The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-14
LIVES LOST IN A LODGING.
ELEVEN PERSONS PERISH IN ~
FIRE IN THE DOwERY MISSION.

cupied ana Every LOdger Asteeps
Scene of wild Excitement FoI-
lows the Giving of the AIarm-A
Majority of the Inmates Save Only
Portion of Their Clothing and
Several Forced 10 Flee Naked.
New York. March 1s.-Eleven men loss
their lives In the fire which swept throug1
the Bowery mission house at los Bowery.
early this morning, and left 1t blackened
she'll. Their bodies. now at the morgue, arg
so charred that most of them may neveH
be recognized. The dead are supposed to
be:
Elias Cuddah, 20 years old. address nos
known.
John Foran. Stapleton, Staten Island. /
VIM. McDermott, % years old, address
unknown.
James o'Rourlse, 42 years old. PhIladels
phia.
William sodan IS years old. spottswooh
N. ],
Six bodies unidentified
The injured. all Of whom will recover
ares
Robert Ashman. As years old. badly
burned about the feet. at Gouverneur hos-
pital.
Lieut.. Graham, fireman. burned abous
the hands.
George Wilson, "a years old, burned
about the face and hands; at Gouverneur
hospital
No. 105 Bowery is one of the best knows
lodging houses on that thoroughfare IL
Is called the Bowery Mission lodging house
and Is conducted by the Christian Herald.
In the basement OF the building there is
cheap restaurant while the ground floor
Is used exclusively for mission purposes.
gospel services having been held there
daily for several years. The four upper
floors were fitted up as a cheap lodging
house. with accommodations for 150 maless
who paid Is. 20 and . cents each, accord-
ing to the location OF the rooms.
Last night almost every bed was occu-
pied. At 1870 o'clock this morning one of
the dodgers discovered flames coming fronx
a wash room on the third floor, but befors
he had time to alarm the house the fira
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 in
mates aroused, a scene OF wild excitemeat
ensued. Many of the dodgers became pan
ic-stricken. They rushed into the Railways
and fell over each other In their efforts
20 reach the street Those on the lowers
floors got to the street safely by the stair
ways while those on the upper fioors
groped their way through the binding
smoke TO the metal fire escape In frone
OF the building.
The majority of them saved only por-
tlons OF their clothing, while several of
them were naked
Those who made their way to the street
by the fire escapes were superfcially burn
ed by the excessive heat OF the iron lad-
ders, which, In many places, had becoma
red hot from the flames within
In the meantime, three alarms of fra
had been sent In and In a few minutes the
iiremen We're busy deluging the building
with torrents Of water. They finally auc-
ceeded In Keeping tho fire within the Inn
IFS of the three upper stories of the sff,c-
ture A large detail Of police was quic,sly
summoned to the scene In charge OF In
spector Cross, and the reserves were CALI
ed from the fourteen downtown precincts.
This force of officers had difficult worlr
TO keep the vast crowds In check. as wen
as helping TO rescue the unfortunate lode-
ers Many Of the naked and injured were
cared for by people In the vicinity. ana
about fifty of them were accommodates
at the Eldridge street police station. some
three blocks away. Several OF the most
destitute were brought TO the station house
In patrol wagons, and on their arrival
there were partially clothed by members
OF the force and klnd-hearted neighbors.
After the fire had been subdued suffici-
emily that a search OF the place was pos
sible, the police and firemen entered tha
building and the work OF searching for
the victims was begun
Several bodies were found near the win
dows on the two upper floors, where tl.cu
had been stricken down in attempting 10
make their way to the fire escapes
SO many bodies were found In the enrlu
stages Ia the search that Il was estimated
that over forty persons must have been
killed. However, the officers fortunatelv
over-estimated 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 Il.
fourth and fifth floors.
All of them we're naked and most of
them were burned and charred beyond
recognition.
As soon as the bodies were carried to
the street they were transferred TO The po-
lice station and by 43O O'Clock this morn-
ing the police relinquished their search.
Coroner yucca was summoned and after
looking al the bodies in the station house
gave permit for their removal to the
morgue.
Manager zartichan of the Christian
Herald, who has Girect charge of the mis-
sion and lodging house, called at the FL
%ttNeH 'NA~fe nNAA4Vh AittI anu tOlU the Oh
ficer In charge that he would bury the
dead.
The loss on the building by fire is esfi-
mated at $500 and the contents are dam-
aged to the extent OF $500. The loss Is en-
trely covered by insurance. The building,
which belongs to the Chester estate, IL
leased by the Bowery Mission.
John n. Wyburn superintendent of the
Bowery Mission, under whose direction
the lodging house was conducted said to-
day:
"On investigation l found to my satls-
faction that the fire originated Ia the Law
atory on the third floor, and was probably
caused by lighted cigarette thrown carr
lessly among a lot of papers 1t is strict
ly against the rules of the house to
smoke in the building but it is known to
be the habit of many of the lodgers to do
so, and on account Of this the night clerk
is supposed to inspect the lavatory every
hour. and he made an inspection shortly
before the fire was discovered. There Were
1fr narnaa of1 tha hnfal raxrfofo. lea ~t.-t.