The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1893-10-28


PITTSBURGH, Oct. 2z.-The explosion
oil barrel OF whisky in the big ware
house OF the Chautauqua Lake Ice Com
pany this afternoon caused the destruc-
ton OF 100000 worth of property and
serious injury to eight persons. severa!
Of the injured it is feared with die. A
score or more OF others sustained slight
cuts and bruises, or were trampled by
the mob surrounding the burning build
ings. Those seriously hurt were:
TT. Heilinan, married, dropped from
the third floor to the ground. Hands
and face terribly burned. His injuries
are considered fatal.
Martin Griffith, married, dangerously
burned.
Edward Specs. body and head badly
burned, may not recover.
William Cox, single, dangerously
burned about face and body.
William Smith, painfully burned, will
recover.
These men were all rescued from the
burning building by the tiremen.
Lieut.. Frank McGann, OF engine COM
pany No. Z. struck by falling bricks and
left leg fractured.
William Wisman, struck by falling
timbers and skull fractured. dangerous.
John Reische. boy, badly hurt by
falling timbers.
1t was just twenty minutes after l
o'clock when a number OF the employees
on the third floor OF the Chautauqua
Lake Ice Colnpany's building were
startled by loud report, and almost in
an instant the large room was ablaze.
The men quickly gave the alarm and
then started for the stairs, but the
flames had already cut of their retreat,
and the only means OF exit LETT them
were the windows, fifty feet from the
ground. By this time the heat was so
intense that they were forced to creep
out upon the window siIls and hang by
their hands until the fire department
arrived. The flames bursting from the
windows burned their hands and faces.
but they hung there until tho men OF
truck "E" got ladders and brought
them down.
ANOTHER BUILDING AFIRE.
When the fire was discovered an
alarm was sent in, and when the first
district reached the scene. the flames
we're rapidly eating their way through
the great seven.story building OF the
Chautauqua company. A second alarm
brought out two more districts, but the
fire by this time had spread to the
seven.story building of the Pittsburgh
Storage Company adjoining, and both
structures 200 feet long and 100 feet
deep were burning tiercely. Two more
districts were then summoned and IN
twenty minutes water was pouring on
the flames from nearly score Of en-
gines.
At2 o'clock it looked as though the
whole block from Twelfth to Thirteenth
streets and from Pike street to Penn
avenue was doomed and the residents
we're notified to move out 10 add TO
the excitement it was discovered that u
large tank OF ammonia was located in
the cellar OF the ice company's building
and the police tearing an explosion
quickly ordered the occupants Of the
houses on Twelfth street to also vacate.
All the houses in the neighborhood are
a cheap class Of tenements, and are
crowded nearly to sufocation with Pol
ish Jews and Slays. When they were
told to move out, panic indescribable
started among them. Household goods,
store goods, children and everything
that could be carried away was rushed
to place OF safety.
At $50 the walls on the Mulberry
alley side fell in with crash, and
few minutes later the eastern wall came
down. The debris buried long row Of
tenements in tho alley, and three.
story brick dwelling on Thirteenth
street.
LOST EVERYTHING.
The tenements were occupied by
twenty families, but fortunately, thoy
had been deserted some time before
the walls fell in. Not one of the fam
lilies had a chance to save any OF their
goods, and all their furniture was de-
sttoyed. The ruins took fire immedi-
ately, and for while the entire tene-
ment district OF Penn avenue was
threatened with destruction. BY hard
work the firemen succeeded in drown
ing out these flames, aud the fire was
confined to the buildings OF the Storage
and Ice Company. 1t was dark, how
ever, before the fire was completely un'
err control and all danger over.
Among the business men who had
goods stored in the buildings were I.
Duff & Sons, produce merchants; Will
liam Keech, household goods; Edmund-
son & Perrine, furniture dealersi
Demmler Brothers, hardware dealers,
and Thomas Pollard, liquor dealer.
The latter had several hundred bar
rels Of whiskey consumed in the fire.
On Penn avenue the falling walls,
fire and water damaged 70 large degree
the following places:
W. II. LeahY's saloon, Roswig's china
store; Wallrabenstein's milk depot and
I. W. D. Hieber's drug store.
Hoeveler's storage warehouse on the
north side OF Pike street was on fire
several times, but the flames were ex-
tinguished.
When the walls OF the big buildings
fell the great mob Of people made
rush to get out Of danger. Many men
tripped and fell and were tramPled un-