Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1896-02-21
A Score of Victims of Fac
tory Fire,
Hanging From the Windows, and
Dropping to Death On the Pavement
Below-A WomRn's Spine Forced by
the Shock Through Her Brain-The
Number of Lives Lost Cannot be
Ascertained.

them with hungry tongues, was the be
ginning of fire tonight that consumed
thousands of dollars worth of property
and caused the destruction of many
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 windows, those whs were more for.
tunate crowding out the entrance Fell
lowing them was a mass of smoke, with
flashes of hot fame in lurid streaks
Then the mass of frenzied humanity,
finding the expresses too small for in
stant escape, began climbing ever the
sides of the escapes, and bundles OF
clothing filed with writhing humanity
dropped at tke feet of Mortified passers-
By.
Within twenty minutes after the FIRE
started there were three dead women
laid upon the floor of an adjoining store,
ana at least dozen MANNED and burn
ed girls and women taken to the hos
pitsl or to their homes.
OF the $50 girls and women in the
building, it is presumed that at least a
half dozen are in the ruins, for it is i'm
possible to locate all, and there may pos
sibly be a score dead.
1t was just thirty minutes before clos
ing hour in Stettheimer & Cos. 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 $50 girls were closing up
their days assignments and preparing to
leave when the whistle blew Lille
Kreiger, who was working near a ma
chine, called to small boy to light the
gas over her work. The boy struck
a match and threw the burning
stub to the floor. It struck pile of oily
rags and in an instant the girl was en-
reloped in flames. With her clothes and
hair burning she rushed to the window
and at once the room became a strug-
Cling, shreiking mass of humanity, fill
ing the windows, the fre-escapes and |
the only stairway. tanning and push
ng, tearing each others clothes from |
heir backs, turning in narrow corners to
ind a sister, or mother or friend, the |
number in the exits augmented every
minute by those from the other floors,
hese girls and women fought for their
ives to get away from the sames that
seemed to be growing to a monstrous
ize.
With rare presence of mind, Police
nan Farrell, who was on the street see
ng that in the panic number were liza
lie to jump, let down the awning over
he entrance. Barely was it down when
wo or three forms came flying down
rom the fifth and sixth stories, and
ouncing from the awning fell to the
idewalk
Lille Krieger, over whose machine
he fire started. was one of these. She :
truck the awning, fell on her back and
ounced to her hands and knees on the
ralk She got up and staggered about
ntil people helped her to her feet !
gain BY this time nearly every win
ow had a female form dangling from it,
nd whsn the fremen arrived there was
hustle to get the ladders up.
At the center window on the sixth
DOR, woman hanging by her hands
-as forced out by the flames licking her |
ace With last shrek she let go and t
anne tumbling over and over until she
truck the pavement. When picked up :
was found that she was Mrs Margaret '
arrcll. Her spinal column was forced c
trough into her brain. c
lust below her, in another window, r
ung woman, turning appealing t
lances to the crowd. The black smoke
as pouring from the window, but as yet 6
o flames were visible, and the crowd o
elled encouragingly to her to hold on, q
ut high red fame reached out just o
len and licked her face, and in an in {
ant her body was rebounding from the t
avement She was Mrs. Foley, c
idow, and when picked up was dead. c
On the same floor, hanging from an RI
her window, was another woman, and a
lvation in the shape of ladder was d
most within her grasp when her r.
rength failed and she went twirling C
,wn to death. She was Mrs. Kane.
The firemen and police worked like n
eroes, and to their energy was due