New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-07-28
FIRES HAVOC IN YONKERS.
BIG BLAZE THAT MAY HAVE CAUSED
HALF-MILLION LOSS.
THE SMITH CARPET WORKS THREATENED-T"o
FA-ToRY BUILDINGS DEsTRoYED-HUR-


FAcToRY BUILDINGS DEsTRoYED-HtR-
RIED ESCAPE OF OPERATIVES.
big fire. which for time it was feared
might he accompanied by considerable loss OF
life, broke out at o'clock yesterday afternoon In
the blowing-room of the hat factory Of William
Reed & Co.. on the lower floor of the Shethar
Building. in Elm-st, Yonkers Two large gas
meters exploded Immediately after the flames
first burst forth. The escaping gas from the
meters fed the flames. Within few minutes the
fire was breaking through the windows OF the
first and second stories.
The alarm given by the engineer OF the
factory almost the FIRE broke out
The big whistle Of the factory opened and
the long steady blow told the operatives of Reed
& Co. and other firms in the building what the
trouble was. There were about six hundred
men and girls in the building at the time Ihe
second story Of the building was occupied by the
finishing room of the factory. On the third moor
the Yonkers silk factory, Of which George
b. Skinner is the agent The fourth floor was
used for storage and on the fifth floor was the
silk factory of Bass Brothers The building eX-
tended along Elm-st. about three hundred feet.
The stairways and elevator shaft acted az
suction ways for the flames. and through these
the fire quickly communicated to the upper
floors. AS soon as the alarm was sounded on
the whistle the operatives on every floor made
q rush for the starways. but the smoke whch
rushed up these caused them to turn back ana
dash for the fre-escapes.
HARD TINE GETTING OUT.
The escape of the employees was retarded by
the fact that the fre-escapes were not provideu
with ladders reaching from the second floor 10
the ground. The Ladder used for this purpose
had been fastened alongside the escape so that
1t could be lifted to its place. When the alarm
was given and it was found necessary to take
to the fre-escapes the word was passed to let
the girls go first. The result that the lad
ders and landing were crowded with girls from
the fifth to the second floors before man at'
tempted to leave the building.
When the girls reached the landing at the Sec
ond floor they found there was no means Of going
further except by jumping. This caused great
excitement, and some of the girls became hys-
terical At this juncture a man employed in Pass
Brothers works went out upon the escapes and
swinging himself around to the outside or the
ladders went down the three stories hand over
hand. He reached the last landing and there
unfastened the ladder. which reached the
ground and, by a superb exhibition of strength,
placed it in position with one hand while he
hung suspended by the other. The girls de-
scended amid smoke and sparks. One girl VINO
worked for Pass Brothers a cripple. and
could not make her way down the escape she
was taken by two men and carried down IN
safety.
The fire soon ate through the floors which
were weighted down by heavy machinery, and
the stock collapsed. This left nothing but the
shell Of the building, as the roof soon followed
the floors The west wall of the building was
the first to collapse, and fell into the Nepperhan
River The collapse Of this wall came near being
a fatal one. two fire companies were working
on the far side Of the river. and had their
str cams directed on the building. The wall fei,
with little warning and the firemen had 10 ADAM
don their hose and run for their lives
The heat from the fire was so intense that the
fremen were driven back time and again There
was a high east wind blowing, and this carried
the flames from the building In which they start
ed to the one occupied by Rowland Brothers as
a hat factory Despite hard resistance made by
the fremen the flames obtained foothold in
this building and it was destroyed.
THE SMITH WORKS THREATENED.
Just across the street from the building in
which the fire started the works Of Alex
ander Smith e. Sons, the big carpet manufact-
| urers For some time it looked as though these
would go. Two thousand persons were at work
| In the carpet factories when the fire broke out.
| All the departments in the carpet works were
| Immediately ordered shut down and the en-
ployees dismissed and directed to leave the
| works. Those who had been drilled in the fire
| service Of the factory remained to help save
! the buildings or to save stock II the first task
| proved an impossblity. Fortunately before
| the fire In the Shetbar building reached its hot
| test point there was change in the direction of
| the wind. and this carried the flames away
| from the Smith works. This change also doubt
| less saved large portion Of the city from be-
! ing destroyed. for had the Smith works gone
| the fire would have spread beyond control or
| the firemen.
| Four boilers in the cellar of the big hat factory
| exploded and hurled burning embers and bricks
| In all directions, endangering the lives Of the
! fremen 1t took three hours Of the hardest kind
| of work to get the fire under control, and even
| then the flames were burning fercely. After
| five hours work il considered safe to with
draw a portion OF the fire companies but Others
| had to remain on the scene all night.
| The losses are heavy. There are various esti-
mates The lowest is 100000. and others run
| up as high as S550OU. Reed & Co. place their
loss roughly at 100000 Rowland Brothers
Pass Brothers and the Yonkers Silk Company
are set down for $4,000 each The loss on the
two buildings destroyed is estimated at S24OOOO
All families living within two blocks Of the
leeward side Of the fire removed their belong
ings out of what appeared TO be the probable
range of the fire. II 1t spread The buildings were
| all kept soaked with water, and the firemer
| and residents kept constant watch for the hun
dreds Of small fires which continually
! breaking out.
The fire brigade Of the carpet works had a
| dozen streams Of water on the portions of the
works nearest Em-st. The same conditions ex-
| listed at the Otis Elevator Works This al
most half a milf away, but time and again II
| was threatened with destruction
| The fire will throw about eight hundred people
| cuf of work