Birmingham state herald., 1896-02-18
EPIDEMIC OF FIRES.
Several Factory Girls Killed and Others Sup posed to Have rerished in the
 Flames.

Troy N Y., Feb 17-Fire broke out in the collar factory of J. Stetheimer & Co.,, River street, this city, this afternoon. The greatest consternation prevailed among the 300 girl employees. Five of the girls jumped from the fourth story win dows. One was caught in a net by the firemen. The other four were killed by the fall. It is believed there are several other girls in the building.
 The fire at 6:3O o'clock assumed enor- nous proportions and was beyond the control of the firemen. The furniture warehouse of w. H. Reynolds and the Western Union building will be destroy ed, and the whole block from Broadway to Fulton street, which includes a large number of immense warehouses and stores, is probably doomed to be destroy ed. The weather is extremely cold and the firemen are laboring under the great est difficulties.
 The fire started in J. Steitheimer & Co. &. shirt factory in the same building at 5:30 o'clock this morning. There were 300 girls at work in the establishments. The flames spread so rapidly that the narrow stairway, which was the only exit out side of the fire escapes, in the rear, was almost immediately cut off, and during
  from the windows, three of them to their death, and many other were injured
 The dead are Mrs. Hobert. Mrs. Kane and Mrs. Policy.
 Four girls are known to be missing. but it is believed by everybody, even the pro- prietors and employees in the shops, that about twenty girls were overcome before they reached the street and were burned up in the building.
 People who are familiar with the inte- rior of the building and know how linn ited were the means of escape place the total loss at about thirty. In addition to these, nine girls, three fremen, three policemen and one citizen were more or less seriously injured by the fire or by falling walls. One girl was driven in- sane.
 The scene of the catastrophe was at the corner of Broadway and River streets, portion of the city noted for it's immense business buildings. The struc- ture is known as the Burdett building, is six stories in heighth and was occupied by J. Stetheimer & Co.,, manufacturers of ladies' shirt waists, whose factory was situated on the fifth floor; Vanzel & Ja- cobs, manufa cturerS of collars and cuffs, who occupied the three floors below, and a restaurant and saloon on the ground floor. There were also several other mi nor enterprises carried on in the building
 The fire, which ended so disastrously, started in the fifth story in the part occu- pied by Stetheimer X Co.
 About 5:25 o'clock this afternoon a little boy lighted the gas in the cutting depart ment Then he threw the match, which was still burning, to the floor and it ig- nited pile of scrap cambric. In an in- stant there was a cracking of fierce and uncomfortable flames and the room was filled with smoke. Miss Lillie Kreiger, a girl, realized the immersity of the flames and the peril and, at the risk of her own life. rushed through the different depart ments of the building 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 control and was likely to prove disastrous a scene of great panic ensued The girls rushed about the room, some of them found their way down the stairway, oth- CTS succumbed to the dense smoke and sank to the floor and some jumped from the distance of the heights of the River street windows to the pavement below About half the girls who were employed on the top floor thought of the fire es- Continued on Fifth Page.)