Connecticut western news., 1893-07-13
DEATHS IN CHICAGO.
BRAVE FIRE FIGHTERS PENNED IN 4
 BURNING TOWER.

| Some Lsaped Down to a FrightfuI Death,
 and Some Were Burned--Columbiap
 Guards Missing-Thoussnds Witnessed | the Awful scene-A Hotel Fire. | CHICAGO, July 1.-The fear that has ex.
 isted for months in the minds of nearly
 every citizen in Chicago was realized in
 the frightful holocaust at the Worlds fair
 that claimed nearly two score of victims
 and for time threatened the destruction | of the entire White City.
 | The disaster was all the more dreadful
 because of its sudden transformation from
 an innocent flame into death dealing
 catastrophe. Like an animate monster it
 enticed its victims to the topmost stage of high pinnacle and then encircling the | whole shalt in sheet of flame held them
 in trap until one by one they fell a sacri-
 flee on the fiery altar that ragged beneath
 them while 30,OO0 people stood helplessly | about.
 | The structure that burned was by com | parison one of the smallest buildings of
 the fair. It was the cold storage warehouse | and skating rink and was not the property | of the exposition. It was a concession and | exhibit of the Hercules Iron Works and Ice
 and Refrigerating Machine manufacturers.
 In addition to the skating rink there were three 120 ton ice machines and 30 or 70 bar
 rels of linseed oil. The oil no doubt great | ly hastened the confiagration, and that the fire was not communicated to the other | Worlds fair buildings was due to the fa- | vorable winds.
 | The scene of horror was witnessed by | fhnnoando af ,a atr | wept and women Tainted as one life after
 another was snuffed out within full view
 of the multitude, but beyond the reach of | human aid.
 | Within 30 minutes the great loss of life l occurred. At the first signal the lremen | rushed up the huge shaft surrounding the | smokestack and when at the summit be- | gan preparations to fight the flames which
 had first appeared at this point. Before
 the hose could be coupled cry of horror | from the crowd below caused the fremen
 to look down, and the whole shaft below | was found to be encircled in flames Instantly every man realized his danger,
 but there were few to find an avenue for
 escape. One man suddenly grasped g rope | or hose. and half sliding half falling,
 reached the roof 90 feet below, in bruised | and burned condition, but still alive. Fearful and Fatal Leaps. Suddenly one of the firemen was seen | preparing to jump, and every eye was | turned upward He gave a quick, spas modic leap, and turned over and over half
 dozen times before he struck the roof, 90
 fest below. To the spectators he seemed a
 minute falling this distance, and when the body struck the roof with frightful crash | and bounced four feet into the air groan | of horror went up from the crowd. From hto thaI bod but in nearly every instance breath and
 life had fled when the victim was picked | up on the roof below After the first wild leap, one man after
 another jumped in quick succession as the | flames closed in below and the heat be- came more intense. In nearly every fn- stance the victim turned over and over | again before he touched the root, and in | nearly every instance the result of the | leap for life was the same-death. For the last man on the cupola was reserved the
 most dreadful fate of all. After all his companions had leaped to apparent death, | and as the last man was hesitating, the | whole shaft began to trem ble and vibrnte. | The lone fireman gave quick. wild leap. He was too late. At the very instant he sprang, the whole structure gave way, and | this human being, quivering with life and | wildly grasping for support in the frenzy of | despair, was seen to drop into the labyrinth
 of flame and fire and finally disappear en- l tirely in the roaring furnace below. An Oil Fed Fire. A large quantity of linseed oil was stored | on the top floor, and when the tower fell it
 crashed through the roof to this infiam-
 mable fuel, and then the flames rolled up high in the air.
 As the firemen fled from the roof one of ;,lx ,la.1
 of the unfortunates who had jumped from
 the balcony, and carrying it to the edge of the roof dropped it to the ground, thus | saving it from cremation. As yet the body has not been identified, as the face burned black. Many of the unfortunate | f1remen who lost their lives might have
 been saved had the department been sup | piled with nets. They could have jumped | from the tower to the roof and been saved by the nets.
 Seeing that it was hopeless task to at- | tempt 10 save the building and as all who | escaped alive had left the roof the firemen directed their efforts to keep the fire from spreading.
 The Worlds fair stables just south of the big warehouse was burning, and the fire had spread to the roofs of several hotels across Stony Isle avenue, just outside the grounds. With good deal of effort the hotels were saved, but the stables were | burned to the ground.
 In less than two hours from the time the fire started the big cold storage warehouse l was leveled to the ground, a smoking ruin. It is doubtful if any of the bodies will be
 recovered, so furious and terrific was the
 heat. The building being of wood and
 added to this the barrels of oil, made the
 fire one of the hottest the fire department has ever had tO fight
 Columbian Guards Killed. The loss of life has been variously esti-
 mated, but at least 1Sare dead and 19 others
 are injured.
 The full extent of the death wrought
 may never be known, as the building col | lapsed totally in so short time after the fire started that many people who entered | the building, hoping to render aid before the peril under which they were placing themselves was realized, were caught like
 rats in trap and went unannounced to
 their doom. 1t is said that but four Colum-
 bian guards are missing, but there are
 many vacancies in the different companies
 scattered about the grounds, and their captains. while refusing to commit them | selves, fear that their men have been ere
 mated. As soon the ruins were cooled | sufficiently by the fremen, the work of
 searching for bodies begun.
 The first body taken from the smoking
 mass was evidently fireman, as a blue shirt covered the trunk, which was all that
 was found of the unfortunate A short
 time later two more were taken from the | ruins Under one of the bodies was found
 broken sword, a mute inrormer of its
 weArer's identity, Columbian guard.
 The other body was of course unrecogniza- ble as it was charred to & cinder. Two more bundles of flesh were discovered at short intervals. In all six bodies, horribly burned, were taken out by 10 o'clock last
 night when operations were stopped for the night on account of the risk in working under beams and iron columns and thu ab sence Of light. A relief fund was started and in less than 30 minutes the fund had reached @ GOO
 Dropped Dead While Playing RaIl