The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1893-07-14
FRIGHTFUL
Loss of Life in the Windy City
by the Lake.
Thirty Firemen Canght Like Rats in
a Trap,
And Cremated in Sight of Thirty Thou
sand PeOple.-Desperate Leaps to
Certain Death,

CHICAGO, July l0.-Tbe fear that
has eX sIed for mouths in the minds
" nearly all the cItIZ~ns Of Chicago
'he Lar that none dared t. utter to
his felOwe, but all felt, found reali-
zAtlon today in q frightful disaster
AJ the Worlds Far that claimed
nearly two score Of victims and
lime Threatened the destruction of
tue entire white city.
To-day's disaster was all the more
dreadful because Of it, sudden trans
,ormallOn from All innocent flame
INTO death-Gealing catastrophe.
Like an animate nous er, it enliced
rs Victims 10 tue IOpmosC stage of
nigh Iiunacle and then encircling
The whole shaft IN q sheet OF flame,
acid them in trap until one by one
they fell sacrifice on the fiery altar
NAT ragged beneath them while 30 600
people sGood h-lpIessly by.
Toe structure that burned to-day
was by comparison one Of the small
esv buildings of the Fair. 1t WAS the
cold storage warehouse and skating
rInk aud WAS not the property of the
exposition. 1t WAS concession and
rAhib,t nf the Hercules Iron Works,
Ice and Refrigerating Machine Manu-
iaclurers. In addition to the skating
rink, there were three l20-tOn ice
machines and thirty or fOr,y barrels
# lin-eed oil. The oil no doubt
greatly fastened the conA agratiou,
aud the fact that tue fire was not
communicated 10 the Other World $
Fair buildings WAS due TO favorable
winds. The 1ceue OF horror was wit
uessed by many thousands of people,
aud strong men Wept and women
| !aintt d as one life after another was
snutfod out within lull view OF the
multitude, but beyond human aid.
The fire was not generally observed
until about l:l5 p. H., aud within
thirty minutes the great loss Of lie
occurred. At the first signal the
irenIen rushed up the huge shaft
surrounding the smokestack, and
when at the top brgan preparations
10 fight the flames which had first
appeared st this poiut. Before the
hose could be coupled a cry OF horror
from the crowd below caused the fire.
men to look down, and the whole
7uklt below Was found to b5 encircled
by flames. Instantly every man
real zed his danger, but there We're
few to fad AL averue for escape
One man suddenly grasped a hose or
rOpe, and half sliding, halt falling,
reached thu roof niuety feet below,
bruie ed aud burned but still alive
BY this time the crowd below became
wIid with excitement, and weeping
WOMEN ami frenzled men rushed
hlth"r ana th,ther wriuglng lheH
hands in anguish over their inability
10 render aid.
Suddenly one Of the fremen was
seen preparing 80 jump aud every
eye WAC lurneu upwards He gave y
quick, spasiLodlC leap and lurueC
over hall dozen times before he
s ruck the roof, ninety feet below
TO the spectatoEs he seemed minute
failing TINS distance ana when the
body struck the roof with frghfu
crash and bounced four fest into til.
uir, gruau OF horror went up from
the crowd From this time tn,
bodies Gained from the steeple, but il
neai ly .Very instance breath and litt
had fled when the victims wert
picked up on the roof below AfUel
the first wild leap, Que man afteI
another jumped in quick succession
as the flames closed IN below and the
heat be, anne more intense. IN nearly
every instance the victim turned
over and over again before he strucl
the roof aud in,nearly every Instance
the result of the desperate leap FOL
Lille Was the same-death. Tue very
norror of death riGeted every eye t
the scene and while men and wOmeI
shouted nysterlcally and wept below
the guards were almost pOwerless L
Keep tue crowd away from danger
The spectacle OF death became
more terrib e as minutes passed, auC
h,r the last man upon the cupOla WA
re- erved the most dreadful late of ali
After all his companions had leapeC
to apparent death, and as the las
man was hesitatiug, the whole shaf
began TO tremOle and vibrata. Tnt
lone fireman Understood Alright tn,
omiuOus warning and gave u quiol
wild leap. He was too late. AT tn
very instant he sprang the who'll
structure gave way, and this humal
: being, quiverlng with life and wildl.
grasping for support in the frenzy o
despair, WAS seen to drop into tn
labyrinth of flame aud fire, aut
finally disappeared entirely into tn
roaring furnace below. His was
literal death by fire, for the flame
caught him while his wits Were still
keen, his mind still active aud al
ms senses alive to the terrible fate I
which ne wss doomed.
Asa fire trap the cold storage ware
house could not have been more pei
fectly constructed. Tue structur
Was $50 feet long by 100 feet wide an,
was constructed entirely OF wood
= covered over with staff The mai
body of the building was five storle
hign. In the centre of this rose th
smackstack, in the shape of cupols
10 the top of which was almost ~
feet. The base of this cupo!a wa
about thirty five feet square. Aoou
. r,yhtv feet from the bare Of this Gu
pSla there waS balcony, from whlcI
another square tower rose, culmins
70 ting i'm ,he mouth OF the smokestacs
where the fire WAS discovered. IN
interior OF tnIs tower aud around tn
smokestack were the wooden beam
aud framework on which the stal
covering WAS laid. It was at the To-