Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1896-02-19
IN A PANIC.
Shirt Waist Factory at Troy, N.
Y, Destroyed by Fire.
About 800 Girls at Work in the
Establishment at the Time.
Three of Them Jump to Their Death and
ut Least Seventeen Perish in the Flames
The Number of Injured is II,
Some OF Them Fatally.

TROY, N. Y, Feb. IS. There was
mourning in the homes of the Troy
collar girls Monday night. An un-
timely and fearful death overlook
many of them late this afternoon.
Working girls whose days labor was
almost over were cut down almost
without warning by fire. Ia.
Thrce girls jumped to their death
from burning building. Distracted,
agonized mothers walled for the re-
turn of their daughters Monday mig hit,
and they walled in vain.
Bright, pretty collar girls who had
left their homes in the morning full of
life, health and spirits, never lived to
tell the tale of agony, torture and
death Their poor. charred bodies are
now resting under tons and tons of
red hot embcrs, stone and brick.
The fire started ir j. Stetheimcr &,
Co. S shirt waist factory and Van Iandt
and Jacobs collar factory, situated in
the same building, ate $50 o'clock.
There were 800 girls at work in the es-
tablishment
The flames spread so rapidly that the
udTTOW stairway WlllCu was buo oiiy
exit outside of the fire escapes in the
rear, was almost cut off and during
the panic that followed five employees
| jumped from the windows, three of
them to their death and many others
were injured
The dead number three and the miss
ing four The number of injured, so
far as learned, is II, some of whom can
not live.
1t is believed by everybody, even the
proprietors and employees in the shops,
that about 20 girls were overcome be-
fore they reached the street, and were
burned up in the building. People
who were familiar with the interior of
the building and knew how limited
were the means OF escape, place the
total at least 30.
The scene of the catastrophe was at
the corner of Broadway and River
street, a portion OF the city character
lied for it's immense buildings. The
structure is known as the Burdette
building, is six stories in height and
was occupied by j. Stetheimcr & Co.,
whose factory was situated on the
fifth floor; Van Zandt and Jacobs,
manufacturers. of collars and cuffs,
who occupied the three floors below
and restaurant and saloon on the
ground floor. There was also several
other minor enterprises carried on in
the building.
The fire which ended so disastrously
started in the fifth story, in the part
occupied by Stetheimer &c Co. About
5:25 o'clock Monday afternoon a little
boy attempted to light the gas in what
is known as the cutting department.
This is the shirt-waist cutting depart
ment. He climbed on the cutting table
and lighted the gas. Then he threw
the match, which was still burning, to
the foor and it ignited q pile OF scrap
cambria. In an instant there was a
cracking of fierce and ncontrollable
flames and the room was filled with
smoke.
Miss Lille Kreiger, girl, realizing
the eminence of the peril, and at the
lisk of her own life, rushed through
the different departments of the build
ing and warned the employees of the
danger Nothing but the bravery of
volunteer fireman saved her from
death.
When the employees in the fifth story
realized that the fire was beyond con-
troll and was likely to prove disastrous,
a scene of great panic cnsued
The girls rushed about the room,
the stairway, others succumbed to the
dense smoke and sank to the floor, and
some jumped from the dizzy height of
the River street windows to the pave
ment below. About half of the girls
who were. employed on the top floor
thought of the fire escape, and found
their way to the ground in yafety.
For twenty minutes after the fire
started the scene was the most excit-
ing ever witnessed in Troy!
During this time there Vas a contin-
uous panic and in the rush for a place
of safety many were injured. The
crush on the stairway was something
frightful.' About 200 men and girls at
tempted to make their escape by this
exit at the same time. Many were
trampled under foot. The ones who
were in front were knocked from their
feet and thrown to the landing and
some are said to have been left uncon-
scious on the stairway. The majority
of the employees finally reached the
street, but they were so overcome with
excitement that it was impossible to
learn from them how many had been
left in the building Quite a number
found their way out by means of the
fire escapes. The scene was most
exciting one. The girls fairly threw
themselves down the ladders to
reach the ground quickly, and the
firemen had their hands full in carry
ing the girls down the ladders from
the terminus of the escape. Probably
the most heartrending scenes were
those witnessed on the streets. The
mothers and other relatives of the
girls VINO were at work in the factory
soon learned of the disastrous
fire and at once hurried to the
scene. They gathered around the
burning building, distracted with grief
and fear, making anxious inquiries for