The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1896-12-26

Adtiehts VI hosplthi Nhffleu Out ny o.
lice and Firemen-DweIIersi in Neighbor-
ing TenenSnts Driven out to Prevent
Their Boing Crushed 10 Death.
NEW YORK, Dec 26 Fire which started
on the second floor of the seven story
building 2l1-219 East Thirly-third street,
yesterday did S5OO,OOO damage. The fire
started near the air shaft and spread with
such rapidly that before the first engine
arrived almost the entire building was i'll
flames. -Four alarms were sent out in
quick succession, but the large force of
fremen who responded were powerless to
stay the progress of the fire in the build
ing in which it originated.
The flames burst from the rear win
dows of the factory, and licked the walls
of the New York Polytechnic, on Thirty
| fourth street, adjoining the burning
structure. In the Polytechnic there were
from fifty to sixty patients, some of whom
had recently been operated on and others
of whom were awaiting the surgeon s
knife. Among the latter were thirteen
babies. The patients were hastily wrapped
in blankets and borne to the Delaware
hotel, near by. Great excitement pre-
vailed among the helpless sick people, but
the police and hremen worked hard and
all the occupants of the hospital were got
ten out in safety.
/ Thirteen children were carried out with
out trouble, but there was more trouble
with the adult patients. Several women
/ began to scream, and men who should
| not have left cots dehed their nurses and
tried to escape. The worst patients were
carried out on stretchers. Several were
moved in invalid chairs. One woman
upon whom an operation had been per-
| formed only day or two before became
unconscious from fright Not one of the
patients will suffer from the change. As
soon as possible they were taken to other
hospitals.
The west side of the wall of the burning
| building, on Thirty third street. fell with
crash about twenty minutes after the
fire was discovered, crushing in the ad-
| joining building, No. 209, occupied as an
apartment house. The people in the house
received timely warning, and rushed out
of their homes, carrying with them such
| personal property as they had TIME to
gather up in their flight. The apartment
house was almost completely destroyed by
the fire, together with No. POT, five story
tenement adjoining.
There were twenty-four families living
In No. 300 The mothers and fathers
watched the fremen indifferently from
their windows while the children played
with their Christmas toys. Suddenly the
house was filed with police. Run for
your lives" they cried. 1.-THE wall is 60
Ing to fall on you" Mothers picked up
their little ones and ran to the street.
Others said the police were foolish and re-
fused to leave. Finally the police used
force. They showed the men and women
down the stairs and picked the children
from the floors and carried them out.
Kicking, struggling, shouting youngsters
were set down on the cold pavements
Most of them were in their night clothes,
and each one had doll by the leg or was
clinging to a toy.
The two buildings in which the fire was
raging were tinder boxes, being all of
wood, except the outside shells. The lum-
Der in the piano factory helped on the
blaze. The roof of the factory building
fell within an hour after the fire was dis
covered, and then there was great danger
from the walls. The wall to the west
tumbled upon the tenement house. The
wall in the east went down upon Schulz
,or's hotel. Half the front wall went
crashing into Thirty third street The fire.
men expected the fall and were out of the
way. Each fall was accompanied by a
loud report and clouds of dust and steam
rose hundreds of feet into the air
On the other side of the burning factory
stood tenement house, No. 22l East
Ihirty-third street The people in this
house were also driven out by the flames,
and the building was badly damaged by
fire and water The floor on which the
IRE started was occupied by Adolph Tin
ner as a snuff mandatory, the remainder
Of the building being used by b +. Klad-
snberg rs meers"hanm pipe factory. The
factory building was almost totally de-
itr.yod.