Huntsville gazette., 1894-09-22
SIX PERSONS PERISH
And Four Receive More or Less Serious
Injuries in a Costly Fire at Washington
Driven to the Roof and Compelled to
Jump for Their Lives--A Number of
Buildings Crushed by Failing Walls
The Search for Bodies,


Driven to the Roof and Compelled to
Jump for Their Lives-A Number of
Buildings Crushed by Failing Walls
The Search for Bodies.
WASHINGTON. Sept. 1S.-With the ter
rible conhagretion which destroyed the
large Knox warehouses and stables,
and in which three brave firemen lost
their lives, fresh in the memory of the
residents here, fire alarm at noon
yesterday called the fire department to
the corner of Massachusetts avenue
and K street. where fire had been dis
covered in the mattress factory owned
and operated by Stumph & Bros This
was soon followed by general alarm,
| and In short time all of the engines
in the city were on the scene, but 50
quickly did the flames spread that
the operatives employed on the fourth
and fifth floors were obliged to flee to
the roof and compelled to jump for
their lives before the trucks carrying
the long ladders had arrived. -Four OF
these jumped, one OF them, James E.
Vaughn, sustaining fractures of both
legs and internal injuries. He is not
expected to live. The other three who
| leaped escaped with more or less severe
injuries. but all will recover. Albert
j. Haske had both legs broken and was
otherwise severely injured. Arthur E.
Rehans was bruised inwardly and had
his wrist sprained, and Harry Bacon
was badly bruised.
So rapid and complete was the work
of the flames that within less than
half an hour from the time of the dis
eovery of the fire the greater part of
the four walls had fallen in. and by
2:3O o'clock the tiremen had pulled
down the sole remaining piece of brick
work, over twenty feet in height,
which marked the location of the hand
some fve-story structure which had
stood there two hours before.
BY this time the spread Of the flames
had been checked, and at , o'clock the
work Of searching the debris for the
bodies of those who were known to
have been in the building and not ac-
counted for was begun. So far as
could be learned the missing ones are:
Henry Fowler, Phil Ackerman, Robert
Reitzel William Tennyson. Willie
Ashe, a little boy, and one other, an
engineer, name unknown; and this in
cludes all of the dead.
1t was not long before the searchers
found three bodies. close together,
about fifteen feet from the K-street en-
trance, every particle Of clothing
burned from them and the bodies
chsrred beyond hope Of recognition.
One of them, of smaller stature than
the others, is supposed to be that Of the
boy. 1t was not until $50 that the
searchers could fairly begin their
work.
The three bodies lie at the morgue,
barely distinguishable one from the
other, except from the numbers placed
on the charred corpses.
Darkness added to the difficulties at
tending the search for the other three
| bodies, but a new corps of workmen
went to WORK with the aid Of lanterns
to continue the search until all are
found.
The fire, besides destroying the
Stumph building, consumed the Wood
ruff building, factory, where all of
the government files are made, and the
1dlllnR walls OF IneSe DuilulnBS
crushed Hall & Cammack's fur
niture house, filed Bcnner's mar
bic yard and injured the homeo-
pathic dispensary building on the
Massachusetts-ave side. On the K
street side @ Fennstein's horseshoers'
establishment, an oyster depot and a
building occupied by Gospel mission
and the Horse and Cattle Food Co. suf-
fered demolition.
The loss on the Stumph building is
in the neighborhood of $50, 900; insur-
ance, $3.50 The loss entailed by the
destruction of the Woodruff building is
unknown, and the other structures
were mostly Of wood and not very val
liable. The entire loss will probably
be about $751; 900