
that early hour of the night scaSccy any one
had gone to bed In moment the halls were
filled with a shouting. screaming crowd Of men,
women and chilGrcn-the latter clad only in their
Misunderstanding inadly down the stairs into
the street.
Officer John Hennelly, of the Twenty-first Pre-
cinct, who was post duty In the street ana
sounded the alarm, rushed into the house. but,
with another officer who was with him, were
forced back by the binding volumes Of smoke
that cnveloped the whole house. Some OF the
male tenants, cooler than the rest had run to
the back of Danenhauers store broke open tho
locked door Of the Iiollanders rooms and found
that the flames had originated there III coal
stove the fire of which had been left burning
At the back of the rear apartments on the
west side of the house is dumb-waiter which
runs from cellar to roof. Through this the
smoke and fame shot upward though they dld
not force their way through until they reached
the fourth floor where they spread to the rooms.
The tenants who lived in the lower floors had
succeeded in making their way down the stairs
10 the street. Some of those who lived on
the upper floors ran upstairs and got out through
the scuttle on TO the roof. Bernard 1lerney stood
underneath the scuttle and pushed through 1t
the women all children. Another of the men
stood on the roof and received them as they
came out. Others on the lower floors rushed to
the tirc-escapes and shricked for help. The fire.
men mounted the escapes, and their words OF
encouragement nerved the frightened women to
come down the scang-ladGer On the third floor
Miss Shechy, an old lady, stood by the window
trembling with terror and piteously moaning for
help Seeing that she too frightened 10 move,
Fireman Brodcrics, of lloOn and Ladder Company
No. = mounted to the floor. took her bodily in
his arms and brought her down the sealing LADDER,
amid the cheers of the crowd. Within twenty
minutes the fire had spread 10 the fifth and sixth
floors. the rear parts Of the three upper floors
being entirely burned ont. The dense streams OF
water poured on the building from front and rear
kept the flames within these limits, but tie Wn0R
house is n complete wreck
and the police, corroborltcd by the janltOr OF the
building, Frank Gravatt, reported that every one
of the twcnty-tVo families in the building h1G
been safely rot out. The subsequent tour Of III.
spection made by the hrcmen and insurance men
told different story. In a tedroom IN the
front of the top floor Assistant Fire CHIEF Fisher
and his men found the tryans. brother and sister,
sufocatcd The brother was lying on n sofa. as
though he had died in his sleep. The sister sat IN
an armchair by the bed Her head lay across the
top of the chair and her hands hung by her
side as though she had sunk back from exhaustion.
Tcrucy-hcr brothcr-in- in-law--saiI he was sure that
10 had hepcd her ont to the roof, and Il IS
suppos d that she went back TO awaken her brother
and was overcome by the smoke. The bodies were
severely burned. .,
Few of the families in the house had insured
thcir property but the total loss VIII not DO
greater than $4,000.