Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-02-18

,1 from Fifth story WIN
- While Others Fell Back
...-.s Fire 10 Die-Twenty-fve
-.--,5 20 be Dead, but No
.,..-s of knowing, as Yet, What
.-9ss ofLife VIII Be.
n Y February IA small
- throwing a match into a
v waste a blasting mass Of
girls and women frenzied
s,, lighting for life as the
chased them with hungry
- was the beginning of fire
s that consumed thousands Of
worth Of property and caused
maion Of many lives.
- Tie outside of the high build
.s first notice of impending dis
. The sight Of a body Of girls
.sr rushed out on the fire escapes
The windows. those who were
fortunate crowding out the en-
s Following them was a mass
.-1Fa with flashes of hot flame in
streams. Then the mass Of fren-
/. ,rmaai,y. finding the egresses too
-.n .1r instant escape. began climb
4. over the sides of the escapes, and
s Of clothing filed with writhing
-v dropped at the feet of hOrri-
rssersby. Within twenty min
after the FIRE started there were
m dead women laid upon the floor
an adjoining store and at least a
burned and MANNED girls and
.-ea taken 20 the hospital or 20 their
l The $50 girls and women in the
tag 10 is presumed that at least
half dozen are in the ruins. for 1t is
--.6't % locate all, and the num-
Fixed at late writing as twenty,
-r be- exaggerated.
r was just thirty minutes before
losing hours in Stettheimer & Co. 5
e~ waist factory. on River street.
.-t $50 women and girls we're working
-o finish up. In the cutting
r- on the fifth floor. the $50 girls
bore closing up their days assign
-a.s and preparing to leave when
3 whistle blew.
Lille kreiger. who was working near
Machine. called 20 a small boy 10
s- The gas over her work.
TIE BOY STRUCK A MATCH
? threw the burning stub TO the
w It struck a pile of oily rags
E. in an instant the girls were en-
ned In flames.
With her clothes and hair burning
rushed TO the window and in an
.eant the room became a struggling,
kng mass of humanity. filing
windows, the FIRE escapes and the
stairway.
inning and pushing. tearing each
s-s clothes from their backs. turn
.- i1 narrow corridors to find a sis
OPP mother or friend, the number in
exits augmented every minute by
81. from the other floors. these men
mi women fought for their lives to
p away from the fiery flames that
nal r0 grow 20 mOnstrOus size.
With rare presence of mind. Police
Farrell. who was on the street.
rg that iu the panic a number were
bio -o jump. let down the awning
The entrance Barely was il
u when two or three forms came
1g down from the fifth and sixth
-es and bouncing from the avn
.- .eH ro the sidewalk.
lille Ereiger. over whose machine
ara started was one OF these. She
.s the awning. fell on her back
bounced TO her hands and knees
''e walk She got up and staggered
DO until people helped her TO her
as.1 by this time nearly every
.0F had q female form dangling
- and when the firemen arrived
"s "a hustle 20 get the ladders
AT 'te center window on the sixth
woman hanging by her hands
forced out 10y the flames licking
.e With a last shrek she let
- came umbling over and over
She struck the pavement When
n' b. was found that she was
-aorscher. Her spinal column
through into her BRAIN
.'.o" her i'm anOther window
woman turning appealing
'o The crowd The black
"as pouring from the window.
no fames we're visible and
TOM. yelled enCOuragingly to her
oa 5ut a higher red flame
" inst then
AND LICKED HER FACE.
instant her body was re-
from the pavement.
Mrs Foley a widow. and
.'Aed mp was dead On the
haneing from another
was q woman. and salvation
shape of a ladder was almost
r srasp when her strength
She went whirhng down to
@ Nas Mrs Kane
enen and police worked like
t t0 their energy was due
saving of life. AT least a dozen
t... ana girls were carried down
-fs of dragged out Of the corri-
., officers and fremen going in
-s. of the smoke and flames.
burned so dercely at this
mo- detailed search of the
could De made. and from
~ oe learned there were many
women on the three upper
ether lying I'm fainting Ats or
t-.- 'y smoke. Il was this fact
' The rumors that there were
.--. twenty women dead. and the
.. '0 at this writing does not
np-obable.
.-. ate down through the
Pr r--. so quickly that the West
e,. Telegraph Company. Jessur
'.. Crockery Co. and Van
|nn.rh.H