Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-02-08
CraaeA With rear.

"The poor wretches many of them crazed with fear, jumped from the win dows. One man especially attracted my attentin.
 'I shut my eyes so as not to see him, but heard him strike with sound that made my blood run cold.
 'T saw one man jump from the fourth story. The poor devils clothes were on fire, and he came down like a stone and struck the sidewalk only Q few feet from me.
 "When I opened my eyes he lay there mangled corpse, with his brains scat tered over the sidewalk.
 A Brave, Heroic Act.
 'I saw man, too. at the third-story window furthest toward Thirty street take three little girls and 6 woman and pass them along the cornice into an adjoining window in the next building. Then he followed them.
 1t was brave, heroic act and fear fully dangerous, but all were saved.
 'There seemed to be more people on the third floor than elsewhere, and God only knows how any of them were saved.
 'I saw at least fifteen men and women rush to the windows look out despair ingly, and then fall back in the flames. Whether any were saved do not know"
 Daring Rescue.
 Among the daring rescues was that performed by Lieutenant John R. Vaughn of Fire Patrol No. 8. When engine No. 26 arrived at the scene Vaughn saw a man at third story window. He was half-dressed and waving his hands fran tically.
 Vaughn seized an axe and rushed to the door of No. $50 Sixth avenue, next to the hotel. He beat in the door and made his way through the smoke upstairs to the third floor. It was fiat house. The fireman called to the man, who was leaning out of the hotel window, saying: Don't jump; I'll help you"
 At that moment George Burke of Pa trol No. 3 appeared, and Vaughn lay his feet. Waugh reached to the window of the hotel where the man was, with his hands resting on a telegraph wire, thus forming bridge.
 Passed Over a Human Bridge.
 The first one to pass over this human bridge from the burning building was Mrs. Phelps, wife of one of the proprie- tors of the hotel. She was quickly fol- flowed by an employe of the hotel, then the son of Mrs. Phelps. The strain upon the fireman was very great, but he heroically held on. When drawn up to the windowsill he fell inside the room exhausted. He quickly jumped to his feet, however, and said that he was ready for more work of the same kind. It was soon at hand. A man was seen standing on the coping on the Fortieth l street side of the hotel crying for help, and Vaughn bolted downstairs to the street and made his way to the building ! adjoining. There was apparently no means of effecting a rescue from there The man still stood in the window. oH~n l. 1 | company, hung down from the window | of the next house and rescued the man, who was pretty badly burned. Remarkable Escape. Char les Carson and Thomas Kelly of Engine No. 1, went to the rescue of a man on the fifth floor, which they had | reached by scaling ladders The rescuers l got the man to the third floor, when the | ladder gave way, and, clasping hands, the three men leaped to the pavement | and escaped unhurt
 Lost His Son. ! J. E. Avery, manager of the salesmsn's s | department in the American Tobacco | company, occupied 8 room on the fourth | floor with his son. q was awakened by the glare of the flames rushing from the | elevator shaft. I ran into the hall, but 1 was met by flames and smoke. In the | confusion lost sight of my boy. God ! knows what has become of him. II got out of the window and hung by my fingers to the ledge until I was | taken off by the firemen. That is all ] that dan tell. If were to talk an hour I could give no more facts" | Dr. O. Luske, who was resident of the hotel, says:
 | \ Mas of Flames; "I was awakened by the noise of the l flames rushing mp the elevator shaft. I l opened the Nint.,H of my room and saw the T. portion of the building on the | Fortieth street side mass of flames. l | ran into the hall and shouted fire and rang the big gong.
 "Then climbed on fire escape to the roof of the cafe, which was level with the second story windnwS. l "There 1 met MT. Levy, a liquor dealer 1 Both of us were barefootcd and wore only our night-shirts.
 'Women were screaming from windows all around us, almost naked, like our l selves.
 q and Mir. Levy, instead of making our own escape, set about to save those around us, and I broke with my feet 8 window on the roof and dragged a mattrass from the bed.
 "This I threw to the ground in the yard. Then, taking the frantic women, we dropped them from the roof to the l mattrass.
 Dr. LuSke's Escape.
 "The distance was about twenty feet, but the fall was broken and at least ff- teen women were able to escape through the basement of neighboring house. Both of us were fairly cool and did our ! work as carefully as possible.
 ''At last as the last woman was let over the edge of the roof we thought of escape for ourselves. The tin roof was becoming unberable to our naked feet and the air around us was scorching.
 Breaking a glass in skylight in the cafe roof, we dropped to the floor inside. There we groped about in the stifiing smoke until we reached the Sixth avenue door. Levy broke the glass in the door with a chair, and we reached the outer