The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1893-07-22

grow thick around them thev Qava -
the attempt 10 find way down ana
huddled together on a narrow ledas
On the north side ofthe building whsse
the smoke as the thinnest. Thers
could be but one result They wers
awaiting it, A few seconds later tbs
crowd saw a struggling figure lean
from the ledge and go whirling down.
IT bounded upon the roof. Another
figure slid part way down the rope.
was caught in whirl Of flame ana
went down like leaden ball. An.
other tried the feat and fell; apothe,
and another. Then two men jumned
together and fell whirIing and second
after a mar dived head foremost.
AS each figure appeared outlined
against the sky low moan of terror
swept over the crowd in waves and
was repeated far down on the north
side of the court of honor, where the
falling men looked like pigmies.
Escape had been shut off on all sides
and the action of the men showed that
they realized their terrible fate.
The railing of the ledge burned
away. ] hen one of the men threw
his helmet off on the roof It was a
mute appeal to his companions below
to make one more effort at rescue.
Another helmet was sent spinning out
in 20 the air, but no ladder was raised
TO the suffering group on the ledge.
J hen one Of the men separated from
the rest. His clothes were blazing
He stood moment looking at the
throng as If all hope had not yet de-
serted him. Then his boiy seemed to
become limp. Another moment and
he had rallied. He stretched out his
arms and gave leap Halfway down
the frightful plunge he went feet fore
most, then h body turned. and before
he had disappeared beneath the cor
nice Of the rovf his body had whirled
around in the ar halfa dozen times
The crowd below sroaned with hor-
ror.
The men on the chimney became
horror-stricken. They rushed about
through the smoke and flames as il
looking for a place from which to
make the dreadful leap. Then some
one found one of the life ropes. Some
of those on the roo of the big storage
house say it was Capt Fitzpatrick. He
seized hold of the swaying rope, evil
IDENTIFY believing that it's end reached
the roof below. The crowd on the
ground and on the tops of the sur
rounding buildings could see the
blazing end of the rope thrown about
by the gusts of hot air fully seventy
five feet above the place of safety
Then dark form could be seen as it
shot down the rope. The end passed
through the hands of the odoomed man
and rebounded like whip-lash, as his
body went whirling down to the roof
People who were on the top of the
transportation building say that the
body rebounded high in the air when
il struck the solid roof.
Chief Murphy and the men below
conld not tell the little group on the
ledge that the rope did not reach the
roof. The desperate tiremen above
had seen one of their number dis
appear beneath the flames, in safety
as they supposed. They crowded up
about the rope. All were anxious to
get d wn first. Then another firemen
went down the rope like a shot and to
the roof. He had scarcely reached the
end of the cord before another was
sliding down. all unconscious of. the
tie rible leap below. A fourth and
fifth added their mangled and burned
forms to those already ON the roof.
AT last all had taken the dreadful
plunge but four. The flames had be-
come so fierce that they were roasting
the four men on the ledge. Great
banks of fire shnt off the view of the
men. The crowd below shuddered
and wondered ii they would still be
there when the wind removed the fiery
curtain from the tragedy on the tower.
Then anne gust of wind and the
the fatal ledge. The four men were
fiQhtinn 'Ehau utr 10
the first chance at the life line.
The clothes had been half burned of
of one. lie seemed weak He reached
the rope. The three others seized hold
of him and threw him aside. Then
two seized the rope at one time. They
crouched down on their knees and
glared at each other and then stood up
and grappled. The flames lighted up
their faces as they engaged in the ter
rib c struggle. They looked like de-
mons. Then the fourth man crawled
between their legs, seized the rope
that led to death, plunged through the
Toke Gnd flames 10 the roof. The
two struggling men released their
hold on one another. One stopped
down to the rope and leaped while the
other impatiently waited to see his
blazing form disappear beneath the
iedge. lie had scarcely gone down
bali the length of the rope which had
now burned until it reached not more
than thirty feet beneath the ledge
" hen the third man started down.
The two bodies came crashing down
on the roof almost at the same instant
Only one man remained on the
tower. He had been pushed back Just
as he was about to seize the rope. He
IN WI hn laet
and without moments hesitation
grasped the line and swung over. As
he did SO the tower began to rock.
He had nearly reached the end of the
rope when the tower careened. The
man body turned in the air and he
plunged head first toward the roof.
Close behind him came the big tower
with its burden of burning timbers
and molten mortar work on the bodies
OF those who had slid down on the
treacherous rope from the death-trap.
II l...1.