Iron County register., 1893-11-02


Two arnion Dollars In Property Goss w
in smoke- several Hairbreadth Escapes
- rone Row Of Teuemene A0ases
r.ruehe1a nv FallIng Wal1s-The 00ous
Destroyed the Property -
Hundred Persons.
PrrrsBuRaH, Pa, Oct. 2S-Shortiy.
after / o'clock yesterday afternoon Sn0
entire fire department OF the Guy was
summoned to Eleventh and flke
streets. Bv the time the drst en-
gines on the scene were In services
flames were bursting from aio'sS
eyerv window and door Of the immense
building owned and occupied by tne
Chautauqua Lake Ice Co. and the fibss-
burrh storage Co. The building occu-
pied q space Of 500 by 100 feet, was OF
brick and stone, seven stories or ninety
feet in height.
Hung by HIS Hands While He Roasted
Edward Spies. an employe, discov-
cred the fire and gave the alarm. He-
was working on the fourth Aoor. Al
most instantly he was enveloped in the
flames, and although he attempted to'
fight the fire he was driven back 70 z
window fifty feet from the grouna'
through which he made his escape he
crept out upon the narrow Sill and'
dropping down, hung by his hands un-,
til rescued by the laddermen OF truck
A. His hands. arms and face were 1T
orally roasted. 1t was scarcely nve-
minutes after the discovery OF the Are
until the great structure was ablaze on
every floor.
A Welcome Rainfall.
A soaking rainfall aided greatly In
preventing the spread of the fire which
at several times threatened destruction
to the many valuable properties in the
vicinity. At o'clock the occupants OF
surrounding buildings were notified to
move out. Between Mulberry alley
and Pennsylvania avenue, on the south
east side Of the burning building were
q cheap class OF tenements, crowded
to suffocation with Polish Jews and
Slavs who were thrown into panic.
Fifteen minutes later the side OF tho.
building fell with q terrible crash,
burying long row of tenements just
vacated Flames burst from the burn
ing dwellings,, adding danger to the
surrounding property. At 2:s0 o'clock
the four upper stories of the Thirteenth
street wall fell outward, burying the
street to the depth of ten feet and
crushing the house of John Glenn, ON
the opposite side of the street.
The Only Property Saved.
On the ground floor of the ware
house were Ave loaded freight cars.
Just before the crash they were drawn,
all burning, to a place of safety. OF
all the hun dreds Of thousands OF dol
lars worth of property stored in the
building, these fve carloads were all
that was saved.
The large warehouses of the Haveler
Storage Co., on the opposite side OF
Pike street, caught fire several times,
but were not seriously damaged. The
rear Of q number of the Pennsylvania
street buildings were also severely
scorched. The most serious damage
here was to Hiber's drug store, which
with contents was al most DESTROYED.
A Number of Narrow Escapes.
A number of narrow escapes were
made by employees in the storage
building. They were:
j. Heilman, who dropped from q third
floor window to the alley. His injuries
are fatal
Martin Griffith, badly burned; hung
from window until rescued by the
firemen. 4t
Edward Spies, burned about the
head, hands and arms; may not re-
cover.
William Cox also rescued from tho
third-aoor by fremen; badly burned.
William Smith, burned about face
and body.
Frank Mccain, of Engine Co. No. z, !.
struck by falling wallis; legs fractured,x =
President William Scott statea>fkst
night that the loss to the Chxutauqua
Lake Ice Co. and the Pittsburgh
Storage Co. will reach almost
81, ,o00, 900. He could give no esti-
mate Of the amount Of insurance, az
the papers were all locked In the safe,
then in the midst Of the flames The
storage apartments, he stated. were
filed with all kinds Of goods, some of
which were very valuable. These goods
are owned by probably several hum
dred different people, and are mostly
insured by the owners, a. well as by
the storage company. At 10 o'clock
last night the fre FIRE was burning
furiously, confined by the totterin0
walls, which werc white with the in
"a -