New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-05-24
DEATH AND INJURY BY FIRE
AN EARLY MORNING BLAZE IN A WEST
TWENTY HOUSE.


TWO PERSONS KILLED AND THREE INJURED-A
PANIC AMONG THE TENANTS. MANY OF
WHOM HAD NARROW ESCAPES.
Fire started about 4 o'clock yesterday morn.
ing in the four-story and basement brownstone
building at No. 140 West Twenty thrd-st. which
Is occupied for both business and dwelling pur-
poses Two people were killed as the result OF
the blaze. three were injured. probably fatal
y. and several had narrow escapes from death.
The dead are:
died in St. v,ncents Hospital from surocation and
former ,unocated to death IN her room. roof
The injured are:
BowLEs. Mrs. MARY C., boarans-hou.e keeper At No.
2s Hols.s,. Boston. Mass, dangerously hurt 3
the NeS-York Hospital. '' VIC ''''N "'''' ''"'"
MACDONALD. Miss. slightly burned on the face: ~
niained at home.
PHELPS F. S.. slightly burned on face; remained q
In the basement OF the building which is prac.
tically on a level with the sidewalk, thus making
the structure five stories In height IS the restau-
rant OF Mrs Osborn an al-night eating house.
Of which Robert Mccoy Is the night manager.
The first floor Is occupied by the Weser Plano
Company. and the second. third and fourth floors
are conducted as furnished-room establishment
by Mrs. Minnie Curtis. who was assisted In the
care Of the house by Mrs Mossway, her sister.
who lost her life at the fire. On the second foor
Immediately over the warerooms of the plano
| company. the apartments Of Mrs. Curtis her
brother and Bert Lamont. and OF George Decker
and Samuel Reed guests. On the third floor lived
| Mr.. and Mrs F. A. Libbey, Mrs. Bowles. OF Bos-
| ton and G. W. Lee. who absent from the
| house at the time OF the nre The fourth top
floor was occupied by Mrs. Mossway and her
daughter Beatrice; Charles Black, F. s. Phelps,
Miss Macdonald, Messrs Martin and Smell. and
Miss May Wright who Is out OF the city at pres
| ent.
THE ALARM GIVEN.
| All Of the tenants In the house were asleep
when they aroused by cries Of fire and by
| the smell Of smoke, which had pervaded their
rooms. The first to learn Of the danger were Mr..
and Mrs Libbey. who were aroused by smoke
and gave the alarm.
Long before the firemen were able to reach the
| scene the entire building was filled with flames
within. The hallway from the first floor to the
roof was enveloped in fire. and all hope Of escape
by means OF the front door was cut of from the
moment the blaze was discovered. Nearly every
one In the place was helpless. save those who
were on the top floor and who were aroused soon
enough to climb the ladder to the roof and those
who were on the second floor In the rear and
were able TO make their way from windows to
the roof Of the extension over the rooms OF the
piano company. Panic seized almost everybody.
and that there were not more fatalities seems re.
markable.
The shouts Of Mr.. and Mrs Libbey aroused
nearly the entire neighborhood and especially
the tenants Of the house Immediately adjoining
on the west, No. 151. Among the tenants In that
house who were awakened were S. Sauvejunte, a
Frenchman, and Charles Schofed. The French
mans room on the third floor Of No. 151 in
direct line with the apartment OF Mr.. and Mrs.
Libbey. in the burning house. Mrs. Libbey be-
came crazed with fright. and had mounted the
sill Of her window preparatory to leaping to the
street when her husband caught her and held
her. She had already clambered half outside the
window. when Sauvejunte and Schofeld, In the
next house, shouted to her not to jump. for they
would save her. Scarcely knowing what she
was doing Mrs. Libbey permitted her husband
TO hold her out Of the window until she was
grasped by her rescuers who succeeded in swing
ing her into the room Of the next building. After
Mrs Libbey had been saved. Mr.. Libbey was
rescued in the same way
CLIMBED ALONG A LEDGE TO SAFETY.
Almost the same scenes were being enacted on
the second floor where Mrs Curtis. her lrother.
Bert Lamont and Messrs. Reed and Decker lived.
Mrs Curtis occupied the two rooms fronting the
street. while her brother had small apartment
Just back of Mrs. Curtiss rooms, the rooms OF
Reed and Decker being in the rear. Reed and
Decker made their way out OF their rooms easily
enough by stepping to the roof Of the extension
below But Mrs. Curtis and her brother had no
way of passing through the fame-filled hall, and,
like the Libbeys, were compelled 10 take 10 the
windows for relief AS a narrow ledge ran along
the front of the building TO the next house. Mrs.
ohie N na he
means into the adjoining house, into which she
was helped by her neighbors. Lamont followed.
He was crawling along, being assisted somewhat
by heavy sign which reached from one side OK
the house to the other, when the sign fell with
crash and almost precipitated him TO the street.
He managed however TO H Su'ch h the ,as Wlndow wt
was pulled through the window to place OF
safety.
The collapse OF the sign which had just missed
hurting Lamont to the ground was caused by the
body OF Mrs Bowles. VINO struck IL in her mad
lump from the window of her room on the floor
above This woman had hall room next 10 that
Of Mr. and Mrs. Libbey. on the third floor. She
was probably aroused from sleep at the same
time that the other occupants OF the house were.
II is supposed that she then opened her door and
seeing that the halls were impossible. neglected
10 close her door to the flames. which made their
way into her room in all their fury. Thinking
that death was certain IL she remained In her
room Mrs Bowles threw open her window and
Jumped. In falling she struck the sign. which
yielded to the shock and went crashing with her
10 the street She bounded from the sign TO the
railing Of the front steps. and then dropped IA
the area OF the building adjoining on the east.
While all these things were going on on the tive
lower living floors the widest sort OF panic
was taking place among the people on the top
floor Ii was in one Of the rooms on this hoor,
~ ,he rear. that Mrs Mossway lived with her
four year -old daughter. Beatrice. Nearly all o!
the rooms on the same floor were occupied by
other tenants. the apartments being on the four
sdas ~ a hall as Is common I'm such houses. Most
of the tenants were able to make their way ia
the roof by climbing ladder through the sky.
light although some Of them were compelled "a
nrone their way through smoke and flames. II
Was in this way that Miss Macdonald and Mr.
phelps were slightly burned.
PENT UP IN THEIR ROOM.