Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-03-14
Disastrous Fire in Bowery
Lodging House.
LoDGERs PANIC STRICKEN
Some Made Their Way Down
Hot Fire Escapes.
The Place Was One of the Best Known
of the Cheap Establishments of Its
Kind in Lower New York.

New York. March 13.-A thorough
search of the premises at 105 Bowery,
which was partially destroyed by fire
at an early hour this morning, dis
closed the fact that II persons had been
burned to DEATH At first it was ru-
mored that the loss of life was much
greater, but after searching the ruins
very carefully, the police and firemen
, discovered II charred bodies and re-
moved them to the morgue.
In so far as the process OF identihca-
/, ton has been completed, the men who
lost their lives were: Cuddah, 20 years
old, address not known; John Foran,
Stapleton, s. l.; McDermott, 25 years
old, address unknown; James O'Rourke,
AZ years old, Philadelphia; William So
dan, SS years old, Spottswood. N. j.;
six bodies unidentified
Injured: Robert Ashman, As years old,
badly burned about the feet; Lieut..
Graham, fireman, burned about the
hands; George Wilson, "a years old,
burned about the face and hands. All
of the injured will recover.
Number los Bowery was one of the
best known lodging houses in that
thoroughfare 1t was called the Bowery
Mission lodging house and was conduct
ed by the Christian Herald. In the
basement of the building there was a
cheap restaurant, while on the ground
floor gospel services had been held daily
for several years.
The four upper floors were fitted up as
a cheap lodging house, with accommo-
dations for $50 males.
Last night almost every bed was oc-
cupied At half past / o'clock this
morning, one of the dodgers discovered
flames coming from wash room 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 BURST
ing through the roof
When the alarm was given and the
inmates aroused, a wild scene Of ex-
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 made their
way to the street safely oy' the stair
ways while those on the upper floors
groped through the binding smoke to
tine metal fire escapes in front of the
L
saved portions Of their clothing. Those
who made their way to the street by the
fire escapes were burned by the excess
i've 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 beer sent in,
and in a few minutes the firemen were
busy deluging the building with torrents
of water They succeeded in keeping
81 ~ A1,,
upper stories of the structure.
A large detail of police was quickly
summoned to the scene in charge of In
spector Cross, and the reserves were
called from the IA downtown precincts.
This force Of officers had difficult work
to keep the vast crowd in check as
well as helping to rescue the unfortun-
ate lodgers. Many of the injured were
cared for by the people in the vicinity,
and about 30 of them were accommodate
ed at the Everett street police station,
three blocks away
Several of the most destitute persons
were brought to the station house in
patrol 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 the police and f1remen en-
tered the building and the work of
II.
Several bodies were found near the win
dows on the two upper floors, where they
had been stricken down while attempt
ing to make their way to the fire es-
capes.
So many bodies were found in the ear
ly stages of the search that 1t was esti-
mated that over 40 persons must have
been killed. However, the officers over
estimated the loss of life, ard eleven
bodies in all were found Most of these
were discovered in the small rooms they
had occupied, while one er two We're
found in the Railways. All Of them were
naked, and most cf them were burned
and charred beyond recognition.
As soon as the bodies were
carried to the street, they We're trans
ferred to the police station and by
o'clock this morning the police relin-
quished their search. Coroner yucca
was summoned, and after looking at the
bodies In the station house gave per-
init for their removal to the unorgue
Manager Sardison, Of the Christian