The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-03-24
The Fire, Which Caught in the Basement.
Rapidly Assembled the Single Stairway and
Cut OF Escape from the Upper Floors.
Portion of the Indiana State Prison
South Destroyed By Fire.
Loss of $50. 900 to the State and 200 to
the Claggett Saddle;res Company--Aid
Rendered by the C0nvicts.
FATAL FIRE AT CLEVELAND.

Four Women and d Child Lose Their Lives
in n Fashionable Apartment House.
Special TO the Indianapolis Journal.
CLEVELAND, March 23.-Shortly after 10
O'clock to-day the large fashionable brick
apartment house Oh Prospect street, known
as the Morgan. caught fire and in q short
time was o mass of flames 1t was fully
half IA hour before the fire departments
arrived, and by that time the flames had
made great Roadway. The house was
crowded with tenants, and as they began
to swarm forth q scene of great confusion
ensued. 1t soon became known that
number of persons had undoubtedly been
sutfocated or burned. and the excitement
became intense. An urgent call for more
fire apparatus had folio ed the first alarm.
and the engines and trucks soon arrived.
Immediately the tiremen ana o crowd OF
willing men were seeking for those
who had been penned mp In the
building. number of women were
soon brought forth. two Of them having
been taken from alex beds and the others
suffering from partial suffocation and in
juries received in their wild efforts to
escape. A hssty calculation was made and
missing. 1t was considered almost certain
that they had been smothered to death.
Several fainting women were taken to the
Offices of neighboring physicians. and am
balances. which had been hastily sum-
moned. soon bore others away to hospitals.
The cry at once went up that Mrs. p. Ct.
Somers was in her apartments on the third
floor. A heroic effort was made by the fire.
men to save her, but she was dead when
found. There were rumors that many of
the forty people in the building mad per.
ished. but 1t IS now definitely known that
bus five lost their lives. as follows:
MRS. MARY Z. ABBEY, widow of Judge
Abbey. aged seventy-tve.
MRS EMMA sOMERs, blind woman, aged
forty-five.
MRS JESSIE HUNT, wife of A. c. Hunt, aged
twenty-one. daughter of Mrs. Somers.
PERCY HUNT, daughter OF Mrs. Hunt aged
Mis- p. G. sOMERs. seventy years, STEP
motherin-law of Mrs. Emma Somers.
Mrs. Hunt. who lived in suburb Of the
town. was visiting her relatives when the
fire occurred. The injured are:
DB. c. VoN KLEIN, face and hands burned in
MRS. j. Ii. MILLER. who gave the alarm, aud
jumped from second-story window, badly
bruised.
Mrs. E; CLIFFORD. jumped from an upper VIII
dow, badly bruised.
Mrs. SAaIPLrNER. who was badly burned in
rescuing a daughter.
It was reported during the progress of the
/ ire that Mrs. Sarah I. Bolton, the WELL
known authoress and pOetess had been
burned to death. Several persons asserted
that she was In her apartments Mrs. Boil
ton. however. was down town Oh shop
ping tour. The Morgan was so constructed
that the fire bad q clean sweep. Each floor
had o long hall extending through from
front To rear, with q single stairway lead
ing from floor to floor. The fire started In
tho basement. and IL swept up through the
halls. cutting off all means of escape. The
two women who perlshed ran to the WIN.
dows. but before anything could be done to
assist them they were driven back by the
smoke and flames and persisted. Those on
the lower floors rushed to the etreets. and
one woman besides Mrs. Miller jumped from
the second story window. She was Mrs. X.
T.. Clifford. and she was caught In rubber
coat held By two of the spectators
Tho dead bodies wore found on the third
floor. The corpses were burned to q crisp
nn1 were horribly blackened and dis
figured. AS Quickly as possl bic the bodies
were taken to the mOrgue. The two upper
floors of the building Quilted and the
contents of the house are rnined. The
Morgan Is owned by w. j. Morgan. the
lithoerapher. 1t cost $4,000 and was in
sured. The contents were owned by Mrs.
II. NJ. Hanna. leased to the Misses McFad-
den, who kept the place. Mrs. Hanna esti-
mates her loss ct ST.. 0)0 with no insurance.