The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-15

force OF employees on the island. Tho Govern
ment maintains q fire service on the island that
it has always boon said was wholly inadequate
This fact seemed to have boon proved vory
quickly last night.
At 1850 o'clock the Ellis Island ferryboat
John G. Carlisle steamed up to the Battery from
the island. She had q load of immigrants, and in
addition all the sick patients from the hospital
on tho island.
AS the boat got up to Der pier the crowd In tho
park made a rush for her. The police charged
on the crowd and fought their way to the boat,
the officers OF the boat standing on the upper
dock screaming:
We've got smallpox patients aboard Go
back: 60 backi'
Tho crowd took up the cry Of smallpox" and
got back.
These officers said that 90 far as they knew
there had been no loss Of life on the island.
The Cariislo's passengers were unloaded, tho
sick ones being taken OF in stretchers and car
ried into the Barge Office.
Tho patients were accompanied by all tho
nurses who are employed at Ellis Island and by
Mrs. White, the wife Of the resident physician.
Tho excitement around tho Battery Park was
such that the police on duty there had their
hands full managing the crowd.
Mrs. White said to The Sun reporter that
when she boarded the boat she had not heard of
any one being injured. and she thought that all
OF the immigrants got out OF the buildings safe
ly, though some of them may have been scorched
q bit.
One OF the officers OF the boat said that the fire
OriUfnatad In ona nf tho tnwara nm Tho main
immigrant building. At tho time it started all
the immigrants were asleep and most OF the en-
ployeos, thore being only a few watchmen on
duty.
The w~atchmen. OF course, sounded the
alarms to wake up the sleeping ones be-
fore they did anything coward fighting
the fire, and in that way 1t got such great
Roadway that by the time they could turn
their attention TO 1t it was sweeping through the
ramshackle building and was utterly beyond
control Of anything in the shape of water less
than q deluge.
This officer said that he had not had time to
learn whether any one had been injured or
whether any lives had been lost, he was so busy
getting the panic-stricken ones, or as many as
he could get of them. aboard the boat.
Within q few minutes after the unloading of
the C~arlisle's passengers the police had sent
hurry calls to Hudson Street, the Gouverneur.
and Bellevue Hospitals, and in a few minutes
the first Of the ambulances arrived.
The patients who were in the weakest condi-
ton were taken away first.
! The one most seriously Ill had typhoid. There
were none suffering from Contagious diseases.
so far as could be learned. and tho, doctors said
they thought 1t best to take theq1kAl to Belle.
vue. Hudson street and GouveylGar being pure.
y emergency hospitals, intsndSa1o care for per.
sons accidentally hurt. ~
II taken to either one Il Would be necessary
finally to remove them To Bellevue. and BY
taking them directly there Q transfer would be
saved, and the dangers incident to exposure
would be avoided.
Mrs. PETER. the head nurse at the hospital or
the island, was in charge Of twenty patients on
the lower deck on the Carlisle.
They were most of them women. She said
that they were driven out of the hospital by the
heat. They heard no alarm OF fre ant
they saw no light. but suddenly the
walls of the building began to ge,
hot and to crackle. Then they looked out ant
saw the flames shooting out from the inspection
building, which IL the main building. TheI
called for help and got about o dozen men to as
sist them in getting the patients out.
When tho boat left all the buildings were oil
fire. All the buildings, she said, were franz
except two or three old ones that had been Their,
III IL q "oo do Ol Eou
station.
Ono of the passengers on the boat was Nigh
Waterman Christiansen, who was on duty at tn,
inspection building when the fire started, ant
was first to discover 1t.
1t was his custom 10 20 through the building
every full hour. and his partner, Thomas Wall
went through on the half houra- The partne
was over in the detention building, where tn
big crowd of immigrants was asleep. and Chris
tiansen was at the lower end of the inspection
building.
The first he knew Of tho fire was when b
smell smoke. It got thick about him in
minute. and 1t was thicker just beyon,
him toward the western end of the building
He saw no fire for a moment. Then he saw 1
northwest corner flames shooting out in ever
direction. He knew that six men who were en-
ployed in the restaurant slept In that part Of tn
building that was burning. He yelled "Fire!" a
loud as no could and then dashed into the d.
tention building screaming for Wall. He an
Wall rushed up TO the room where these 81
were sleeping, yelling at the top Of their lung
They saw three of the men.
The three were dazed and almost suffocateC
He and Wall grabbed them. and they made
rush for tho stairway and the open air. Th
smoke was 90 thick about them that they eoul
hardly see. and they fell down the stairs, sho,
ing the three men along with them.
Christensen said he did not know anythin
about the other three. II they got out at q
they must have got out before he and Wa
reached the room.
1t was some minutes after their fall dow
stairs that the watchmen recovered sufficient
to do anything toward awakening the oths
sleepers on the island.
When they did they rushed into the ds.entio
room. tumbling the men and women out OF DC
aud yelIinO 1ro nj them. II WaA the work
some time to get them up. and then many
them were so scared they were almost he!pies
and had to be literally thrown out.
50 far az the watchmen know there was nor
l seriously injured in the scramble, hut they wei
not certain about this.
!. Al this time there were severa! tugboat
!, which appeared TO be crowded with peopl
: coming toward the shore: and there were sti
hundreds heading out toward the island. IL
Government boats had all gone there.
1 The lire was burning Almost % brightly as