River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1893-04-06
BURNED TO DEATH.
Six Lives Lost by the Destruction of q
Hotel at bradford, Pa. "A Score or
More Injured.


Six Lives Lost by the Destruction OF a
Hotel at bradford, Pa. "A Score or
More Injured.
BRADFORD, Pa, April g. Fire Satur-
Day destroyed the Higgins hotel, the
Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh depot,
the Higgins cigar factory and the gro.
Gerry store and building of j. Leroy.
At least six persons were burned to
death and the list of the injured num-
bers between twenty and thirty. The
bodies of five persons have already
been taken from the ruins and are
burned beyond recognition. Friday
night l25 persons went to sleep in the
building, and while il is known that
many had jumped from the second and
third story windows it was feared that
many others had persisted in the flames.
The dead already taken from the ruins
are:
George Parks, machinst. Buffalo Rochester
& Pittsburgh shops; +. Havelin, engineer,
Pennsylvania Eastern railroad; Miss q.
Bond Bradford; Tom Cullen, painter; a child
OF Mrs. f. Tue ker; r. Tucker
Hal Rhodes, ankle sprained; James Bryser,
face, hands and feet badly cut W. d, Drys-
dale of Johnsonburg, injured internally J. d.
CGdy, jamestown hurt about the head II. J.
Cfmpbell, of Bellwood, Pa, arm broken and
h.p dislocated; Harry Jones, cuts about the
head face and hands; James Brisson,
carpenter bead cut; W. j. Holiday,
travelling salesman, ankle broken; Mrs.
Weaver, burned about the head and
arms, her baby is missing; Judy Harmon,
glass blower. cut about hands and head and in
jured internally; J Cody. clerk, badly burned
and injured from jumping; W j. Osborne,
Buffalo, injured, il is feared that his
back is broken, considered fatal; Mrs.
Higgins, hurt internally and badly burned;
]. W. Newmeyer. leg broken; Mrs.
i. Tucker and baby, Of Elmira, both
badly burned about hands and bodies; w. ID.
Dryscou injured internally; Richard Higgins,
hand broken and burned; Ted Burns, fireman,
badly hurt by falling wall: J. Piekard, night
clerk, leg broken, hurt aternally Cook Nc
ISabe, head and face cut; Mike Collins hand
and shoulder injured; w. j. Hasted injured in
ternally
1t was after o'clock before the first
body was found. 1t was an unrecog-
nizable, charred mass of flesh. The
second was found soon after i'm SINH
lar condition. The search continues as
this dispatch is being written, and it is
impossible TO state at present how
many lives have been lost. 1t is feared
that some of those who jumped from
the hotel into the creek were drowned
The inmates of the Higgins building
were awakened from their sleep by
man who rushed through the Railways,
kicking at the doors and calling fire.
The men and women rushed from their
rooms into the halls, which were al
ready filled with smoke and flame,
and the general cry was:
Jump from the windows and save
yourselves
Many did so, but the jump was bad
one to risk. From the upper story it
was 80 feet on the west side, with a
plank roadway on which to land.
On the east side was the creek,
which made the jump 40 feet.
Several persons made the leap for
life into the stream and were res
cued, Mr.. and Mrs. Higgins escaped
from the burning building after they
were nearly suffocated by the smoke.
Mrs. Higgins was badly injured and
was carried to the Riddell house
The Riddell house has been trans
formed into temporary hospital. In
one room is Prof. Neumeyer, of the
Jamiaon orchestra. His left foot was
crushed and he is seriously hurt
Osborn lies, both legs broken
and mis- back injured. In another
apartment are two men hurt in
terna.ly and badly bruised about
their heads. Two women are in
another, burned about their faces
and hands. One of the women has lost
her baby and her agony is pitiful.
John johnson, a boy, was found wan
dering through the streets with 9
year-old baby in his arms, its face,
arms and hands burned and blistcred.
The cause of the fire is unknown, but
it is supposed to have caught from
gas stove. The loss will reach 500, 600