The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-03-17
A CHICAGO HOLOCAUST.
Terrible Conaagration in a Crowded
Manufacturing Building.
PROBABLY TWENTY LIVES LOST.
Tho Fire Developed n Heroine In Miss
Katharine Carney, Who Aided tho
Girls Under Her Charge to Escape at
the Risk of Her Own Life.

Katharine Carney, Who Aided tho
Girls Under Her Charge to Escape ut
the Risk of Her Own Life.
Chicago, March 17.-It required just
20 minutes yesterday afternoon for one
of the most savage fires Chicago has
seen since the famous cold storage
warehouse fire on the Worlds fair
grounds in 1893 to take from Is to 30
lives, MAIN 80 people and reduce a
six story brick building to a pile of
blazing timber, red hot bricks and
twisted iron. The number of dead is
still in doubt.
Three men are known to be dead.
They are: Samuel A. Clark. book
keeper for the Olmestead Scientific
company; Miles A. Smith. salesman
for the Olmstead Scientific company;
Edward Bnz. cashier for Sweet Wal
lach & Co.
The three known dead were cut off
from escape by the flames, and to save
themselves from death by flame they
jumped from the sixth story to the
sidewalk, their bodies being terribly
crushed. Clark and Binz remained to
put their books in the safe.
The missing, of whom nothing has
been learned, and most of whom are
without question in the wreck of the
building, are:
w. A. Olmstead, president of the w.
A. Olmstead Scientific company; C. H.
Arms, secretary of the same COM
pany; Mrs. M. f. Harris. widow, AZ
years of age, bookkeeper for the same
company; C. T. Anderson. employed by
Sweet, Wallach &; Co.; W. w. Hill, as
sistant in Office Of Presbyterian Board
of Publication: Tony -, an office
boy; Fred Hamill, vaudeville singer,
employed by the National Music COM
pany: c. A. Price. cashier; Solomon
Grottman, agent Solomon Grottman,
Sr.; Anna Guest, cashier; W. r Nelson.
worked for Olmstead Scientific COM
pany; William Marvin, shipping clerk
for Presbyterian Board Of Publication;
William Boss, errand boy; w. ]. Will
cox, partner of w. A. Olmstead.
The building was six stories high,
had frontage of IS feet on Wabash
avenue and extended back 1G0 feet to
an alley. 1t was of what Is known as
mill construction, had two elevator
shafts, one in front, one in the rear,
and reaching from the third story to
THE roof was light shaft, which gave
the flames every chance, and it was
because Of this shaft that the fire
spread with such awful rapidity. The
building was occupied by number of
concerns, some employing large num-
befs of people. 1t Is estimated that 400
persons were at work in the building
when the fire was discovered.
The origin of the fire Is in dispute.
BY some 1t is said to have been caused
by an explosion of colOdion in the
wall paper Warerooms of Alfred Peats,
on the third floor and by others to
have been the result of an explosion
among some photogra phic chemicals in
the Photographic supply house of
Sweet, Wallach & Co., on the sixth
floor. Employees of both concerns deny
that there was any explosion in their
vicinity. The weight of evidence seems
to be- however, that the explosion was
in the lower part Of the building.
The sound of the explosion threw
the inmates of the building into
panic. and on several floors a wild
stampede for the stairways and eIe-
Vators began. To add to the panic
the men In charge Of the elevators
ran their cars up to the top of the
building, shouting fire at every floor.
When they reached the top both ele-
vators took on load of frightened
women and started for the bottom.
The front elevator was In charge of
Harry Gleason, boy, and that in the
rear was handled by William st. John,
young man. Both of these kept their
heads, showed much coolness and
bravery, and were instrumental in saw
ing many lives.
The elevator in the front of the
building was in good order, but not
calculated TO produce much speed in
such an emergency as confronted 1t
yesterday. Gleason made one trip to
the seventh floor. carrying down a load
of women, and although the smoke was
rolling through the building in dense
clouds he started up again. At the
fourth floor he stopped to take on a
crowd Of girls from the rooms Of the
National Music company, being assist
ed in his work by Miss Katherine Car
ney the foreWoman. A man attempted
to force his way into the elevator. but
Gleason showed him back into the hall,
that the women might have the first
chance. The man never came out.
Miss Carney was true heroine. AL
though at the outset she had an op-
portunity to escape with the other
women. she seemed to feel 1t her duty
TO stay and help the escape of the girls
over whom she had charge. Her voice
could be heard above the shrieis of the
panic stricken girls. advising them to
preserve order and reassuring them
again and again. She stood near the
stairway, and attempted to seize the
foremost women as they dashed down
to the next floor, but she was thrown
aside.
When she saw there was no hope of
stopping the panic she darted to the
eeva tor cage to calm the others. As
the elevator assembled Miss Carney or
dere1 the conductor to stop She then
turned and helped her frightened
charges into the cage. During all the
excitement she rem1, med calm, and is
sued orders as though directing the
women at work. As the elevator start
ed to descend without Miss Carney one
Of the girls cried to the conductor to
stop. but the brave woman, though
staring death in the face, shouted for
them not to mind her. that she would
take care OF herself. With remarkable
coolness she made her way to an ele-
vator and thence to the street The
brave woman is seriously burned about
the face and head. She modestly dis
claims the title Of heroine. hut proudly
declares: IAN my girls escapad alive"
This girls Miss Carney sent down in
the elevator escaped unharmed. Two
Of those who boltsd headlong down the
narrow stairway, Josie and Annie
Baxa, made their way to the second
floor. but were cut off by the flames
ms, fot.nad tk Inn a.,