Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-07-25
DIED LIKE HEROES.
The Three FIremen Perished mt Thci r
Posts.

The Three FIremel perlshed mt Their
Posts.
The deaths of the three brave fremen
was the appalling feature of the fire. En-
CINE Company No. /. under the COM
mand of Assistant Foreman s. f. Mastin
was directed to attack the fire In the rear.
Calling his company. he led the way
through the narrow alley which leads in
from street to the large thirty-foot alley
In the rear of the building 1t was here
the fire ragged the fercest. and the men had
to contend with the great heat which was
blisterng everything in the alley big
upward sliding door in the north end of the
building afforded the fremen a chance to
strike the fire whore it ragged the hottest
and toward this door Assistant Foreman
Mastin led his men. Without moments
hesitation he rushed through the door with
line of hose. AMI made his WAY up the
stairway. Behind lin were Firernen Fen
ton, Donohua and Bell. 1t was a bold
brave attempt. Up the burning stairway
they fought their way, and soon had n
stream playing on the interior. The heat
was terrific, and more than once they were
driven from their position. But they re-
turned each time. Overhead thousands of
tons of storage rested on suspended beams
The fire was attacking the beams at all
points. But the firtmen were ignorant of
their imper ding doom A mighty crash
and the entire three stories of the building
We're precipitated. The firemen heard IL
coming Assistant Foreman Mastin callel
10 his men To jump. F'iremen Fenton and
Donohue obeyed and the three came down
the stairway headlong Fireman Bell
rushed through the flames TO the elevator
shute and jumped Then the cry went up
that the entire company of No. | had been
caught in the building. The big sliding
door. soon as the ropes which operated
1t had burned away. came sliding down.
shutting the men In perfect hell of flames.
Fireman Killlgan had gone in to rescue the
before He
Bell rushing through the flames. and called
to him to jump. AS he turned the big door
fell. and killigan was a prisoner. In his
hand he carried an AK. and al once fell to
work to cut his way out OF his fiery prison.
He attacked the heavy oaken windows, and
soon was free He called to Private Jack
Sullivan, and the two began to cut through
the big door.
Inside the cries OF Fireman Bell and AS
sistart Foreman Nastin could be heard.
They worked with will. but the door was
n heavy one and IL some time before
their sharp axes cotld get through it, When
at last hole was made large enough to
admit a man Kiilgan crept through and
found Fireman Bell writhing In agony.
Lifting him upon his shoulders he bore
him to the opening and put him through.
Outside Dr. hewitt. the fire and police sur
geon, with his emergency bag. was waiting
for the disabled man. A glance at him was
sufficient. Bell was pitiable sight. He
was frightfuliy burned about the face and
body and his condition was distressing. The
police ambulance was hurriedly summoned
and the poor fireman lifted tenderiy in on a
stretcher. His cries of pain were aSonizing
and DIR. hewitt was forced to give Eypoder-
mic injections of morphia to relieve him.
He directed the driver to hurry at once to
the Emergency Hospital. whore the in
Jure1 man was put to bed after receiving
medical attention. In the meantime As
sistant Foreman Mastin was calling loudly
for help. He was buried under the fallen
walls and pinned in with a heavy iron
| beam urged IN ,rpt
him out. but the cruel flames beat them
back and Mastin had to be left to die. But
what of Firemen Donohue and Fenton.
those brave men who had followed their
foreman UP the stairs. They We're nowhere
to be found. Another crash. and the second
floor came tumbllng in. The word was
passed to look out for Donohue and Fenton.
1t was possible they had escaped But the
word came back that they could rot be
found. Then II was that Chief Paris call
ed for his men. without regard 70 company,
and set them to work to find their lost
comrades. A smoldering mass of debris
barred their way. They pitched In, how
ever urged by their chief. and worked like
Trojans. Every now and then the .molder-
Ing fire would break out afresh and the
hose had to be turned in OH them.
1t was shortly before 10 o'clock when AS
sistant Foreman Mulhall called out that he
bad found one Of the men. rubber boot
v as all that could be seen. But there was
heavy work ahead. for large mass of
brick and iron Orders had to be removed
before the body could be recovered half
hours work more and the body in
sight. 1t was lying on the left side. but
burnt beyond recognition. In one Of the
pockets was found bunch Of keys. One
Of the keys was fire alarm key numbered
1863. A messenger was dispatched to the
chiefs office to see who owned the key. The
report came back that II belonged to Fire
man Sleeps But Sleeps had severed his
connection with the fire department some
time ago. and the key was transferred to
Felton. So 1t was poor Fireman Fenton.
Wh~n his comrades tried to lift him he fell
apart and the bones had to be gathered in
a blanket Meanwhile the other body had
been found within foot Of the place where
Fenton had been found. He was damned
up against the north wall. with his skull
broken in and burnt beyond recognition. In
his hand he clasped the hose pipe. He died
the death of a hero at his post of duty.
Chief Paris brushed away a tear when the
body was uncovered. and said:
Poor boys. They were among the BRAY
est in the service. May God have mercy on
their souls
MOURNING THE DEAD.