The leader., 1898-03-23
cHIcAGo's FIRE DISASTER.
A BIase Makes short work OF q Big
Buiidfng-scven Dead Bod
les Recovered.

Chicago. March 10. - Seven known
dead and nine missing is the record OF
tho Wabash avenue fire. The seventh
morning and was identified as that OF
w. j. Wilcox, partner of w. A. Ohm
sted. Three burned and mangled bod
les were on Thursday taken from the
ruins of Wednesdays fire. These were
Charles a. Price, cashier; Henry II.
Nelson, chemist, and Mrs. NJ. T.. Harris.
bookkeeper, all employed by the W. A.
Olmsted Scientific company. Three
bodies were recovered during the prog
ress OF the fire. They were: Edward
Einz, 2025 Prairie avenue; worked for
Sweet, Wallach G. Co.; Samuel A. Clark,
In the employ OF the w. A. Olmsted
Scientific company, and Miles Smith,
1856 Wrightwood avenue.
Chicago, March 17.-lt required just
20 minutes Wednesday for one of the
most savage fires Chicago has seen
since the famous cold-storagc ware
house fire of the worlds fair grounds
in 1893 TO take anywhere from five to
fifteen lives, main 30 people and re-
duce a six-story brick building TO pile
of blazing timber, rcd-hot bricks and
twisted iron. For n time the flames
threatened to consume the entire block
between Adams street and Jackson
boulevard, comprising the houses of
Lyon & Healy, the Butterick Publish
ing company, the Singer Sewing Ma
chine company, the Story Piano COM
pany, and the Steger Piano company.
The fire broke out in the building at 2l3-
2l5 Wabash avenue at II o'clock and
within IS minutes had gained such
Roadway that the course of the flames
could not be stayed, as far as that build
ing was concerned.
The building was six stories high, and
had frontage of So feet on Wabash ave-
nue., and extended back 100 feet to the
alley. The principal occupants of the
building we're: Conover Piano COM
pany, Presbyterian Board of Publication,
Sweet, Wallach e. Co., Photographic
supplies; Olmsted Scientific company,
school apparatus; National Music COM
pany, Emerson Piano company, Chi
cago Cottage Organ company, Alfred
l'eril, music publisher, and Alfred
Peats, wall paper. The building had two
elevator shafts, one in the front and
one in the rear, and reaching from the
third floor to the roof was light shaft,
which gave the flames a chance, and
ii was because of this shaft that the fire
spread with such awful rapidity.
:. 81
at work in the building when the fire
was discovered. The origin of the fire
is in dispute. BY some it is said to have
been caused by an explosion of collodion
in the wall paper warerooms of Alfred
Peats, on the third floor, and by others
to have been the result of an explosion
among some Photographic chemicals
in the Photographic supply house of
Sweet, Wallach & Co., on the sixth floor.
The sound of the explosion threw the
inmates of the building into panic,
and on the several floors wild STAN
pcde began for the stairways and Gle
vators. To add to the panic, the men
in charge of the elevators ran their cars
up to the top of the building shouting
flTe. Oh every lOOT. he elevator
men, however, were cool-headed, and
both made severS trips, carrying
number of frightened occupants to
safety.
Ten minutes after the explosion all
escape for the inmates by stairs and
elevators was cut off. There remained
only the windows and a single fire es-
cape, narrow iron thing not over IS
inches from SIDE to side. This was
speedily covered with a string of peo-
pie, some on one side, some on the other
Many of those who could not reach the
fire escape made their way TO the front
windows, and it was out of these that
Clark, Smith and Binz hurled them
selves to death.
The losses by the fire amounted to
$s20,000, according to the statements of
those interested last night. The total
insurance on the three buildings, 213
to 223 Wabash avenue, amounted to
$4OS,05O.