The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-07-11

still alive. BY this time the crowd
below became wild with excitement.
rushed hitEer n tbither, wrInging their
hands In anguish over their inability to
render aid.
REALIZED THEIR POSITION.
The fremen appeared TO realize the aw-
ful ness of their position and some of them
moved back IN forth along the edge of
the balcony as if in search of
some means of escape. Suddenly n
of the unfortunates, either crazed By
heat and fear. or preferring to be-
crushed by the fall to q terrible death by
nre. sprang from the balcony.
Every eye was turned upon him
and the thousands who cav
1t held their breath as he fell. Several
of bis comrades followed. and each was
crushed TO death on the roof below. The
very horror Of death riveted every eye 10
the scene. 1t was an awful fascination,
and she spectators seemed pOwerless to
guards were powerless to keep the throng
back from the fire lines. The spectacle OF
death became more awful as the
minutes passed. and minutes seemed
crept swiftly MP to where the remaining
hremen were huddled together. Before 1t
reached them the awful crash came. The
tower tOppled for q moment as though un-
CeTtulu WHICH way u ldlls 1uCus biOWiy
at first. il began to fall. until it came down
with q thundering roar. The fire had eaten
away the supports at the base and the
whole mass was swallowed ND in the awful
roaring furnaces. AS the flames gathered in
the fresh victims they rolled up to ard tho
sky with redOubled ferooity.
AS q fire trap the cOld-stOrage warehouse
could not have been more perfectly con-
structed. 1t was $50 feet long by $50 feet
wide. and was constructed entirely of
wO0d COyarad pVRr with stall The main
body of the building was five stories high.
In the center of this rose the smoke
stack in the shape of a cupola, the top of
which was nearly two hundred feet.
The base of this cupola was about thirty
feet square. About eighty feet FROM it's
base there was a balcony, from which an
other square balcony rose. eliminating In
the mouth OF the smOkestack. where the
tower and around the smokestack were the
wooden beams and framework on which
the staff covering was laid.
A EFFECT IN THE FLUE.
1t was at the top of this cupola that the
fire was discovered. 1t is supposed that
the framework around the mouth of the
huge chimney caught from a defect in the
fue. At first it appeared to be an insig-
~niticant affair. But. knowing the infam-
mable nature of the structure, Fire
Oohsbo huhpuy, "ho u VI
the fire department. on the grounds. sent
In q call for all the companies TO
turn ont. With about forty of his men
Captain Fitzpatrick chm bed the stationary
and from there ropes were lowered TO haul
up the hose. Only one hose, that OF a
chemical engine, had been hauled uD. when
a gust of wind caused the flames 10 break
out In an alarming manner about ten feet
from the top OF the cupola.
/ Meantime the lire had eaten its xaV
down through the network of tImbers in
side the structure. and. unconscious of
their danger, the firemen were standing. as
it were. on the shell of a burning volcano.
No one of the tens of thousands of inter-
ested spectators who had gathered from
all parts of the grounds. had any in
timation of the perilous position In
which the forty Or fifty z, freMen were
burning scarcely twenty minutes. and the
tiremen were pulling and hauling at the
ropes. when suddenly the flames burst out
around the base OF tho cup0la In a perfect
the outbreak and so terrible was the spec.
tacle that for n moment the crowds stood
trsnstixed with horror. Strong men wrung
their hands in q hysterical manner and
scores of women tainted. All alike were
pOwerless to aid the unfortunate men I'M
prisoned on the balcony. $50 feet from the
ground.
All the ropes save one on the north side
of the tower were burned away in on in
slant. The hose from che chemical engine
withstOod the heat, and, eprlngiDg for
ward. John DAVIS caught hold of 1t and
slid down. to the main roof OF the warehouse.
where he tainted away. His face and hands
were terribly burned by the flames which
enveloped his body as he came down. He
was taken to the hospital where he was
cared Tor and the physicians say he will re-
cover. Two of his fellow -iremen
attempted to follow HIM but before
4 49,. oy.ra hAlf -av Ia-r yh4 bnoa Drun
way. aud they dropped into the seething
mass of fire and were lost. AS the hose
parted and the men sank out of sight in
the fire. the multitude below gave utter
ance to a arosn Of sickening horror. An
other of the imprisoned men started down
the rope on the north side OF the tower.
and he'd almost reached the roof when it
gave way and he fell. striking on his head,
and was instantly killed.
FITZPATRICK n MURPHY.
There remained now. according to the
counts of various spectators. from twenty
five TO thirty men on the tower. They were
hopelessly beg ond the reach of help. The
longest ladder fell short of reaching them
by fully thirty feet. Death of the most
awful kind was fast approaching. At this
terrible moment Captain FItzpatrlck's tall
form snd white helmet appeared in
front of the men who were huddled
together on the narrow balcony, He
appeared to be addressing his brave
followers. What he said will probably
never be known, for he. is dead. As he
ceased TO speak. one of the men crawled
around the burning balcony and returned
a moment later with "A rope that had been
left there III the excitement. 1t was
hastily fastened to the railing
around the balcony and thrown to
the roof. Captain Fitzpatrick
pointed to ii. What he said no one knows.
The foremO man seized 1t and started to
slide down. but. ere he was half way, the
cruel danes rolled up and he was swai-
lowed by the awful Volcano Another
tried il and met the same fate. One after
the other five men at this moment sprang
from the balcony to the roof and were
killed by the fall. If any of them survived
they were burned.
The rope was burned of about half way
down. and it hung apparently useless
against q portion OF the wall not yet de-
stroye ed. Seeing his men jumping TO their
doom the heroic marshal seized the rope
and started down. A ladder had been
raised. but was almost twenty feet from
the end of the rope. He dropped
and caught on the end of the lad
der. Marshal Murphy. an old personal
has worked on the Chicago fire department.
with him for a score of years. was on the
roof. Seeing there was q chance to save
his old comrades life. be sprang forward
and was soon ct the top of the ladder. A
shout of admiration and en-
couraGement went up from the
multitude below. The heroic captain
started back with his friend. but was en-
veloued In flames. With an energy of