Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1893-07-13
FIRE HORROR.
Awfh Holocaust at the Worlds
Fair Grounds.
TWENTY BRAVE FIREMEN PERISH.
They Are Ninety Feet Above the Roof ON
Cupoia when Planes Burst Out
Beneath Them-A Terrible
Sight.

~ every cltlzen OF OhlcaRO, rear tnat
none dare utter to his fellows, but that
all felt found realization in frightful
holocaust at the worlds fair that
claimed nearly two score of victims and
for time threatened the destruction
of the entire white city.
The structure that burned yesterday
was, by comparison, one of the smallest
buildings Of the fair. II was the cold |
storage warehouse and skating rink, |
and was not the property Of the EXPOSE |
ton. 1t was concession and exhibit |
of the Hercules iron works and ice and |
refrigerating machine manufacturers
The fire was not generally observed |
until about 1915 p. M, and within thir-
ty minutes the great loss of life oc-
Cured At the first signal the firemen
rushed up the huge shaft surrounding
the smoke stack and when at the
summit began preparations to fight
the flames, which had first appeared
at this point. Before hose could
be coupled n cry of horror from the
crowd below caused the fremen to
look down, and the whole shaft below
was found 10 be encircled in flame.
Instantly every man realized his dan
ger, but there were few TO find an
avenue for escape. One man suddenly
grasped rop, or hose, and half sliding,
half falling, reached the roof, ninety
feet below, in bruised and burned
condition, but still alive.
BY this time the crowd below had be-
come wild with excitement and weep
ing women and frenzied men rushed
hither and thither, wringing their
hands in anguish over their inability
TO render aid. Suddenly one of the
fremen was seen preparing to jump
and every one was turned upward. He
gave quick, spasmodic leap, and
turned over and over half dozen times
before he struck the roof ninety feet
below. To the spectators he seemed n
minute falling this distance and when
the body struck the roof with a
frightful crash and bounded four
feet into the air Rroan OF
horror went up from the crowd.
From this time the bodies rained from
the steeple, but in nearly every in
stance breath and life had fed when
the victim was picked up on the roof
below. After the first wild leap one
man after another jumped in quick sue
cession as the flames closed In below
and the heat became more intense. In
nearly every instance the victim turned
over and over again before he touched
the roof and in nearly every instance
the result of the desperate leap for life
was the same-death. The very horror
of death riveted every eye TO the scene,
and while men and women shouted
Historically and wept below, the
guards were almost powerless to keep
the crowd away from danger.
The spectacle of death became more
terrible as minutes passed and for the
last man on the cupola was reserved
the most dreadful fate of all. After all
his companions had leaped to apparent
death, and as the last man was hesitat-
ing, the whole shaft began TO tremble
and vibrate. The lone fireman under
stood Alright the ominous warning and
gave quick, wild leap. lie was too
late. At the very instant he sprang
the whole structure gave way.
As fire trap the cold storage ware
house could not have been more per-
fectly constructed The structure was
$50 feet long by 100 feet wide and was
constructed entirely of wood covered
over with staff The main body OF the
building was five stories high. In the
center of this rose the smolSestack In
the shape of cupola, TO the top OF
which was almost 400 feet. The base
of this cupola was about thirty feet
square About eighty feet from the
base of this cupola there wash balcony
from which another square tower
arose, eliminating in the mouth of the
smokestaclt, where the fire was discov
cred. In the interior of this, lower anG
around the smokestack, were tn,
wooden beams and framework or
which the staff was laid.
1t was Mt the top of the cupola thai
the fire was discovered. 1t is supposed
that the framework around the mouth
OF the huge chimney caught from
defect in the fue. At first it appeared
to be an insignificant affair, but know
Ing the infammable nature Of tn,
structure, Fire Captain Fitzpatrick
who had charge OF the fire department
on the grounds, sent In Il call for al
the companies to turn out. With abou
forty of his men he climbed the station
airy ladders inside the tower to the bal
cony and from there ropes were lowere,
TO haul up the hose. Only one hose, tina
of n chemical engine, had been haule,
up when a gust of wind caused tn
flames to break out in an alarming
manner about ten feet from the top q
the cupola. Meanwhile the fire ha
eaten its way down through the ne
work. of timbers inside the structure
and, unconscious of their danger, tn
fremen were standing, as it were, o
the shell of burning volcano, Nc
one OF the tens of thousands of inter
ested spectators who had gathere
from all parts of the grounds, had an
intimation Of the perilous position i
which the forty or fifty tiremen wer
then standing. The fire had been burr
ing scarcely twenty minutes and III
fremen were pulling and hauling q
the ropes when suddenly the flame
burst out around the base of the cupol
in perfect hell Of fury
SO sudden and SO furious was the GU
break, and SO terrible was the specti
Gle that for the moment the crow
stood transliNcd with horror Strou
men swung their hands in hysterc
manner and scores Of women fainte
All were powerlcss to aid the unfort
nate men, imprisoned on the balloon
$50 feet from the ground. All the rope
save one on the north side of the towc
were burned away in an instant TIL
hose from the chemical engine will
stood the extreme heat, howovc