The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1893-06-21
LEAPED TO DEATH.
Fatal Results Of Fire In New
York City.
Horrible Fato of Three People Who Leaped
from the Burning Building A Panic
Among the Inmates-Men and
Women Fight for Places on
the Fire Escapes.

New YORK, June 14.-The six-story
brick building at Nos, 10 and 12 Mont
gomery street, near east Broadway,
five floors of which were ''sweat shops"
proved to be death trap yesterday
morning, when fire broke out there
at $50 o'clock.
Two hundred men and women were
employed on the five upper floors, and
in the wild scramble for safety at the
first alarm three were killed and q
number injured The building was
well protected against fire from the
outside by heavy iron shutters, but
there was little or no protection from
fire within and only one small fire es-
cape by which those inside could reach
the street. There were no fire escapes
in the rear OF the building and the 200
people rushed to the fire escape in front
and fought there like demons.
When the police arrived the whole
front of the building was alive with
men and women. All were fighting
for good places on the fire escape. The
women appeared to be more composed
than the men, for the latter fought
furiously. One would make an attempt
to go down through the manhole in the
fire escape when dozen would pull
him back. The ladder had not yet been
lowered from the first fire escape and
thirty people were huddled together
there. Some girls had lowered them
selves to the manhole by their hands and
dropped to the street without sustain
ing any great injury. Suddenly the
flames burst like rocket from the sec
ond and third floors and leaped out
nearly across the street. The excite
ment that existed was outdone hun
dred times by the panic which fol-
lowed There was no longer any fight
ing on the fire escapes. The people
poured through the manholes like
water. They fell on each others heads
as they came down and were piled
three tiers deep The ladder from the
first fire escape was not yet lowered.
The little balcony overnowed and then
men and women jumped TO the pave
ment.
The first to jump was large woman.
She lighted on the Iron railing in front
OF the building and rolled over on the
pavement dead. A man jumped fur
ther into the street and his head struck
the pavement. His skull was crushed
in and he never moved. A second man
followed him in an instant. He, too,
struck on his head but did not die i'm
mediately. A young girl was the
fourth to leap out. She fell on her
side. All this time the police were
yelling to the people not to jump and
trying to place the ladder against the
fire escape. The people were jumping
all around. Four or five leaped into
one officers arms and were not hurt.
A hook and ladder wagon had arrived
by this time and the long scaling lad
ders were erected against the fire es-
capes and the people who still stood
there were taken down. Some scram-
bled across the first balcony TO little
ledge on the next building and lowered
themselves by that way One Of the
men who had jumped was taken into
liquor store on the corner. He died
after being there three minutes.
Following is the list Of dead and in
jured:
Dead-Celia Davis, IS years old;
Alivos Book, % years old, Russian
tailor; Joseph Mendelsohn, Russian
tailor, 20 years old
Fatally injured-Annie KatLer, 10
years old, burned and bruised; Morris
Nadloston, Russian tailor, burned all
over body; his daughter Alice, l8 years
old, limbs fractured and badly burned
about body.