Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-03-14
ELEVEN LIVES LOST
In the Fire in New York Early Yes
terday Morning.
People Suffocated and Burned
While Trying to Make Their Way
to Windows on the Upper Floors.
Only One Body in Condition to be
Identified.


persisted BY fire il the Bowery Mis-
sion, at 105 gBowery, early this morn
ing. The bodies were recovered, but
so disfigured as to make identification
in most cases impossible The only
body positively identified is that of
John Foran, Of Stapleton, Staten ISL
and, machinist, % years old, which
was claimed by his two brothers. An
other body is thought to be that of
William McDermott, of Brooklyn, a
painter, 20 years old The register of
the lodging house does not aid in the
investigation, for Bowery dodgers as
often as not, register under assumed
names. Again, such dodgers are often
friendless and leave none to miss them
and search for them
A THOROUGH SEARCH
of the premises at No. leg Bowery,
which were partially destroyed by fire
at an early LCur this morning els
closed the fact that eleven persons
were burned III death At lirst il was
rumored that The loss of life was much
greater, but after searching the ruins
very carefully the Lolice and tiremen
discovered eltT,n ch2rred nod,ss ana
trn owed them to The me! que.
No. 103 Bowery IS one of The best
known lodging houses on 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 cheap
restaurant, while the ground floor is
used exclusively for mission purposes,
gospel services having been held there
daily for several years. The four up
per floors were fitted up as a cheap
lodging house, with accommodations
for $50 males, who paid Is, 20 or 25
cents each, according to the location
of the rooms.
Last night
ALMOST EVERY BED
was occupied
At half one o'clock this morning one
of the dodgers discovered flames com
ing from wash room on the third
floor, but before he had time to alarm
the house the fire was noticed by pass
ersby 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 siarm was given and the
inmates aroused, a Wild scene of eX-
element ensued. Many Of the dodgers
became panic stricken. They rushed
into the hall ways 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,
with those on the upper floors CROPPED
their way through
THE BINDING SMOKE
to the metal fire escape in front Of the
building. The majority Of them only
saved portions of their clothing, while
several of them were naked. Those
who made their way to the street by
the fire escapes were superficially
burned by the excessive heat of the
iron ladders, which in many places had
become red hot from the flames with
in
In the meantime three alarms of fire
had been sent in and in a few minutes
the firemen were busy deluging the
building with torrents of water. They
finally succeeded in keeping the fire
within the limits of the three upper
stories Of the structure. A large detail
of police was quickly summoned to the
scene in charge of Inspector Cross, and
the reserves were called from the four
teen down town precincts. This force
of officers had difficult work to keep
the vast crowds IN check as we'll as
helping to rescue the unfortunate lodg-
ers. Many of the
NAKED AND INJURED
were cared for by people in the vicin-
ity, and about fifty of them were &C
commodated at the Eldridge Street Po-
lice Station, some three blocks away.
Several of the most destitute were
brought to the station house in patrol
wagons, and on their arrival they were
partially clothed by members of the
force and kind-hearted neighbors.
After the fire had been extinguished
sufficiently so that a search of the place
was possible, the police and fremen
entered the building and the work of
searching for the victims begun. Sew
eral bodies were found near the win
dows on the upper floors, where they
had been stricken down in attempting
to make their way to the fire escapes.
So many bodies were found in the
early stages of the search that it was
estimated that over forty persons must
have been killed. However the Off
GERS fortunately over-estimated
THE LOSS OF LIFE
and eleven 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. 1t is thought by
the notice that only one of these bodies
will be eventually identified. This one
Il designated as number ten. 1t was
found in d room on the fifth floor. In
the room there was a satchel. and it is
thought that its contents may lead TO
the identification of the body. AS
soon as the bodies were carried TO the
street. they were transferred to the
notice station and BY half-past four
tbis morning the police relinquished
their seaeh. Coroner Zuca was sum
moned ana after looking the bodies N
The station house over. gave a permit
for their removal to the morgue-
Manager Sardison, Of the Christian
Herald. who has direct charge OF the
mission and lodging house. called at
The Fldridge Street Station later and
told the officer in charge that he would
BURY THE DEAD.
The loss on the building by fire is