The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1893-11-03
PITTseuRoH's A

A Long Row Of Tenement Houses
Crushed ny Failing wallis Goods
Destroyed ia. Property Of several
Hundred Persons.
PITr~BrR.H. Pa. Oct 2s. shortly
after I o'clock yesterday afternoon the
entire fire department Of the city was
summoned to Eleventh and Pike
streets. Ky the time the first en-
yines on the scene were IN service
flames were bursting from almost
every window and door Of the immense
building owned and occupied by the
Chautauqua Lake Ice Co and the Pitts
burgh storage Co. The building occu-
pied a space Of 800 by 100 feet, was OF
brick and stone. seven stories or ninety
feet in height
Hung by His Hands While he R"asted.
Edward Spies. an employee. discov-
cred the fire and gave the alarm. lie
was working on the fourth floor. Al
most instantly he was enveloped in the
flames. and although he attempted TO
fight the fire he was driven back to a
window fifty feet from the ground.
through which he made his escape. He
crept ont upon the narrow sill and,
dropping down. hung by his hands I'M
til rescued by the laddermen of truck
A. His hands. arms me face were lit
orally roasted. II was scarcely five
minutes after the discovery Of the fire
until the great structure was ablaze on
every floor.
welcome Rainfall.
A soaking rainfall aided greatly In
preventing the spread OF the hre which
at several times threatened destruction
to the many valuable properties in the
vicinity. At > o'clock the occupants of
surrounding buildings were notified to
move out. Between Mulberry alley
and PENNSYLVANIA avenue. on the south
east side of the burning building were
a cheap class of tenements. crowded
to s~uffocation with Polish Jews and
Slavs who were thrown into a panic.
Fifteen minutes later the side of the
building fell with n terrible crash,
burying a long row of tenements just
vacated. Flames burst from the burn
ing dwellings. adding danger TO the
surrounding property At a:s0 o'clock
the four upper stories of the Thirteenth
street wall fell outward, burying the
street to the depth of ten feet and
crushing the house of John Glenn. on
the opposite side Of the street
The Only Property saved.
On the ground fioor of the ware
house were five loaded freight cars.
Just before the crash they were drawn.
all burning. To a place Of safety. OF
all the undreds Of thousands of dol
lars worth of property stored in the
building. these five carloads were all
that was saved.
The large warehouses of the Haveler
Storage Co. on the opposite side OF
Pike street, caught fire several times.
but were not seriously damaged. The
rear of n number of the Pennsylvania
street buildings were also severely
scorched. The most serious damage
here was to Hiber's drug store, which
with contents was al most destroyed.
Number OF Marrow Escapes.
A number of narrow escapes were
made by employees in the storage
building. They we're: 4
J. Heilman, ~whodroppcd from . third
door window to the alley. His injuries
are fatal.
Il Martin Griffith. badly burned; hung
from a window until rescue by the
fremen.
Edward Spies. burned about the
head. hands and arms; may not re-
cover.
William Cox also rescued from tho
third-ioor by firemen: badly burned.
William smith. burned about face
and body.
Frank McCann. Of Engine Co. No. I.
struck by falling walls. legs fractured.
President William Scott stated last
night that the loss to the Chautauqua
Lake Ice Co. and the Pittsburgh
Storage Co. will reach almost
81. 900. 900. He could give no esti-
mate Of the amount of insurance. as
the papers were all locked in the safe,
then in the midst Of the flames. The
storage apartments. he stated, were
filled with all kinds of goods, some OF
which were very valuable. These goods
are owned by probably several hun
dred different people. and are mostly
insured by the owners, as well as by
the storage company. At 10 o'clock
last night the fire fire was burning
~furiously. confined by the tottering