The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-08-24
DIED AT TIE POST OF DUTY.
ASSISTANT FOREMIN SHUTE OYER
CONE At 4 BROIDWiY FIRE.

Heart Disease May Have Uccn Aggrn-
waited by the Smoit~-.A stubborn Down.
town Eiaac that Quilted Two buildings
mud Threatened Biock.
Tho nbor-worn flrcmcn. who did such cfrec-
tive work At the sccno OF the Park place hor-
ror all Saturday afternoon and evening. wers
sumuu ned to- work again before sunday had
fairly dnwnod. Few of thom had returned 10
quarters before o'clock he night before. and
they Ind clcano and polished their engines
and trucks before seeking their beds. Before
o'clock came they were again fighting fire.
ono Of tina most stub! orr and dangerous which
has occurred down town in many months. Be-
fore they won the iEht ono OF their number,
James ii. Shute, tho assistant foreman of EN-
gine ~. was ovorcoWe by smoke and died.
Tho building which n Waterman discovered
To- be on flrc Mt :4j o'clock is n five story mar
bic front ut 81 broadway. 1t has n cellar and
sub-celnr and four great undivided lofts
above tho store on tho ground l!oor. 1t Is ono
door from tho corner OF Leonard street. and
connects ut the rear with the building Mt So,
Leonard street. forming an l. This Leonard
s,root building ia only twelve feet vide. and its
five stories are little moro than 50 many long
passaGcwars. OH tho walls of which
small goods can 10 stored on shelves. The
rear ends OF the two buildings are connected
Ivy built up pnssageways aud enclosed ridges.
md open upon n sluse court. which tho ends
OF other tall buildings help t. make. This
court makes sort OF deep well, up which tho
smoke poured US from huge chimney.
There were only two tenants In both build
ines. T. I. liorsman an importer of dolls AID
toys. occupied tho two cellars and the ground
floor on Broadway and several Of the floors on
Leonard street. Ferris Hros.. dea!crs in corset
waists. had the two upper floors OH Broadway
I'M Il, n II @
building. The big lofts on the second and
third floors on broadway were not occnl led
Horsman had all of his flo RS in both buildings
stored With imported stock. which lie valued
altogether at &75,000.
The cnuss of the fire Is unknown. but 1t evil
dently started in the middle OF the ub.cellnr
OF the broadway building. When the iiremcn
arrived huge volumes Of smoke were pouring
out OF tho windows and black column was
rushing up the chimney-like shaft in the roar.
as II tho whole block were afro. Second. third.
and fourth alarms werc sent in. and then
special calls for other engines and ano her fro
tower, until at length % engines were on the
scene. The ilremsn broke in the front doors
and windows. but were speedily driven out "
smoke. and later BY great Tongues of flame
ihs s' the psv.ment to the celisr and sub:
cell ar: and men were let down here with hoss
shs e Eso2 the stH sd
Joining tho L. whore streams could be thrown
into mdas II al eSs IT the Broad
another. from a skylient on tho roof. the series
flames and smoke poured to the root But
these openinGs proved the eventual salvation
en:e e the lover doors turned torrents Of water
into the TOD 10 BY means OF tho water towers.
Xhenss It poured down from Moor p floor 2
was all by smoke and water.
and assistant Foreman James il. shute was
% ns 81 ths TO a sss na
floors having been readily entered. and shute
and ne Jacob FsEss vse
lead. The ri"or was little more than a pms;
chimney. for a draught from the rear blew
,nronsh it .h snd Proueh, with 4 dstins
psnsea Then throaDh thu Smoke The len
n na 81, saw tho din form OF shut' lean backward
ii Hall stined they seized him and dragged
him to the window. and others quickly ran up
the ladder and cnr iel him down; An ambu-
rived. Nevertheless Inc ambulance surgeon
put an injection OF brandy in his arm. lie was
Until ON fh an armed
aSsnsnt ut SSss sssd f.
70 answer tho call ia a hurry. They said that
Shute's life might have been saved by prompt
ness. But the surgeons said they responded
at once. and their books say So too Foreman
Murphy OF the engine COMPANY said later that
thele was no rensnn Tor complaint. Shute was
q great favorite with tho fremen. and they
were doubtless ex,ited anil exaggerated the
delay.
Heart trouble probably had something to do
with Shute's deah. For several years lie has
suffered from severe palpitatons after unusual
exerton. He was man OF large build and
great strength and activity. His mother. VINO
came from Slug Sing later In tho day. told a
reporter she WAS certain that hoart trouble had
something to do with 1t. The iremen who were
with him wero not overcome. Shute. too. had
worked for eight consecutive hours on Satur.
day IN Park place and had had to do with the
handling OF the charrod dead. and this had
somewhat unsettled him.
Shute Ind been eighteen cars In the service.
during which time he had served successfully
with Engine. Truck. and y Engine. He had
been assistant foreman Of 81 Engine six years.
He was one OF tho best axe mon in he service.
and a first class all around fireman. His rec
ord WAS among the best. He was not living
with his wife. and his mother had bis two chill
dren. The funeral will be at his mothers home
In Sing sing.
Hnrsman's loss BY tho fire will he $4,000.
as worry Little II any OF his big stock OF dolls
and toys Of all sorts escared destruction. A
representative OF Ferris Bros. would not esti-
mate their loss, but Il was placed by the police
at $4,000. The building was damaged 10000.