The evening world., 1894-03-08
BURNED TO A CRISP.
Michael McCutchen Lost His Lifa
in a Flat House Fire.
Others Hurt by Sliding Down Q
Rope to the Street.
Suspicious Circumstances Attendina
the Outbreak.

One nan was burned to death ana
several people injured in a IRE which
broke out early this morning In the four.
story fiat house at 628 Eighth avenue.
Three alarms we're sent In. but before
the fire could be checked 1t had extended
to three other houses.
In ali about 1921 900 damage was done
to property. Circumstances connected
with the origin Of the blaze the firemen
think are suspicious.
The nan who lost his life was Michael
McCutchen, who occupied a hall Dor
twenty-one years ole.
1t was just 1.55 o'clock when a young
man walking through Eighth avenue
noticed a bright light shining through
the doors of Henry Liski's restaurant
on the ground floor of the nat house.
Hurting up the street in search Of =
policeman. he met Central once Detec-
By the time Bowling reached the house
he had been Joined by Patrolmen McGee
and Coleman.
McGee turned in an alarm. The other
policemen put In their time ringing the
fiat house bells to arouse the sleeping
1enan os the T -res,a nne nad an sdaf BY the ,n .,%s
the alarm was turned N had already
burned to the stairway, cutting on an
escape by that means for the people ~
william Schneeweis. who lives on tho
top floor. was the first tenant who tried
to get out. He rushed into h hall
Below he sould hear the cracking 81
burning wood. and realized that TO ats
tempt to get out by the stairs meant
death. III,
But schneeweis has had experiences
with fires before. There was a small
fire in the same house last October. ana
since then he has kept In his room an
ground. "in be ready for the next fire,..
he used to say. SO he returned to his
rooms and threw one end Of the rope
out the window.
But when he looked down to the street
his nerve failed him, and he hesitated.
There was no one In the room with him.
his wife Is in Germany on a visit,
he lives alone with his $500 dog Nellie"
Just then the first engine arrived. The
other tenants, aroused from their sleep,
were panic-str'cken. When they found
they made for the rear tire-escape. But
the fire made such rapid progress through
a rear air-shaft that the escape was rem.
dersd useless by the great no Tongues OF
There was no escape on the front OF
the house. People stood at the windows
shouting for assistance. The firemen
! dlltu W " iiSiN 'ON 10
rope, but he shook his head and waited
for the flames. The rope passed other
windows on each floor, but nobody had
courage enough to use 1t. =.
Finally Mrs. Sophia I.iski, who lived
with her husband, the restaurant keeper,
on the first floor. grasped the rope
no other injury than badly laceratcd
hands. Z
Now that the ice was broken, the Other
tenants followed like sheep. They all
..- a - N~-, 1NnFn at nnro
Mrs. Tulip, a d~ressmaker. on the second
floor, slid next. Her banda were badly
cut. While she WAS sliding down Henry
l.iski was crawling along a cornice to
ON the third floor lived Mrs. Elizabeth
Heatherton. a widow. her daughter. ana
two boarders, Nugent and Lacy, Mrs:
was the next to try S~chneeweis's es-
cape. 49,, . 9 s,ocsss,,, "a m.
hands so badly, that at the second floor
she let go and fell to the pavement. Her
ankle was broken. and she was taken to
Roosevelt Hospital.
e ehe hosp hospital aH' One" one Of his fingers was
torn nearly off and his hip hurt:
schneeweis. He came shooting down.
without making a stop by the way; He
looked SURPRISED when he reached the
| pavement ana Sd" MS blctuihb ~
That's a pretty good idea after ALL"
said he. Then they took him to Roose-
Welt Hospital TO have his injured hands
dressed.
through the roof. and escaped to the
street through adjoining houses VINE
they were doing this the hremen were
fighting the flames. Unable TO get 10 tne
upper part, they poured water into the
place from the roof n ground. The
Interior OF the house appeared like Q
Two more alarms were turned in. The
people who had gotten safely out
delugcd the tiremen with qusstions apou,
missing relatives and friends who they
Gradually the fire extended to the ad,
Joining houses In Eighth avenue NOS; ~
and $50. then to a stable in the rear, Nos
269 and 27i West Fortieth street
Patrick Ford. an eXpressman,, lives on
the second floor and has his six horses u
the stable. He got the six ont all right
but whfn ne w wsn cou 10 t aplv ind Ave ~
them. Some ore had stolen the othel
When the main blaze was SO far undo,
control that the men, with the use OF
ladders, could get into the building
they began the search for missing per
sons. by this time the humble nae
thinned down to two, McCutchen and Z
seventcen-year-old boy named Willie
Who worked as a dishwasher for Iiski,
McCutchen's body was found burned
to "a crisp. IL lay near WneTe tne uool
had been. II is thought he was over
come by the smoke before he couit
reach the hall and had burned where NJ
fell.
The boy Willie could not be found. On
OF the tenants said he had seen hiu
go out early in the night.
The body OF Schneeweis,s dog, va
found, and also that of another valuable
Mexican dog. Maxey, owned by Liski
the restaurant-keeper.
The bremen found that the flames Ia.
apparently started In two places. On