The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-02-18
FRrGHTFUL LOSS OF LIFE.
Six. and Probably Twenty. Lost TheiI
Lives In Troy Fire.

Lives In Troy Fire.
Troy. N. Y. Feb. IA FIRE which
started at o'clock this evening in tn,
shirt waist factory OF Stettheimer & Co.
destroyed thousands OF dollars worth Of
property, and caused the destruction OF
at least six lives and probably twenty.
II was Just thirty minutes before the
closing hour. and the $50 girls and women
were working rapidly TO finish UP. In
the cutting room on the fifth floor 80 girls
wore closing UP and preparing TO leave
when the whistle blew. Lille Kreiger
who was working near a machine, called
a small boy TO light the gas over her
work. The boy struck a match and
threw the burning stub to the floor. II
struck pile Of oily rags and In an In
slant the girl was enveloped In flames.
With her clothes and hair burning, she
rushed TO window. and at once the room
became struggling. shrieking mass OF
humanity. filling the windows, fire es-
capes and the only stairway, jamming
and pushing. and tearing each Others
clothes from their backs. The number
In the exits augmented every minute by
those from the other floors, and the girls
and women fought for their lives to get
away from the flames. Policeman Far
rell, seeing that In the panic a number
were liable 10 jump, let down the awning
over the entrance. Barely was II down
when two or three forms came flying
down from the NTH and sixth stories.
and bouncing from the awning, fell to the
sidewalk
Lille Krelger. over whose machine the
fire started. was one Of these. She was
assisted to her feet and taken away.
BY this time nearly every window had q
female form dangling from II, and when
ihe nremen came. there was hustle to
get the ladders UP.
At the center window on the sixth floor
woman hanging by her hands was fore
ed out by the flames licking her face.
With last shrek, she let go and came
tumbling over and over until she struck
the pavement When picked up It was
found that she was Mrs. Margaret Car
roll. Her spinal column was forced
through into her brain.
Just below her, in another window.
hung Mrs. Foley. No flames were visible,
and the crowd yelled announcement TO
her TO hold on. when high red flame
reached out Just then and licked her face.
and in an instant her body was rebound
ing from the pavement. wher picked up
she was dead.
On the same floor, hanging from an
other window. was another woman, and
salvation, in the shape of a ladder. was
almost within her grasp when her
strength failed and she went whirlIne
down TO death. She was Mrs. Kane
The hremen and police worked like he
roes, and to their energy was due the
graf saving OF life.
The flames ate through three floors so
quickly that the Western Union Tele-
graph Company and the Jessup & Soph-
ner Crockery Company and the Van
Zant and Jacobs Collar Manufacturing
Company had no time to save anything.
An Italian named Frank Rossi was pin
ioned by the legs under heavy beam ana
fatally injured. Captain Willard, of the
police force, says he saw a number of
girls at the windows who never came out.
but fell back into the flames.
One fireman who was working from the
rear. saw three girls. with their arms
wound tightly around each other. turn
In their frenzy and jump back into the
names. Some of the women who escaped
tell OF stumbling over bodies, and are
positive that score Of girls perished.
until the roll Is called in the morning
the exact number of missing will not
be known.
The loss by fire Is from ss5OOO0 to s4OO.-
100, with about 100000 insurance.
The thermometer Is below zero tonight.