Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1898-03-17
ELEVEN BURN TO DEATH
A"Sila.e AceSult OF :, Fire in y uod.-
AHi' z1ouss ON the Dovery,
New York,

1>e" OTk, March 14.-Eleven men lost
'he'f lives IN the fire which swept
through the Howery Mission house at
loo l'o"ery early Sunday morning and
1elt IL blackened shell. Their bodies,
No" "C the morgue, are so charred that
nhosl ol them may never be recognized.
ne oead are supposed to be: Elias Cud-
oah' ~ years old, address not known;
John Fcran, Stapleton, Staten Island:
McDermott, 25 years old, address
unknoWn; James O'Rourke, ~ years old,
Fhlladelphia; William Sedan, IS years
old, Spottswood, N. j.; six bodies uni
Identified.
Ihe injured, all of whom will recover,
are: robert Ash1nan, As years old, bad
~ burned about the feet, at Gouveneur
hospital; Lieut.. Graham, fireman,
burned about the hands; George Will
son, p years old, burned about the face
and hands, at Gouverneur hospital.
No. 1o5 Bowery was one of the best
known lodging houses on that thor
oughfare. 1t was called the Bowery
Mission Lodging house and was con-
Quoted by the Christian Herald. In
the basement of the building there was
cheap restaurant, while the ground
hoor was used exclusively for mission
purposes, Gospel services having. been
helu there daily for several years. The
1our upper floors were fitted up as a
cheap lodging house with accommodate
ions for $50 males, who. paid Is, 20 or
40 cents each, according to the location
OF the rooms
Saturday night almost every bed was
occupied. At half-past one O'Clock
Sunday morning one of the dodgers dis
covered flames coming from wash
room on the third floor, but before he
had time TO alarm the house the fire was
noticed by rassers-by on the street.
5y this time the flames had eaten their
way to the top Of the building and were
bursting through the roof. When the
alarm was given and the inmates
aroused wild scene of excitement en-
sued' Many Of the dodgers ..hecamc
panic-stricken. They rushed into the
Railways and. fell over each other in
tier efforts to reach the street. Those
on. the. lower floors got to the street
safely by the stairWays, while those on
the upper floors CROPPED their way
through the binding smoke to the
metal fire escape in front of the build
ing. The majority of them only saved
.portions'of tteir:clothing while sew
eral OF them were naked. Those who
made their.Tay to the street by the fire
escapes were specifically burned by
the excessive heat of the iron ladders,
which in MANY places had become red
hot from the. flames within. ;
In the meantime three alarms of fire
had been sent in and in few minutes
the flremen were busy deluging the
building with torrents of water. THEW
mail Y succeeded in keep ping the fire
within the limits of the three uDDer
stories of the STRUCTURE,
After the fire had been extinpuished
sufficiently SO that search of the place
was possible, the police and firemen en-
tered the building and the work of
searching for the victims was begun.
Several bodies were found near the win
doWs on the two upper floors, where
they had been stricken down bv at
tempting to make their way to the fire
escapes. So many bodies were found
III the early stages of the search that it
was estimated that over 40 persons must
have been killed. However, the officers
fortunately overestimated the loss of
life and II bodies in all were found.
Some Of these were discovered in the
small rooms they had occupied, while
others were found in the Railways and
on the stairs of the fourth and fifth
floors. All of them were naked and
most of them were burned and charred
beyond recognition.
As soon as the bodies were carried TO
the street, they were transferred to the
police station and by half past four
o'clock a. M, the police relinquished
their search. Coroner yucca, after look
ing at the bodies at the station, gave a
permit for their removal to the hos
pital. Manager Sardonsen, of the Chris
ton Herald, who has direct charge of
the mission and the lodging house,
called at the Eldredge and at the sta
ton later and told the officer in charge
that he would bury the dead. The loss
on the building by fire is estimated at
81 900 and the contents'are damaged to
the extent Of 1000. Loss entirely cov-
cred by insurance. The building, which
belongs to the Chester estate, is leased
by the Bowery mission.
TO BE TAKEN TO ALASKA.