The evening world., 1894-03-22
LOCKED IN TO BURN.
Incendiary's Diabolical Plot Al
most Miraculously Foiled.
Fired an East-side Tenement, Then
Locked the Front Door.
Prompt Discovery Of the Flames
Prevented a Holocaust.

A fire which. according to the f'remen
origin. endangered the lives of sixty
three people in a big. rear douhle-tene-
ment. at 3o2 East Eleventh street. early
this morning.
The building Is six stories high. 1t is
hemmed in with tall tenement houses on
three sides On the fourth eide. the rear.
1t backs up within six feet Of the Bap-
tist Tabernacle.
/ Between the rear building and the one
fronting on the street. there Is n ten
foot court yard. from which narrow
alleyway leads to the street. This is the
only means OF exit to the street for the
tenants OF the rear building.
Twice within the past four months
fires have started in some mysterious
way In the rear house which was on
fire this morning.
Just after 1 o'clock Mrs. Elizabeth Nc
CUSHION widow, who lives in the first
floor OF the house with her ffteen-year-
old daughter and two younger ones. dis
covered smoke In her rooms. Going out
into the hall she found that the lower
stairway was on fire. She ran down
the stairs, through the flames. with the
intention OF going into the street to
give the alarm.
When she reached the front door she
found that she could not get out. The
knob had been taken from the door
Screaming she rushed back up the stairs.
Her cries awoke the other tenants, who,
when they found that both the fire and
closed door prevented their getting from
the burning building, all took to the
Gn ,hs oor roh i've Of hs family hG@sS
O'Ilallaran. There are two ponS, Mi
chael and James. with them board Jo-
seph Fitzpatrick and Frederick Greeves.
down the tire-escape. the O'Hallorans
and their boarders went next. While
the others in the house were climbing
dSSn the amd boys With
There Is pump in the little court
yard, and from this the four men car
ried buckets of water and threw on the
Mrs. Patrick Degrian lives on the sixth
floor with her three-year-old child. who
has scarlet fever. When the cries OF
her. she snatched zip her sick child and
got out through the scuttle to the roof.
Mrs Annie Flood. eighty years old,
who lives on the third floor, felel from
the tire-escape and broke her ankle
The others in the house escaped to the
roof.
The fire was extinguished without an
alarm being turned In, after 500 damage
Then an examination took place under
the direction OF Policeman Thomas Gill.
Things looked so suspicious to him that
he went to Engine House No. 8 and got
two firemen to assist him. They found
under the stairway a mat eight feet long
had been folded up and placed under the
stairway. This had been saturated with
coal oil.
There was a large keg which had con-
tained white lead, an empty turpentine
barrrl and lot of rubbish under the
stairs.
Everything was soaked with the oil.
There was every appearance of the
stuffs having been put there and
lighted.
1t is thought. too. that after the fire
had been started the door-knob was
broken off to prevent the escape of the
tenants. The loss OF life. the firemen
say, would have been appalling had not
the flames been discovered In time.
The 1anitor of the place says he be-
lieves he has clue to the incendiary.
but withholds his information for the
Fire Marshal, who will make a thorough
investigation later In the day.
The building Is owned by the Trinity
estate.