Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1898-02-11
AWFUL HOLOCAUST.
Six Brave Firemen Killed in
Falling Ruins.
Dead Chief Most Famous BOstOn
Fireman.-A Life of Peril.

u
Bent 4 Co. : bed and bedding factory. llG-l a
Merrimac street; the lve-Stury brick build
ing. ruined and the stock Il total loss. the
entire property damage amounting to
so. 900. This tells briefly the most
tragic story recorded in the annals
Of the fire department since the great con
iiagration of 1872. With single exception
there has been no loss of life approaching
this tragedy. numerically. for over Il quarter
OF century. This was at the Thanksgiving
day fire OF 1859, when five iremen were buried
i'll falling walls and killed. The men killed
in the fire which has just taken place were
District Chief John L. Egan, Capt. James Ii.
Victory, Lieut. George J J.Gottwald and Hose
men John j. Mulhern. Patrick ii. Dis
ken and W. J. Welch of Engine 1899. The
injured men are Lieutenant John j. Me
Carthy of Protective !. Capt. Joseph NJ. Gar
rity and HOSemen Thomas T.. CUurOy. Ed
ward A. Shea and Philip J. Doherty OF En-
gine I.
The building in which the fire occurred was
built and used first for church. Ii was uu-
officially al least condemned % years ago a.
unsafe. and has been as known an unsafe
building ever since. Various industries have
been prosecuted in it, its first use after its
abandonment as Il church being for "a ma
chine shop. Firemen are not pack ward in
saying now what they have always said that
former fires, damaged timbers have been
sheathed over, not replaced. and other de-
tails OF faulty construction are also cited
The building was never. however. formally
condemned but there was not sufficient fire at
this last time TO weaken to the danger point
building which was in proper condition.
The timbeTs imprisoning and crushing the
dead and dying fireman were not burned off
but had fallen as result Of structural weak.
ness in the building.
The fire broke out about four o clock in
the morning. and owing TO the terrible con-
dition of the streets the result Of the recent
storm. apparatus was slow in responding.
The fire apparently started in the rear Of the
fourth floor, which is used for the manuiac-
ture of mattresses. cushions, etc, and was
filled with Il most inflammable stock OF
goods. 1t was the work of an instant for
the flames to reach this floor. and when
the department arrived. the entire rear
of these two floors was a seething mass Of
flames, but on the front only small, curling
columns OF smoke from the windows were
visible. Lines Of hose were quickly carri Il
up the front stairway. and while ladders
were being raised, without the slightest
warning. the flames burst from the rear and
westerly end windows Of the building, illu-
minating the entire surroundings, aud Il
second alarm was at once rung in.
This sounded at 4.l3. followed three
minutes later by a third alarm. For an hour
and Il quarter the lire ragged with undated
Jury III the two upper stories, when al J.l5
O'Clock there came IA deafening crash fol-
lowed by a sheet of flame and smoke from
the lower stories of the building which drove
everybody from the front. The fifth
floor. loaded down with its immense
stock OF cotton excelsior and such material
that had absorbed the water poured in,
was unable to stand the tremendous strain
and had given way, carrying everything
before il, clear to the street below. with the
exception of the extreme front Of the build
ing. This was the time when the tiremen
who were killed and injured were carried
down with the falling mass. At the same
time Lieut.. Mccarthy of Protective l. who
was on the outside of the building was
struck 10y mass of falling brick. and 50
severely injured that he had to be carried
away. From this time on the streams that
the tlremen had been pouring into the build
ing began to show their effect, with the eX-
ceptiOn of the roof which was burning with
undated fury. 1t was nearly & o'clock be-
fore the iiremen, weakened by the heavy
drafts which had been made on their num-
bers. to rescue their injured companions.
had the fire under control and it was hours
afterward before the last vestges of the
flames had been eXtinguished.
Firemen worked heroically for their miss
ing comrades till n. m, supposing that
only the four they had rescued alive were in
the ruins. Then came the news that seven
others were missing and stevedore with all
his force and paraphernaIia was sent for.
Huge tackles pulled out in minutes huge
timbsrS which liremen would work hours
with saws and axes to remove. and all this
was carried on with timbers and debris
still falling and with the tottering
walls threatening at every moment to
crush the life from Il score of workers.
Willing hands dug through the mass
of debris, and at 10 o'clock the body of
Captain Victory was discovered beneath Il
mass OF excelsior. 1t was but the work of
few minutes to wrap the body in blankets
and place it on u stretcher. Father Finne-
gan of st. Mary's church at the North end
saw that Captain Victory was still alive and
he whispered few words to the dying fire
man. Captain Victory moved his head
slightly, but he was too far gone to under
stand what was said to him. The body was
placed in the police ambulance and was
hurried away TO the Massachusetts General
hospital, but the brave fellow died
before the institution was reached
No sooner had the ambulance con-
tanning Captain Victory departed than an
other body was taken ont, and everybody
recognized the familiar features of District
Chief Egan. The face of the brave and
daring chief was covered with scars, but he
was still breathing. The brave fireman, whose
hairbreadth escapes have been the frequent
theme ofthe citizens of Boston for manyyears,
was bleeding from several wounds about
the head and was in a limp anduncOnscious
condition. His mouth was stuffed with
feathers which had been strewn around, so
that even ii the great weight of the fallen
roof had not crushed him. it would have been
a miracle If he had escaped suffO2ation. The
body was found in Il sitting position. His
hands We're drawn up in front of his chest,
as if he had been lighting off the smothering
wet feathers until the last moment. As
he was lifted by three liremen and a
policeman it seemed to them that they
saw signs of consciousness in his face
His eyes We're partly open. From his
lips which we're cut, a small stream
of blood WAS flowing His face was
swollen and The Jaws set. A look of intense
agony was on his features, showing the aw-
full fight he had made for his life under the
increasing weight of the wet mass around
him. While the attempt was being made to
reach him he could be heard cheering the
searchers on. Chief Egans daughter and
son were among the crowd of spectators
when their beloved fathers body was taken
out. Taken to the outer air it was seen that
his life was fast ebbing away, and like his
brave cOadjutor he died before reaching the
hospital. Miss Egan cried Historically as
she witnessed the firemen placing her father
in the ambulance, and she was led away
from the scene by her brother. The bodies
of John ]. Mulhern aud Patrick Disken
were both found at the same time,
and Doth men were dead. But the
rescuers did not take any chances, but as
quickly as possible their bodies were re-
moved to the hospital. There were still
two men unaccounted for, Lieut.. Gottwald
and W. J. Welch. Che rescue work was
continued without let-cp of any kind, and
the flremen worked valiantly to secure the
bodies from beneath the ruins. The
search was rewarded A. 11.30, but both men
were dead.
All the men We're brave, some of them
notably 50, but none had the daring reckless
ness OF Chief Egan. His life was long
record of peril and accident and hospital