Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1893-12-01
7 DIED IN THE FLAMES.
FEARFUL HOLOCAUST IN A BIG
FIRE I'M DETROIT.
Edison, Moore a. Company's Large Dry
Goods Establishment Destroyed by
Fire Inside of Thirty Minutes.

the fire demon TO wipe out of existence
one of Detroit's largest wholesale dry
goods houses in one of the principal
buildings ut a loss of over 500, 900 and
at the same time snuff out seven lives
as If they had been candles.
1t was just 12:45 p. IN. when the
automatic fire alarm notified the people
in the business office of the firm that
something was wrong on the fifth
floor. A moment later the alarm had
spead throughout the building with all
speed. The same automatic alarm had
notified the fire department and by
the time the cry of fire had spread
through the building engines were on
their way to the scene.
At the same instant passers-by on
jefferson avenue saw dense cloud
rolling from the windows of the fifth
story and had scarcely comprel'ended
the trouble when the whose upper
part Of the structure was a mass of
smoke and flame. 1t did not take long
for a crowd To gather. Two minutes
after the alarm had been given young
man, his face black and grimy with
smoke, appeared on "A window ledge on
the fifth floor. lie glanced down the
awful distance then, grasping
IL IODG, TIC BLU uOWu W Int
ground and disappeared in the crowd.
The rope was at once burned near the
top and fell. Still the flames and
smoke rolled and cracked. Suddenly
a man crawled out upon the ledge of
fourth story window and sat there
wringing and shaking his hands, as if
in terrible pain. His face was black
and his hands looked from the street
as if they were burned TO a crisp.
From time TO time he glanced down at
the pavement below him as if he was
about to jump. SEINE men from the
store had rql ped ayfew bales of jute out
under the Window At this moment
there came dashing down the street a
hook and ladder truck. Hold on!
Wait Bit The hook and ladder
truck is coming" the crowd shouted,
waving their hands wildly TO the man
upon the ledge. Down the side of the
building near the allevway another
form had appeared amid the smoke.
The crowd called to him TO hold on,
the truck was coming, and both men
clung for life TO the hot and blistering
lodges of the windows. On and on
came the truck. The men in the win
dows could hear il nearer and nearer.
1t was race for life.
The flames and smoke were swirling
around the helpless men, burning and
suifocating them. They grasped the
lodges with their hands and hung down
to avoid the heat about their heads, but
the bistering flames burned their
hands TO Il crisp and the first man sud
denly let go, dropped TO the pile of
bates and bounded to The sidewalk.
This was Bradley Cunning, a porter.
A few seconds latter the other burned
and blackened figure dropped into q
net the fireman had stretched, but the
fall was too much for him and he never
spoke; he was dead. His name was
James Mckay, a packer. Cunning
died in short time. The hook and
ladder truck had arrived too late.
Meanwhile scenes more terrible had
been enacted inside the burning build
ing than those witnessed upon the eX-
terror. In the space of ten minutes
five men had been burned to death.
Patrick j. Marley, a packer; Edward
n. Viot, clerk; Edward j. Genther,
clerk; Daniel A. Baker, clerk, and
Henry Rider, packer. These with
Cunning and Mckay, killed by their
falls; Paychek, who slid down the rope,
and Belanger, carpenter who escaped
III INC lGSJ Illuulc, WeTt Ou IllS nun
floor where the flames first started.
The floor was used as packing and
checking room; there were piles of
cotton and other inflammahle stuffs
which burned like a flash when once
started.
Undoubtedly these poor fellows were
crazed by the sitting smoke and heat
and lost their presence of mind. Eddie
Leach, the elevator boy, ran the eleva-
tor to the fifth floor through the flames
and shouted for the men to get into
the elevator, but they ran about the
room like mad and would not come near.
The heroic lad continued his efforts
until his position was positively dan
gerous and reluctantly left them. Just
how they met their deaths can never
be known, but the probability is that
they were burned to death.
The financial loss: The greater por
ton of the damage was to the stock of
Edison, Moore e Company-the stock
contained in the building was close
upon $3.50, 900. Every floor and the
basement was completely filled with
stock, great quantities of which had
recently been received by the firm.
Charles Buncher, one of the members
of the firm, gave as his estimate of the
amount of insurance upon the stock
$500, 900.
The building was owned by the es-
tate of Francis Palms. The building
was an imposing structure and was
erected at cost of $4,000. The in
surance on the building was only $780,
900. Other losses, Bagley's tobacco
house and others, about sos, 1000, insur-
ance about $4,000.
j. l.. Hudson, as trustee for Heaven
rich Bros, 1873 and 140 jefferson ave-
nue., offered the building lately oc-
cupied by the latter firm to Edison,
Moore 81 Co., and they will fill orders
from there as soon as possible to secure
a stock.
After 80 minutes deliberation the
coroner's jury sitting in the Bellevue
accident case brought in a verdict that
Mr.. and Mrs. Henry A. Newland, of
Detroit, were killed from the reason