The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-11-23
After Rescuing Employees From
Burning Buildings They Are
Buried in Ruins.
SOME VERY THRILLING ESCAPES
One Panic.Stricken Girl, However, Fell
From a Fourth Story
Window.

CHICAGO, ILL, Nov. 22.-A fire, dis
astrous to life and property, swept through
the Dry Goods and Woolen Exchange
this morning. Five tiremen were carried
through floor and buried under tons OF
wreckage from the five floors above. Four
of the men are dead, but the fifth was not
seriously injured. One girl fell from a
window and Ireceived injuries from which
she died. A dozen other men, women and
girls were hurt or overcome by smoke, and
many were rescued from imminent death.
The property loss to the building at 215-
217 Van Buren street and 276-278 Franklin
street and contents is estimated at S400 ,000
Appended is list of the dead: Patrick
J. O'Donnell, lieutenant of engine com
panv 2, 2S40 Wallace street; Joseph Prem
dergast, pipeman, 1923 Butler street; Mar
tin Sherrick. pipeman, 283S Lowe auenue
John Downs. pipeman, 1858 Wallace
street; Kate Landgraf, S02 North Halstead
street, employed in A. Stein & Co.'s garter
factory.
Among the injured were: Daniel Nc
NaIly. pipeman, 724 Thirty-6rst street, re.
moved from floor wreckage to st. Luke's
Hospital, sprained leg and bruised; Olga
Keller, SIS North Ashland avenue, leg aud
arm injured; Harry O'Neill, 1929 Van
Buren street. arm broken and back in
iured; Nellie Turner, 200 North Center
avenue, fell from fourth-story window and
seriously hurt; John Bruenheimer, badly
injured by falling from fourth story while
assisting girls to escape.
All the dead and injured fremen were
members Of engine company No. 2 Their
captain, Lewis Feline, escaped the awful
plunge to death only by hanging to the
sill of the window on the second floor un-
til released from his perilous position by
fremen.
The owners of the burned building are
Kuhn, Nathan & Fisher, the clothing firm,
whose factory and warehouse is at Van
Buren and Franklin streets, opposite the
scene of the death and destruction.
The following firms we're burned out:
D. H. Arnold e. Co., Innings and clothiers'
supplies; S. Rosenberg & Co., wholesale
tailors' trimmings; Stern & Beiers, whole
sale clothing; S. Bernheimer, samples
cotton goods; Louis NJ. Barnett, tailor;
the Dime Lunch Company; ]. Grafeldt,
sample buttons; Abe Fink, notions and
fancy goods; Tootal, Broodhurst, Lee
goods; F. G. Eichman & Co., whole
sale clothing; Arnold Wolf, fancy
and gentlemen's furnishing goods;
W. L. Lee Winbach, manufacturers
agents; BranhalI Bros. & Co., samples
woolens; NJ. Klein, samples clothing
Phillip Klein, MATCHES; G. s. Mahoney &
Co., samples notions; A. Stein, manufac-
turer of garters; J. Rotschild & Co., whole
sale clothing; Stevens, Sanford & Hany
samples cloth; Klotz, Veith & Co., samples
buttons; Fellows 81 Co., wholesale linen
collars and cuffs; S. D. Stryker, manufac-
turers' agent; Kalamazoo Pants and Over
all Company; a. NJ. Liebenstein, wholesale
silk handkerchiefs; E. Flenacher, whole,
sale cotton goods; Assenheim q Rich,
samples clothing; judah Bros, samples
cloaks and suits; F. Butterfieid Co.,
samples cloths; A Robertson & Co., sam
pies woolens; Leavitt & Mitchell Bros,
samples cloths; Centersville Manufacture
ing Company, plush cloths; S. Einstein,
agent; Louis Friedman, samples clothing
S. Woertheimer 65 Co., samples, Erie
Button Works, samples; s. Kahn, adver-
tising novelties; D. Rosenkranz, mems
furnishings; Otheman, Dyer Southwlck,
samples cloths; Military News Publishing
Company, composing-room; National
Thread Company; Hammond, Knowlton
& Co., wholesale thread; FL. Hellersoe
Rubber Type Company; Townsend q Son,
wholesale hosiery and underwear; 3.
Plosinky, fur garments; M. Delee, tailor
Hinch & Ould, samples of cloths.
The loss on the building is 100000
amply covered by insurance. The aggre-
gate loss of the many tenants is placed at
$500. .OOu, the heaviest individual losers be-
ing Stern & Beirs, $4,000.
The fire started at 9:15 O'Clock on the
fourth floor of the seven-story building IN
the garter factory OF Stein q Co., where
many girls were at work. They ran
screaming and half fainting from fright to
the windows on the Van Buren-street SIDE
of the building. All was excitement ano
confusion in moment. and the rapidly
increasing crowd of spectators stood gaz-
ing upward at what seemed the impending
doom of scores of working girls Engines,
hosecarts and ladders came in gallop to
the rescne with brave fremen, who IN a
twinkling scrambled up the fire-escapes
and put the extension ladders In position
to bring the panic-stricken people to the
ground.
he frantic girls were determined In
their half-crazed mental condition to hurl
themselves to the stone tagging, but were
partly restrained by the shouts of the cltl-
zens on the street and quick work OF the
tiremen. One small extension-ladder was
run up under where the girls were stand
ing. A fireman mounted it, but when his
leet touched the rungs of the second Sec
non either his weight or some defect IN
the ladder caused it to slip back to its
oflglnal position, bringing its top four or
-!e leet below the sill Of the fourth-story
window.
Either crowded from behind or frenzied
oy lear, Nellie Turner, Kittie Landgraf
ana harry 0'Neiil made a wild attempt to
IoWer themselves so that thew could touch