Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-02-24
A Number of Lives Lost in a Sun
day Morning Fire.
BRAVE WORK BY THE FlREMEN
Daring Rescue of Mrs. James r.
Armiger.
THE DEAD AND INJURED

Charles street, Baltimore, yesterday morn
ing.
The dead are:
James R. Armiger. aged ffty-five.
William B. Riley, his son-in-law. aged
thirty-six.
Richard Riley, son of w. B. Riley, aged
four
Marian Riley, daughter Of w. B. Riley.
aged two and one-kalf.
Mrs. Marian Champlin. daughter Of Jas.
R. Arnsger, aged thirty.
James Cnamplin, her son. aged three.
Horace B. Manuel. aged fifty-six. Of
New York city. a guest.
Fatally injured:
Alice Williams, colored, servant, skull
fractured and other serious injuries.
Injured:
Mrs. William B. Riley, burned about face
and arms and suffering from inhalation Of
Mrs. James. r. Armiger. aged fifty. slight
burns and suffering from shock and ex-
posture.
Miss Eleanor Armiger. aged fourteen.
Miss Virginia Armiger, aged twenty-five.
ankle slightly sprained in jumping.
Ida Whiting, colored. servant, slightly
burned and suffering from inhalation OF
smoke; will recover.
Scene of the Tragedy.
Exteriorly handsome and imposing. the
house in which the tragedy occurred is one
longing to the A. S. Abel estate, on
Charles street, just north of Lafayette
avenue. 1t is four stories in height, and at
the time Of the fire was filled with costly
furniture and much rare bric-a-brac, plate
and unique jewelry, of which Mr.. Armiger
was an enthusiastic collector. In the house
were just thirteen persons. or these ten
were members of the Armiger household,
two were servants and the other, Mr.. Man.
uel was guest who has been visiting the
Ap.yvn toyn. foV yINy fnr hA oct fyIyn NJ
days. 1t was his purpose to have returned
to his home in New York last Saturday
night but Mr. Armiger prevailed upon him
t, remain until today.
All of these people were in their bed
rooms, on the upper floors, some Of them
being partially dressed, when, at S:,5
O'Clock yesterday morning, fire was dis
covered issuing from a partition in the
cellar. 1t had ignited from an overheated
furnace fiIe, and was first seen by Louis
Whiting, the colored man-of-ali-work. who
was at the time cleaning the front steps.
Whiting ran to the adjacent corner and
gave the alarm to a policeman. and hurried
back to the house. entered The front door.
Closed it behind him, and assembled to the
second floor, where Mr.. and Mrs. ArmiSer
had their bed room.
Thick clouds Of smoke had by this time
filed the house, and when the colored man
and Mrs. Armiger attempted to descend
they found it. impossible. Whiting aided
Mrs Armiger to the front window and
helped her to reach small balcony in
front, upon which re placed her, and re-
turned to the aid of Mr.. Arniser. He
found the latter had gone, and came back
to Mrs. Armiger. who, clad in nothing
but her night clothes, was shivering on the
narrow balcony and shriakin.s in agonized
tones for help. Half dozen men who were
passing FASTENED to the rover house of the
Charles stTeet cable car line block be-
low, and produced a short ladder.
Arrival of Help.
Help came in good time. for when they
returned they found Fire Chief McAfee, a
noted life saver. who quickly mounted the
ladder. 1t was not long enough. bur, by
standing on the uppermost round. he could
reach the frightened woman. Lifting her
from the balcony, her scanty clothing
caught ON an obstruction; she fell forward
with her whole weight upon the out
stretched arm of the fireman. Just then the
ladder slipped, end every one expected to
see both the reScuer and the woman he
was trying to save dashed to death on the
pavement below. By tremendous effort,
however, McAfee steadied himself, and,
holding Mrs. Armiger with one hand.
grasped the balcony with the other. Hang
ing thus, he slowly replaced the ladder with
his feet, and brought the now fainting wo-
man down in safety.
Cheering Bravery.
Yells and cheers greeted his noble efforts.
In the meantime the other inmates of the
front rooms were crowdng to the windows,
making the most piteous appeals for help
Cries from the people below warned them
not to jump, but Alice Williams disregard
ed their warnings, and with an appalling
Shrek sprang from the fourth-story WIN
dow, struck the stone steps full upon her
forehead, fracturing her skull and sustain
ing fatal injuries. An attempt was made
to succor the other unfortunates by means
Of the doorway on Charles street, but when
the policemen burst it in they were met by
a volume of smoke and flame and were
driven back.
Scared and almost panic-stricken we're
Eleanor and Virginia, unmarried daughters
of Mr.. Armiger in rear room on the sec
ord floor. They were partially dressed, but
SO rapid was the spread of the flames that
they had no time to escape by the stairway
Standing at the rear window they cried
wildly for help.
neighbor came to their hid, and under
his ccol-headed directions Miss Virginia
lowered her younger sister with sheet,
and throwing mattress out of the win
dow, leaped to the yard below. She alight-
ed In safety, and beyond the shock and
slight injury to her ankle, escaped unhurt.
BY this time the firemen had reached the
scene and in twinkling had reared long
ladders up to the windows, both front and
rear.
Corpses Clasped COrpses.
Many swarmed up these, and in a few
minutes the remaining inmates Of the
doomed house were being carried out. On
the stairway leading from the second to
the third floor was found the body of Mr.
Armiger, with that Of his little grandchild
Richard Riley, clasped tightly in his arms,
showing that the old man had made a gal
liant attempt to rescue the boy at the cost
of his own life. In the front room on the
third floor was found the corpse of Mr.
Manuel. He, too, had the body of q child
in his arms. telling another story Of unre-
Quilted heroism.
On the third floor in a rear room, lying on
the bed, the firemen found the dead body of
Mr.. Riley. By his side lay his wife, breath
Ing family. She was hurried into the open
air in time to save her life. and though she
is badly burned about the face and arms
and half craZed by her terrible loss, she
will recover. In another room were the
bodies of Mrs. Champlin and her three
year-old son, while upon the upper floor the
f1remen found Ida Whiting. the colored SER
want, unconscious from smoke. but not SER
iously affected. The injured were taken to
the homes of neighboring friends, with the
exception Of the servants, who were con-
veyed to the City Hospital
Kind hands tenderly carried the dead
bodies across the street to the residence of
DR.. E. X. Batcheler. where every effort was
made to resuscitate them without avail.
When it was found that nothing further
could be done for them they were covered
with sheets and laid out on the floor of the
physicians parlor to await the coming of
the undertaken. The fire, although a fierce
one, was confined to the Armiger residence,