The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-03-14
MISSION HOUSE FIRE
RESULTS IN ELEVEN BOWERY LODI
GERS BURNED TO DEATH.
Holocaust in a New York Resort
ers Go for Cheap Bunk.

NEW YORK, March 1s.-Eleven men lost
their lives in the fire which swept through
the Bowery Mission House, at No. f05 Bow
cry, early this morning, and left it a black
cned she'll Their bodies, now at the
morgue, are so charred that most of them
may never be recognized. The dead are
supposed to be:
ELIAS CUDDAH twenty-nine years old,
address not known.
JOHN FORAN, Stapleton, S. 1.
- MDERMOTT, twenty-five years old,
address unknown.
JAMES O'ROURKE, forty-two years old,
Philadelphia.
WILLIAM SEDAN. thirty-eight years
old. Spottswood, N. ].
SIX BODIES, unidentified.
The injured, all of whom will recover, are:
ROBERT ASHMAN, forty-eight years
old, badly burned about the feet; at Cow
eneur Hospital
LIEUTENANT GRAHAM, fireman,
burned about the hs DIS.
GEORGE WILSON. twenty-four years
Old, burned about the face and hands; at
Gouveneur Hospital.
A thorough search of the premises at los
Bowery, which were partially destroyed by
fire at an early hour this morning, dis
closed the fact that eleven persons were
burned to death. At first it was rumored
that the loss of life was much greater, but
after searching the ruins very carefully the
police and firemen discovered eleven
charred bodies and removed them to the
morgue.
No. los Eowery is one of the best-known
lodging houses on that thoroughfare. 1t is
called the Bowery Mission Lodging House,
and is conducted by the Christian Herald.
In the basement of the building there is a
cheap restaurant, while the ground floor is
used exclusively for mission purposes, gos-
pei services having been held there daily
for several years. The four upper floors
were fitted up as a cheap lodging house,
with accommodations for $50 males, who
paid 10, 20 or 25 cents each, according to the
location of the rooms. Last night almost
every bed was occupied. At half past
o'clock this morning one of the dodgers dis
covered flames coming from a Mushroom on
the third floor, but before he had time to
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 excitement
ensued. Many of the dodgers became 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 CROPPED their
way through the binding smoke to the
metal fire escape In front of the building.
The majority of them saved only portions
of their clothing, while several of them were
naked. Those who made their way 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 fire
men were busy deluging the building with
torrents of water. They finally succeeded
in keeping the fire within the limits of the
three upper stories. A large detail of pc
lice was quickly summoned to the scene in
charge of Inspector Cross, and the reserves
were called from the fourteen downtown
precincts. This force of officers had difficult
work to keep the vast crowd in check,
well as helping to rescue the unfortunate
dodgers. Many of the naked and injured
were cared for by people In the vicinity,
and about fifty of them were accommodated
at the Eldridge-street police station, three
blocks away. Several OF the most destitute
were brought to the station house in patrol
wagons, and on their arrival they were par
tally clothed by members of the force and
kind-hearted neighbors.
After the fire had been extinguished suffi-
GENTLY so that search of the place was
possible the police and f1remen entered the
building and the work Of searching for the
victims was begun. Several bodies were
found near the windows on the two upper
floors, where they had been stricken down
fire escapes. So many bodies were found in
the early stages of the search that 1t was
estimated that over forty persons must
have been killed. However, the officers
overestimated 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
police that only one of these bodies will
be eventually identified. This one is desig-
mated as No. TO- 1t was found in a room on
the fifth floor. In the same room there was
satchel, and it is thought that its con-
tents may lead to the identification of the
body. AS soon as the bodies were carried to
the street they were transferred to the po-
ace StdAiohs anu W sou o CLOCK this morn
ing the police relinauished their search.
Coroner yucca was summoned and after
looking over the bodies in the station house
gave a permit for their removal to the
morgue. Manager Sardison. OF the Chris
tan Herald. who has direct charge of the
mission and lodging house. called at 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 esti-