The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-10-30
Awful Scenes at a New
York Tenement House
Fire.
NARROW ESCAPES OF THE INMATES
Women Crazed With Fear jump
From the Windows and One
Will Die.

the cellar to the roof OF the hVe-story
single tenement house No. 2l6 West
Thirty-second street early this morn
ing. Smoke filed the entire house and
seven of the tenants were suffocated in
their rooms.
In Roosevelt Hospital, an eighth vic
tim of the fire, woman who tried in
vain to save her life by jumping from a
thfrd-story window, is lying fatally hurt.
The dead were all removed to the
West Thirty-seventh street station house
Their names are
Appleblatt, Annie, % years old; Fried
mann, George, years; Friedman, Levy,
3 years; Killian, Mrs. Margaret, 70 years
DID, Knlian, Jacob, 40 years old, son of
Mrs. Margaret Killian; Lovey. George, 20
years old, grandson of Mrs, Killian;
Mitchell, Mrs. Lena, "a years old, a
cousin of Mrs. Lena Friedman.
Friedman, Mrs. Lena, % years old,
leaped from a window, horribly burned
about the face, neck, arms, and body,
and covered with contusions. VIII prob
ably die Removed to Roosevelt Hos
pital.
Just what caused the fire to start up
so suddenly at a time when the tenants
of the house were aslepe were not known
The only thing definitely known at pres
ent is that the fire started in the rear
portion of the cellar at 3:20 o'clock and
that it shot up the stairways with start
ling speed.
CROWDED TENEMENT.
The house contained seven families, two
on each floor except the top story where
the ianitress, Mrs. Eberwein, lived
alone. The house stands on the south
side of West Thirty-second street, mid
way between Seventh and Eighth ave-
nues, and the usual grocery store oc-
cupied the ground floor. The proprietor,
Hermann Fondiller, his wife, and five
of their children slept on the second
floor, front. Two other Fondiller chill
dren occupied rooms back of the store
Jacob Smith, his wife and two children
occupied the front apartments on the
first floor. One flight up, and in the rear
rooms lived an Italian family named
Passagoe comprising four persons.
The Fondiller children ranged in age
from baby Rachael, IL years, to Ethel,
the eldest daughter, a girl of is years
Annie and Fannie Benenson lived with
the family. 1t was on the second doof,
rear, in apartments back of the Fondil-
ler's that the unfortunate Friedman
family lived Over the Friedmann's on
the fourth floor, rear lived the Killians,
and Mr.. and Mrs. Nolan and their three
sons had the rooms in front of the Kill
lians on the same floor. AS related,
Mrs. Eberwein, the Janitress, had sole
possession of the top floor.
ALL ESCAPE SHUT OFF.
In all there were probably forty per-
sons asleep in the house when the fire
started, and prompt action alone saved
MANY from death Policemen Powers
and Donovan hurried to the burning
building about S2O O'Clock and found
the Railways enveloped in flames that
were climbing the sideways and along
the dry wood work of the halls OF. every
floor. Dense clouds of smoke were po7lr-
| ing from the ground floor hallway of the
| house, which is fanked on either side
| by tall tenements while in the rear are
| the back walls of tenements fronting on
West Thirty-first street. There was nc
| chance for the policemen to arouse the
| tenants except by shouting, for the burn
| ing stairways shut off all ingress as vel
| as egress for those imprisoned in the
| burning house.
| The smoke penetrated every floor ir
| less than five minutes after the flames
| began to climb roefward, and in two
| minutes after Policeman Powers reacnet
| the house the little narrow fire escape
! was swarming with lightly clad and al
| most naked figures of men, women ant
/ children, who We're half crazed with fear
1 MARROW FSSCAP PES
! Volumes of smoke were rolling from
| the front windows. Policeman Power.
| and the firemen shouted to the people OF
the fire escapes not to jump. The fire
/ men spread net to catch any wht
1 should attempt to. The flames had no
l gained access to any of the front rooms
| but the smoke was sitting. Standing OF
! a dry goods box Policeman Powers re
/ ceived the fear-stricken tenants, ans
1 passed them down from the first foo
| escape to other policemen. The escape
/ of the Flondi1er family was very narrow
| Adolph, aged seventeen years, was th'
/ first to awaken. He was nearly stitiet
| with the smoke, but crawling to a win
| dow he opened it and then aroused thu
4 rest of the family. The other families
i on the upper floors in the front porto!
i of the building were aroused by tn
smoke or the shouts of people in th
| street below. Mrs. Jacob Smith rushei
4 out on the fire escape on the first 400
/ and bumped 10 the sidewalk She es
| oaped with few slight bruises, and he
husband. who followed her, was equal
| lv fortunate. Mrs. Fondiller, who wa
i carrying baby in her arms, passed th'
/ child to her husband on the second foo
Il escape.
i Her act probably saved the baby's life
4 for as she stepped on the first foo
| escape. her foot slipped and she fel
on the shoulders of Policeman Powers
nearly knocking him from his position
on the box He managed to hold on
and landed her safely on the sidewalk.
i MRS. FRIEDMAN JUMPS.
All of those in the front of the hous
i ESCAPED. but while they were being res
i cued a tragedy was being enacted in tn
/ rear apartments on the second floor
i where Nathan Friedman, a poor furrier
was making a mad ngnt to save hi
family and himself from death. Fl
! awake to find his bedroom full of smoke
! and. picking up Esther. the youngest o
their three children. a babe of fou
\ months, Friedman made mis- way to tn
hall door The flames had reached tina
door. and the fire drove him, blistere
! and half-fainting from the intense heat
~ the Kitchen He aroused his wife