St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-02-22
SIX. LIVES LOST.
Terrible Fire in Brooklyn Tene-
ment House.

NEW YORK, Feb. 21.-A disastrous
fire IN the cellar of Brooklyn tene-
ment house occurred tonight and re-
suited i'll the death of six persons. The
house was the fve-story brick fiat
house, Nos. 129 and 131 Sands street.
The building was occupied by thirty
two families, who are left destitute by
the destruction of their homes. The fire
started about Z p. IN. from some unknown
cause in the cellar of No. 129. When
the flames were discovered they had
reached the dumb-water shaft in the
middle of No. 129 and rose to the roof.
Three alarms of fire were at once sent
out, but before an entrance could be
made to the building the fire had cut off
all escape to the ground by means of
the staircase. The whole front of the
building was covered with fire escapes,
and most of the tenants came out upon
them and were taken down by the fire
men. The fire did not extend to the
second building until the upper floors
were reached, and none of the tenants
in that half of the double fiat lost
anything more than their goods.
Eight flat had eight apartments
on each floor, besides the stores
on the ground floor. Among the tenants
on the floor was John Dorney, printer.
With him lived his wife. Margaret Dor
ney, their four children, his wife's
sister, Julia Griffin. and her aunt, Miss
Mary Griffin. Dorney Was away, but all
the rest of the family were at home.
When they found that they could not
make their escape down the stairs, they
ha1 70 70 of Z
the fact that the flames were coming up
all around them.
On the way up Miss Griffin said to
Julia Griffin, who had two of the chill
dren, that she would turn back to help
Mrs. Dorney, who with the two others.
was behind. She did so, and was not
seen again until her dead body was
found, together with that of Mrs. Dor
ney and one of the children at the foot
of the staircase leading to the roof.
Julia Griffin and the two other chill
dren reached the roof in safety, and by
crossing over went down throug h the
the scuttle of No. 131. One of
the children that was with
Mrs. Droney escaped to the roof
but was so badly burned that his little
lifelesS body was found stretched Oh the
skylight on the roof. On the third floor
lIV6u OdIl DtuculCb dlu HIS WII6, an
eighteen child, and Jacob
Benedict, the father of Carl. They too
attempted to escape by the roof. but the
grandfather and his little grandchild
were overcome at the foot of the fatal
stairway. and were found beside> the
two women and the child. The names
of the killed are as follows: Edward
Benedict, his grandson, eighteen months
old; Margaret Griffin, sixty yeare
old; Mrs. Margaret Dorney, twenty-five
years old; Daniel Dorney, eight years
old 0he boy found on the roof, and
Minnie Dorney, four years old. All the
bodies were taken to the mOrgue. Some
of them were burned almost beyond
recognition. All of the inmates, except
those mentioned, were gotten out in
safety. As soon as the fremen ar
rived Truck No. 8 was put up, and
Charles Ricket, John Silk and Robert
McNierman climbed the ladder and
brought down many of the tenants,
who had crowded to the fire escapes
at the front of the building. 1t is
probable that there were more than 200
people in the two houses. The building
was tenement house better than the
average in that part of the city. The