The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-07-14
FATAL FIRE AT RACINE
THREE ARE DEAD AND MANY ARE
~
INJURED


of the Racine Malleable and
Wrought Iron Company and
Spread So Rapidly That One Hum
dred Persons In a the Building
Were Caught In Trap.
RACINE, Wis, July ia fire late
this afternoon completely destroyed the
large three-story structure of the RAJ
cine Malleable and Wrought Iron COM
pany, resulting in pecuniary loss of
100000, together with three lives and
serious injury to a score or more of
others.
The dead as far as known are as
follows:
JOHN KEEFE.
GUS KENNETSKI
UNIDENTIFIED BODY. supposed to be
Adelbert Hollister
THE INJURED.
James Dunleavy, both legs broken; Chris
Poulson. dangerously hurt Internally; George
thought to be fatal; Fred Potts, arm broken
in three places; John Sigwart hurt inter-
nally; John McNab, badly hurt; John Gal
broken; John James, both legs broken: George
White. injured internally; Albert Miller. leg
broken
Many others who were injured were
taken to their homes and the names
are not obtainable.
The fire started in the varnish room
and so light was the blaze in the room
at first that the men did not give the
alarm at once, thinking they could ex-
tingufsh it. All of a sudden the flames
leaped out into an adjoining room and
| flames enveloped the whole building. in
which were imprisoned one hundred
men.
Those on the ground floor had no
trouble in escaping and most Of the
men on the second floor got out without
receiving any injury.eo
The workmen on the third floor were
practically caught in trap. So sud-
denly did the flames reach them that
several were blinded or suffocated bv
the smoke before, help could reach
them.
Though the fire company was but a.
block away, the building was a mass
of flames before the department ar
rived. Z II
Many of the workmen appeared In
windows crying for help, while others
Jumped to the street below, receiving
fatal or serious injuries
Gustave Corrizik,, a 1machinist. who
was working on the second floor when
the fire started, said: "When we heard
the cry of fire We all started to Law
the hose to try toy put out the flames
but the fire seemed to burst out from
everywhere in an instant, and all the
men rushed for the windows and Jump
ed out
The firemen could do nothing except
to prevent the spreading of the flames
to other buildings
There was an insurance Of $50, 900 on
the building. Two hundred men will
be thrown out of employment. The
plant will be rebuilt =H
MISSING ACCOUNTED FOR.
At late hour tonight nearly all of
the missing have been accounted for
and the only dead and injured known
are those whose names are given above.
The fire was the worst experienced
by Racine in many years. The scene
was a fearful one. The screaming of
relatives Of the endangered workmen
was pftiful. iis'' .
The first man to leap from the third
story was John Keefe, and he was so
badly hurt that he died in ten minutes.
Gustav Kennetski, hunchback, was
the second, and his neck was broken
in the presence of 5000 Mortified peo-
pie. t4i
James Dunleayy leaped from the Sec
ond story, and both of his legs were
broken.
Chris Poulson jumped from the Sec
ond floor, and one leg was broken and
he sustained internal injuries.
Then George Case was seen to come
headlong out Of the second floor He
struck telephone wire, and fell to
the walk badly injured.
Albert Miller leaped and the crowd
tried to catch him, but his leg was
broken in the fall.
John Carlin, an old man, was dropped
from the second floor by younger men
and luckily he was not hurt.
Dozens of men and boys were seen
flying through space on every side Of
the building. Some lay still after they
struck the ground, and many had to
be carried away. Others who jumped
escaped with bruises and were appar-
emily unhurt
All of this time! flames were bursting
from the windows and doors and the
women were seen1to approach the east
windows and then fall back, no doubt
| to their DEATH
Dwelling houses and other buildings
on opposite sides of the street caught
| fire, and barn three blocks away
| caught from sparks and burned
| 1t took the firemen two hours to get
| control of the blaze, and the immense
plant was pile of wreckage.
John keefe, who was killed, was f1t-
| ty-one years of age, married and leaves
| seven children.
Gustav Kennetski was single, aged
| tWenty-One.
| John HOLSTER, supposed to be dead,
| was single.