The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1898-03-14
ELEVEN LODGERS DEAD
As the Result of Fire in a New
York Lodging House.
BODIES TERRIBLY DIsFIGURBD.

BILE For Life Many Escaped TO the
Street Naked.
New York. March 14.-Eleven men
perlshed by fire in the Bowery Mis-
sion. at 1O5 Bowery, early yesterday
morning. The bodies were recovered
but so disfgured as to make identih-
cation in most cases impossible. The
only body positively identified is that
of John Foran, of Stapleton, Staten
Island, a machinist 2S years of age
which was claimed by his two broth
ers. Another body is thought to bo
that of William McDermott, of Brook.
lyn, a painter, 2S years old. The reg
lister of the lodging house does not aid
in the investigation, for Bowery lodg-
ers as often as not register under as
sumed names. Again, such dodgers are
often friendless, and leave none to miss
them and search for them. Others
are supposed to be: Elias Cuddah, %
years old, address not known; James
O'Rourke, aged AZ, Philadelphia; Will
lam Sedan, 3S, Spottswood, N. j.; six
bodies unidentified.
The injured, all of whom will re-
cover, are Robert Ashman, aged As,
badly burned about the feet; Lieuten-
ant Graham, fireman, burned about
the hands; George Wilson, "a, burned
about the face and hands.
A thorough search Of the premises
disclosed the fact that II persons were
burned to death. At first it was ru-
mored that the loss of life was much
greater, but after searching the ruins
covered II charred bodies and removed
them to the morEue.
No. los Bowery is one of the best
known lodging houses of that thor
oughfare. 1t is called the Bowery Mis-
sion lodging house, and is conducted
by The Christian Herald. In the base
ment of the building there is a chear
restaurant while the. ground floor is
used exclusively for mission purposes
Gospel services having been held there
daily for several wears. The four upper
floors are fitted as a cheap lodging
house, with acCOl odations for 15C
men, who pay Is, 20 and 25 cents, ac-
cording to the location of the rooms.
Saturday night almost every bed was
occupied. At 1870 yesterday morning
one of the dodgers discovered flames
coming from the wash room on the
third floor but before he had time tC
alarm the house the fire was noticed
by passers by on the street. By 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 a wild scene Of excite
ment ensued. Many Of the dodgers be-
came panic stricken. They rushed into
the Railways and fell over each other
in their efforts to reach the street
Those on the lower floors got to the
street safely by the stairways, while
those on the upper floors groped theil
way through the binding smoke tc
the metal fire ESCAPES in front of the
building. The majority of them saved
only portions of their clothing, anC
several of them were naked.
In the meantime three alarms of fire
had been sent in, and in a few min
utes the firemen were busy delugine
the building with water. They sue
ceeded in confining the fire to the
three upper stories of the structure
Many of the naked and injured were
cared for by the people in the vicinity
and about so of them were accommo-
dated at the Everett street police sta
ton, some three blocks away
Several of the most destitute were
brought to the station house in patro
wagons, and on their arrival there were
partially clothed by members Of the
force and kind hearted neighbors.
After the fire had been extinguished
sufficiently that search of the place
was possible the police and fremer
entered the building and the search fol
victims was begun. Several bodie.
were found near the windows on the
the two upper floors, where they haC
been stricken down while attempting
to make their way to the fire escapes
Some 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 baked, and most OF
them were burned and charred beyond
recognition.
Manager Sardison, of The Christian
Herald, who has direct charge of the
mission and lodging house, called al
the Eldridge street station later and
told the officer in charge that he would
bury the dead.
The loss on the building by fire is
estimated at $1,000, and the contents
were damaged to the extent of $4,000
more.
John N. Wyburn, superintendent OF
the Bowery Mission, said today:
when l arrived at the scene of the
fire the firemen had it under control
and the police were removing the dead
bodies. 1 started at once to ascertain
the cause and the exact place where
the fire started. 1 found to my sat
isfaction that 1t originated in the lava
tory on the third floor and was prob
ably caused by a lighted cirarette
thrown carelessly among a lot of pa
pers. 1t is strictly against the rules
of the house to smoke in the build
ing, but it is known to be the habit of
many of the dodgers to do so, and on
account of this the night clerk is sup
posed to inspect the laVatory every
hour and he made an inspection short
ly before the fire was discovered. There
were 165 names on the hotel register
Saturday night. Two-thirds Of them
were sleeping on the third and fifth
floors. Nine of the bodies were found
lying in the beds, and it is supposed
that some Of the men never woke from