Omaha daily bee., 1898-03-14
ELEVEN LIVES ARE LOST
Crowded Lodging House in New York is
Burned.
FIRE OCCURS At AN EARLY MORNING HOUR
Calamity Comes Upon the
BOwcry Mission, which In Con-
Quoted by the Chris.
tiam Herald.

NEW YORK. March 13-Eleven men lost
their lives by a fire which swept through
the Bowery Mission house at 1O5 Bowery
early this morning and left 1t blackened
shell. 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, 20 years old, address
not known.
JOHN F. MORAN. Stapleton, s. I.
- M'DERMOT. rs years old, address un-
known.
JAMES O'ROURKE. AZ, Philadelphia.
WILLIAM SOUDAN, 3S. Pottsburg, N. j..
SEVEN BODIES, unidentified.
The injured, all of whom will recover,
are: Robert Ashman, 68 years old, badly
burned about feet, at Gouveneur hospital
Lieutenant Graham. fireman, burned about
the hands; George Wilson. "a years old.
burned about face and hands, at Gouveneur
hospital.
The property loss was $4,000.
There were $50 dodgers in the building
when the fire started and so rapidly did the
flames spread that many were unable to es-
cape.
At first 1t was rumored that the lo:s Of life
was much greater, but after searching the
ruins very carefully the police and firemen
discovered eleven charred bodies.
No. 105 Bowery is one Of the best known
lodging houses on that thoroughfare. 1t Is
called the Bowery Mission house and is con-
Quoted 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, gospel
services having been held there daily for sew
eral years. The fOur upper floors were fitted
up a cheap lodging house with accommo-
dations for $50 males, who paid 10, 20 or %
cents each, according to the location Of the
rooms. Last night almost every bed was
taken.
INMATES ARE AROUSED.
AT 1:30 this morning one Of the dodgers
discovered flames coming from wash room
ou the third floor. but before he had time
to rouse the dodgers the fire was noticed on
the street. BY this time the flames were
bursting through the roof, when an alarm
was given and the inmates aroused.
Many of the dodgers became panic stricken.
They rushed into the Railways and fell over
each other n their efforts to reach the
street. These on the lower floors got to the
street safely by the stairways, while those
On the upper floors groped their way through
the binding smoke to the mteal fire escape
iu front OF the building. The majority Of
them emily saved portions of their clothing,
while several Of them were naked.
Those who made their way to the street
by the fire escapes were superhcially
burned by the heat of the ladders, which
in many cases had become redhot.
In a few minutes the firemen were busy
deluglng the building with torrents of water.
They finally succeeded in keeping the fire
within the limits of the three upper stories.
large detail OF police was quickly
summoned to the scene in charge of In
spector Cross, and the reserves were called
from the downtown precincts This force OF
officers had difficult work to keep the vast
crowd in check as well as to help the un-
fortunate dodgers.
Many naked and injured were cared for
by people in the vicinity and about fifty
| OF them were accommodated at the Eldridge
police station, some three blocks away. Sew
eral of the most destitute were brought to
tho station house in patrol wagons and on
their arrival they were partially clothed by
memt ers OF the force and kind-hearted neigh
bors
After the fire had been extinguished suf-
fciently that a search was possible the po-
lice and fremen entered the building and
tho 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 in attempting
to make their way to the fire escapes.
ALL ARE NAKED.
So many bodies were found in the early
stages OF the search that 1t was thought
over forty must have been killed. How
ever, the officers fortunately 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 werd naked and most Of them were
burned and charred beyond recognition.
1t Is thought by the police that only one
Of these bodies will eventually be identified
This enc is designated as No. TO- 1t was
found in room on the fifth floor. In the
same room there was a satchel and 1t is
thought Its contents may lead to the identi-
fcation OF the body
AS soon as the bodies were carried to the
street they were transferred to the police
station and by 4:30 this morning the police
relinquished their search.
Coroner Zul1ka after looking at the bodies
at the station. gave a permit for their re-
moval.
Manager Sardonsen OF the Christian Her.
aid. who has direct charge of the mission
and the lodging house, called at the Ed
ridge station later and told the officer in
charge that he would bury the dead.
The loss on the building Is placed al
81. 900 and the contents damaged 5000; loss
entirely covered by insurance. The building
which belongs to the Chester estate. Is leased
by the Bowery mission.
John NJ. Wyburn. superintendent OF the