Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1895-11-28
FLAME AND DEATH
Work Havoc at Another Great
Fire In Chicago.

Work Havoc at Another Great
Fire In Chicago.
-Four Firemen and Ono Girl Killed.
Dozen Other Men. Women, and Chit.
dren Hurt = Forty-seven Firms
Burned Out-Loss, 100000.
CHICAGO, Nov. 23-A fire, disastrous
to life and property, swept through
the dry goods and wooden exchange
this morning. Five firemen, while in
the active discharge of their duty UNI
der orders and totally unconscious OF
danger. were carried through floor
and buried under tons Of wreckage
from the five floors above. Four of
the men lie dead. but the fifth was not
seriously injured. One girl fell from
q window, and received injuries from
which she died. A dozen other men,
women and girls were hurt or over
come by smoke, and many were res
cued from imminent death.
The dead are:
Patrick ]. O'Donnell, lieutenant OF
engine company No. 2, 2s4o Wallace.
Thomas j. Prendergast, pipeman.
1928 Butler street.
Martin Sherlock, 1888 Lowe avenue.
pipeman.
John Downs, pipeman, 1855 Wallace
street.
Kate Landgraff, 500 North Halstead
street, employed in A. Stein s. Co. s
garter factory.
All the dead and injured firemen
were members of Engine company No.
3 Their captain. Lewis Fiene, es-
capped the awful plunge to death only
by hanging to the wall of the window
Cd the second floor until released FROM
his perilous position by firemen on q
ladder.
The owners of the burned building
are Kuh. Nathan & Fischer, the cloth
ing firm. whose factory and warehouse
is at Van Buren, and Franklin streets,
opposite the scene of death and de-
struction.
Forty-seven firms were burned out
in the L-shaped building, which was
one of the most freproof and .orna-
mental in the wholesale business dis
trict.
The loss on the building is 800, 600.
amply covered by insurance. The ag-
gregate loss of the many tenants is
placed at $500, 200, the heaviest indi-
vidual losers being Stein and Biers.
SIS, 900.
This fire started at 9:15 o'clock on the
fourth floor of the seven-story build
ing, in the garter factory of Stein &
To vxyhA s,.1c ~ L.
They ran screaming and half fainting
from fright to the windows on the
Van Buren-streeS side of the building.
The frantic girls were determ ined
in the half-craZed mental condition to
hurl themselves to the stone tagging,
but were partly restrained by the
shouts of the citizens on the street
and the. quick work of the firemen.
One extension ladder was run up and
a fireman mounted it, but when his
feet touched the rungs of the second
section, either his weight or some de-
feet in the ladder caused it to slip back
to~its original position, bringing it's
top four or five feet below the sill of
number of girls had gathered. Either
fear, Nellie Turner. Kittle Landgraf
and Harry O'Neill made a wild at-
tempt to lower themselves SO that
they could touch the top rung of the
ladder. In doing this the foolhardy
ones slipped and fell headlong to the
pavement.
Capt. Hermanson tried ito grasp the
dress of Kittie Landgraf as her body
few past him, but he failed, and she
struck the sidewalk.
A few seconds elapsed, and the same
spot where Miss Landgraf's body had
struck was covered with the uncon-
scious form of Nellie Turner, who had
taken the terrible plunge in an effort
to save herself. She was saved from
death, however, by being momentarily
held by three fremen in her descent.
thus breaking the force of her fall.
Three other girls, who had more
presence of mind succeeded in reach
ing the ladder by dropping from the
window sill.
Shortly after / o'clock came the
e cond tragedy of the fire. The flames
had been practically extinguished and
the firemen of Engine company No, 2
were ordered to the fourth floor in the
rear to put out any incipent blaze that
might be found. much of the contents
in that part of the building
only being water soaked. No ono
of the veteran fremen. from Chief
Swenie down, imagined there was any
danger from falling floors. The un-
fortunate men had taken their hose
from the fourth to the second floor,
and no fire being found Capt. Fiene
went to the window on the north, and
was in the act of shouting to Peter
Hart, the driver of the company. to
shut off the water when the fatal
crash came.
From the top floor came an avalanche
of tons of timber, fire-proof thing,
safes, radiators, fixtures
from the different offices and a mass
of other stuff on the heads and on all
sides of the firemen, who pu. duty be-
fore fear for safety.
Capt. Fiene chung to the window sill
until rescued, and then bravely joined
the small band of rescuers whom Chief
Swenie sent to the debris Only one
faint voice was heard, that of Nc
Nally. All the others had probably
been killed instantly.
AN lNcENDiARY FIRE.