The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-12-26
And Five Hundred People Thrown
Out Of Work.
BUSINESS AND TENEMENT BLOCKS
BURNED IN NEW YORK.
Property Loss Will Amount to Over a
Million Dollars-New York Polytechnic
Hospital One of the Victims-Patients
Removed With Much Difficulty.


Removed With Much Difficulty.
New York, December 25.-Fire broke
out here this morning OH East Thirty
third street and destroyed Sebastian Soh-
mer's piano warehouse, the New York
Polyclinic hospital large five story
brick tenement at 20 East Thirty third
street and large five story factory build
ing. One hundred people are rendered
homeless and the loss is nearly 81, 900, 900
dollars.
The piano warehouse occupied fourth
of the block. The fire began on the sec
ond floor of the Fianare's snuff factory
No. 211 East 33rd street. When the first
engines arrived the fire had already COM
munioated with the piano warehouse,
adjoining on the east. Several large
streams of water were poured into the
burning building, but without apparent
effect and the third and fourth alarms
for engines were sent in.
The police aroused the sleeping tenants
of the building on the west of the burn
ing factory. There was panic when
ths tenants found the smoke pouring into
their rooms, and in the excitement and
Decentralization which followed the cry of
"fire," several Of the tenants escaped
narrowly with their lives.
Eighteen families, consisting of seventy
five people were dragged and carried from
the building. Several girls only partially
dressed opened the windows of their
rooms on the fifth floor and stepped on
fire escape in front of the building One
of them was about to Jump to the street
when policeman, who had entered the
room, drew her back and carried her to
the street. The tenants with the children
were taken to hotel at the corner of
Third avenue and Thirty third street,
where they bewailed the loss of their
property.
AT O'Clock the piano warehouse was
on fire from cellar to roof and fifteen
minutes later the roof fell in. The fire
by that time had assumed such enormous
proportions tnat the hospital in the renr
of the warehouse and fronting ON 34th
street, was in imminent danger. There
were fifty-eight patients in the building,
and when they weIH aroused there was
another panic. Patients whose condition
had been very serious lenped from their
beds and ran towards the stairs. The
nurses and employees of the hospital as
sured them there was no danger, and
they were temporarily quieted. The
patients were carried from the building
until all were removed. Hastily impro-
vised strstchers bore the patients to the
nearby hotel. where they were placed
in beds. An attendant in the hospital was
overcome by the smoke but soon reoov-
cred.
The flames communicated with the roof
of the hospital at $50. and in several
minutes the upper floor was beiching
forth huge waves of smoke and fire. The
firemen who were inside the building
were ordered to leave the struggle and
several lines of hose poured water on from
the elevated tracks on Thirty fourth
street.
The tenement house at No. 209, from
which the tenants had been rescued by
the policemen, had been considered safe
by the firemen until 8.55, when strong
wind blew the flames over 1t. In short
time the roof caught the heat of the fac
tory fire, and ten minutes afterward the
interior was ablazs. Several streams of
water had no apparent effect and in
short time the roof fell n with deafen
ing roar.
The front wall of the. fifth floor fol-
lowed short time afterward. Then the
firemen turned their atten tlOn to the ten
ement adjoining on the west. The roof
of the building at 211 fell in at s.45 and
carried with it to the ground four floors.
The piano warehouse wall which was
almost solid and nearly 200 feet long and
sixty feet high. collapsed shortly after
ward. A uart of it fell ON the roof OF the