St. Paul daily globe., 1893-06-14
JUMPED TO DEATH.
Flames in Gotham Sweater Shopg
Cause Terrible Panic
Among Inmates.
People Throw Themselves FROM
the Fire Escape to the Streets,
Four Being Killed.

New YORK, June 13.-The sIx-story
building, filled with sweater shops, at 10
and IL Montgomery street, caught fire
at $50 O'Clock this morning, and in the
wild rush to the street of the 250 people
working there, four were killed and ssv-
eral injured, two fatally. The blaze
started on the first floor. The inmates
were men, women and children OF all
ages In few seconds the flames shot
up as far as the third and fourth floors.
There the panic followed. The
inmates. who were Polish Hebrews
and excitable under any circumstances,
were maddened. There was no escape
from the rear of the building. No fire
escapes were there, and even if they
were, there was no way to take advan-
tage of them, for iron shutters were
spiked in all the windows Of the rear
side. The 250 people rushed to the fire
escapes in front and fought there like
demons. The whole front of the build
Ing was alive with men and women. All
were fighting for good places on the fire
escapes. The women appeared to be
more composed than the men, for the
latter fought furiously. One would
make an attempt to 20 down through
the manhole iii fire escape when a
dozen would pull him back. The lad
der had not yet been lowered from the
first floor fire escape to the pavement,
and thirty people were huddled together
there. Some girls had lowered them
selves through the manhole by their
hands and dropped to the street with
out sustaining any great injury. That
was the situation when the first police
man arrived on the scene. The officer
tells what then happened:
Just as | ran in front of the build
ing the flames burst like rocket from
the second and third floors and leaped
out nearly across the street. The ex-
cite nent that had existed was ontdone
a hundred times by the panic which
followed. There was no long any fight
Ing on the fire escapes. The people
dashed through the manholes in the
fire escapes like rats rnnnlng from dam
ger. They fell on each others heads as
they came down and were piled tiers
deep. The ladder from the first
fire escape was not yet low
cred. The little balcony overfiowed.
and then men and women jumped to
the pavement. The first TO jump was
large woman. She alighted on the iron
railing in front of the building, and
rolled over at my feet, dead. A man
Jumped further into the street and his
head struck the pavement. His skull
was csushed in, and he never moved.
A second man followed him in all In
stant. He, too, struck his head, but did
not die Immediately. A young girl was
the fourth to Jump. She fell on her
side. All this time | was yelling to the
people not to jump, and was trying 10
place the ladder against the fire escape.
The people were jumping all around
me. Four or five leaped into my arms
and were not hurt"
A hook and ladder truck had arrived
by this time, and the long scaling lad
| ders were erected against the TIRE es-
capes, and the people who still stood
there were taken down. Some scrambled
across from the first bBlcony to little
ledge. One of the men who jumped
| was taken into liquor store on the cor
ner. He died q few minutes later.
| Two dead bodies were dragged across
the street to liquor store and fire
| patrol wagon took them around to a
police station. There the woman was
| identified as Alice Davis. of % Suffolk
street. Hers was the only one OF the
bodies burned to any extent. She had
been on the second floor when the
| flames burst suddenly from the window.
| Her clothes caught fire. Wrapped in
| fire, she fell to the first floor escape and
| then to the street. Her clothes were
burned completely off her. The fire
| started uuder the stairs. The police
| think it was caused by lighted cigar
| etIe which some o ne threw under the
stairway. The damage to the building
was less than s., ZOO.