The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-05-24
FATAL FIRE IN A tenement.
TWO PERSONS KILLED AND THREE
SERIOUSLY INJURED.

The Dead n Mother and Daughter
Who Were SufTOcated in Their
ROOm-The Fire Supposed to Have
Started From a Match Carelessly
Thrown Away in the Hallway by
Belated LOdger-The Scene of the
New York.
New York, May 23.-Two persons were
killed and three seriously injured in a fire
which started shortly after o'clock this
morning in the four-story-and-basem
brownstone building at 149 West Twenty
third street. Several persons narrowly es-
capped. The dead are:
MRS. CATHERINE MOsSwAY, aged
80 years; died at hospital from suffoca-
ton and burns.
BEATRICE MOSSWAY, years old,
daughter of the former; suffocated in her
room.
The injured are:
MRS. MARY c.. or CARRIE, BOWLES,
boarding house keeper at % Hollis street,
Boston; dangerously hurt by jumping from
a window on the third floor
MISS MACDONALD, slightly burned on
the face.
r. S. PHAPS, slightly burned on the
face.
The building was occupied for both bus
mess and dwelling purposes. The base
ment is an all-night eating house. The
Weser Piano Company occupied the first
floor and the upper part of the building is
furnished room house.
Before the firemen reached the scene the
house was filled with flames. The hall
ways from the first to the roof were ablaze,
and escape from the front was cut off.
Panic seized the inmates. While an in
mate named Lamont was crawling along
narrow sill to reach an adjoining house
the body of a woman stuck large sign
which hung on the outside of the building,
and to which he chung for support. The
sign was torn from the fastenings, and
fell with a crash to the street. The wo-
man was Mrs. Bowles, who remained on
the third floor, and had precipitated her
self to the street below when she found
that egress by the house stairway was
checked by the flames. She was picked
up and taken to a hospital Lamont did
not fall to the street. Several other ten
ants had escaped in the same way.
On the top floor the widest sort of panic
had seized the tenants, among whom were
Mrs. Mossway and her daughter. Most
of the tenants including Miss Macdonald
and Mr. Phaps, had escaped to the roof.
Mrs. Mossway, who lost her fife, was
sleeping with her little daughter when
she was aroused by the smoke She ran
into the hall and gave the alarm and
then went back after her daughter When
she started to return, the smoke and
flames drove her again to her room. She
attempted to open the window but It did
not yield readily, and she broke the glass
with her hands. The window would not
open, and even if it had there would
have been little chance for her as II is
protected on the outside by iron bars
When the firemen searched the house they
found the little girl dead in bed, and the
mother lying on the floor, blistered by the
heat and almost dead from suffocation.
She was removed to a hospital, where she
died three hours later.
Late in the afternoon Mrs. Bowles re-
covered consciousness, but no hopes are
entertained of her recovery.
The origin of the fire is not known, but
it is believed that a belated tenant lit
match in the hallway to see his way,
and carelessly tossed the still burning
match away.
The fire started at the foot of the stairs
and the light wall acted as a fiue to in
stantly carry the flames to the roof. The
damage is about 5000.