Evening star., 1896-02-18
DEATH IN AWFUL FORM
Panic Among Women and Girls in Troy
Factory.
A Cnrelessly Thrown Match Causes n
Fire In Which Many Are KILL
ed or Badly Hurt.

small boy carelessly throwing a match
into a pile of oily waste. blasting mass
of flames, 300 girls and women frenzied
with fright fighting for life the not
flames chased them with hungry tongues,
was the beginning of fire last night at
Troy, y. ", that consumed thousands of
dollars worth of property and caused the
destruction of several lives.
From the outside of the high building the
first notice of impending disaster was the
sight of body of girls as they rushed
out upon the fire escapes from the win
dowS. those who we're more fortunate
crowding out the entrance. Following
them a mass of smoke, with flashes Of
hot flame In lurid streaks. Then the mass
of frenzied humanity, finding the egress
too small for instant escape, began climb
ing over the sides of the escapes, and bum
dies of clothing filled with writhing hu-
manity dropped at the feet of Mortified
passers-by. Within twenty minutes after
the fire started there were three dead wo-
men upon the floor of an adjoining store
and at least a dozen burned and MANNED
girls and women taken to the hospital or
to their homes.
OF the $50 girls and women in the build
Ing 1t was preSu med that at least a half
dozen are in the ruins, for II was impos-
sible to locate all.
1t was just thirty minutes before closing
Eours in Stettheimer & Co.'S shirt waist
factory, on River street, and the $50 girls
and women Were working rapidly to finish
up In the cutting room on the fifth floor
II
assignments and preparing to leave when
the whistle blew
Lille kreiger. who was working near a
machine. called to a small boy to light the
gas over her work. The boy struck
match and threw the burning stub to the
noor 1t struck a pile of oily rags, and in
ar Instant the girl was enveloped in flames
WITH her clothes and hair burning she
rushed To the window and in an instant
the room became struggling, shriekin2
mass OF humanity. filling the windows, the
nre escapes and the only stairway. jam
ming and pushing. tearing each others
clothes from their backs, turning in mar
row corridors to find a sister or mother or
friend. the number in the exits augmented
every minute by those from the other
noors. these girls and women fought for
thelr lives to get, away from the fiery
names that seemed TO grow to monstrous
size. with rare presence of mind, Police
man arreli, who was on the street, seeing
that m the panic a number were liable
TO jump. let down the awning over the en-
trance Barely Was 1t down when two or
three forms came flying down. from the
NTH and sixth stories and bouncing from
the awning. fell TO the sidewalk.
Fell From the Windows.
Lille krefger, over whose machine the
Hre started, was one of these She struck
the awning. fell on her back and bounced
10 her hands and knees on the walk She
got up and staggered, about until peonle
helped her to her feet again.
by this time nearly every window had a
female form dangling from it, and WHOM
the nremen arrived there was a hustle to
get the ladders up. At the center window
on the sixth floor a woman hanging nv nor
hands was forced out by the flames licking
her lace With last shrek she let go
and came tumbling over and over until she
struck the pavement. When picked up 1T
was found that she was Mrs. Herbersher
Her spinal column was forced. through into
her brain just below her in another win
dow hung a woman, turning appea,ine
crowd
was pouring from the window, but as vet
no flames were visible, and the crowd veil
ed encouragingly to her to hold on, but a
hlgh red flame reached out Just then and
licked her face, and in an instant her body
was rebounding from the pavement She
was Mrs. Foley, a widow, and when pick-
ea up was dead. On the same floor, hang
ing from another window was a woman
and salvation in the shape of a ladder wa 3
almost within her grasp when her strength
failed and she went tumbling down to
death She was Mrs. Kane.
The hreInen and police worked like heroes
and 70 their energy was due a great saving
or life. At least dozen women and girls
We're carried down the ladders and dragged
out or the corridors, the officers and fire
men going into the midst of the smoke and
flames.
The fire burned f1ercely by this time
that no detailed search of the building
could be made, and from what can be
learned there were many girls and women
on the three upper stories, either lying in
1aintng hts or also overcome by smoke
~ was this fact that led to the rumors
that there We're at least twenty women
dead
The flames ate down through three floors
so quickly that the Western Union Tele-
graph Company. Jessup & Gooppner Crock
cry company and Van Zandt & Jacobs
collar manufactory had not time to save
anything.
One house after the fire started caught
from me falling of portion of the roof,
h,ril1
caught. About o'clock the firemen heard
shi'ieks coming from the two-story build
ing on the south They discovered an Ital-
ian peddler, named Joseph Rossi who kent
a stand in front of the building. pinioned
by the legs under heavy beam. Three
policemen started to assist him. and with
a fireman worked for three-quarters of an
hour They had just about gotten him
loose, when with a roar the great south
walls came crashing down and the horri-
fed spectators saw the brave little group
dust had cleared, there was a rush of will
Ing workers. and in little while the men
Were taken out. All were injured and had
to be removed to the hospital. The italian
will probably die. but the brave policemen
while badly hurt. will recover.
Fell Into the Flames,
Superintendent Willard of the police force
says that he saw a number of girls at WIN
dows who never came out, but fell back in
to the flames.
One fireman who was working from the
rear saw three girls with their arms wound
tightly about each other, turn in their
frenzy and jump back into the flames.
Some of the women who escaped told of
stumbling over PROSTATE bodies, and were
positive that score of girls perished. The
girls who did escape live in various sub,r-
ban places and hurried away Lottie and
Nellie Hull, sisters. grasped each other
tightly by the hands and started down the
stairs from the sixth story. At the land
Ing of the fifth floor they encountered a
wall OF flame and smoke. Nellie had on
only her corsets and skirt having been
making her toilet. Lottie, who was also
partially dressed. threw her dress over
Nellie's face and together they went
through the flames. Lottie's hair was
burned completely off when she reached the
sidewalk. but Nellie was burned only about
her bare arms. They were taken home.
Tne loss by the fire Is from $2:5O,OOO to
100000, with about 100000 insurance At
least 800 people are thrown out of employ
ment The firemen worked last night with