The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-03-17
FLOODED BY
FATAL FLAMES
CONTINUED from First Page

trying to catch A. e. Mccullough, who
jumped from third floor.
ANDREW NYSTRON, face and
hands burned.
A. J. NYSTRON, face, hands and legs
burned.
FRED SMITH, face and neck cut by
falling glass and head bruised by fall
ing brick.
JACOB KERCHIN. letter carrier.
jumped from second story; back injured
and ankle Sprained.
JOHN McDERMOTT, jumped from
second floor and dislocated left Shout
der.
JAMES W. WALL. pipeman, head
and back injured by falling wall.
KATE CARNEY. fOre-woman for the
National Music Company, face and head
burned in descending from the fourth
floor.
EDWARD ID. HILL employed by the
Presbyterian Publishing Company; Sc
vcrely burned about the face and neck.
The building was six stories high.
had a frontage of 80 feet on Wabash
avenue and extended back 160 feet TO
an alley. 1t was of what is known as
min construction, had two elevator
shafts, one in front, one in the rear,
and reaching from the third story to
the roof was Eight shaft which gave
the flames every chance. 1t was be-
cause of this shaft that the fire spread
with such rapidity. The building was
occupied by number of concerns, some
of them employing large numbers of
people 1t is estimated that 400 per-
sons were at work in the building
when the fire was discovered.
The origin of the fire is in dispute.
The weight of evidence seems to be
that was from an explosion in the lower
part of the building, for the flames shot
up the light shaft at once. The sound OF
the explosion threw the inmates of the
building into a panic and ON several
floors Il wild stampede began for the
stairways and elevators. To add to the
panic the men in charge of the elevators
ran their cars UP to the top of the
building shouting fire" at every floor.
When they reached the top both eleva-
tors took load of frightened women and
started for the bottom. The front ele-
vator was in charge of Harry Gleason, n
hoy, and the rear one was handled by
VIM. ST John. a young man. Both of
these kept their heads. showed much
GOODNESS and bravery and were instru-
III SuNAhe many 1tNtH'
Catherine Carney. the forewoman. of
the National Music Company. who was
thought to have been burned to death,
left the building by means of the fire
escape.
The elevator in front of the building
was deliberate affair, in good order,
but not calculated to produce speed.
Gleason made one trip to the seventh
floor. carried down a load of women, and
although the smoke was rolling through
the building in dense clouds, he started
1fp again. At the monrth floor he stopped
to take on a crowd of girls from the
rooms of the National Music Company.
After reaching the bottom with his
load of girls Gleason was about 10 start
up again when the supports of the ele-
yator machinery at the top of the shaft
caught fire and seeing that they would
give way before his slow elevator could
make another trip. he gave up.
At the rear st. John did equally good
work, but was not able to make more
than one trip as the fire swept through
that portion of the building before it at
tackled the front. In less than ten min
utes after the explosion that started the
fire all escape for the inmates by the
stairs and elevators was cut off. There
remained only the windows and the sin
gle fire escape, a narrow iron thing not
over IS inches from side to side.
This was speedily covered with a
string of people. 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 themselves to death.
Clark was book-keeper for the Ohm
stead Scientific Company, on the seventh
floor and remained to put the books in
the safe. He might have escaped had
he run upon the first alarm. He was
first seen at one of the seventh story
windows and q few minutes after show
ed himself in a window of the sixth
floor. The fire was close upon him, the
floors and walls behind him were
crashing down. and it was certain death
to remain where he was There was no
possibility of help and he took his only
chance. Three seconds later he was
de on the pavement below.
Miles A. Smith. a salesman. for the
Olmstead Scientific Company. also leaped
from q window in the sixth floor. He
hesitated some time before taking the
leap, but like Clark, understood that it
was his only hope. He was instantly
killed, his body being horribly man
gled.
Edward Binz, the cashier of Sweet,
Wallach and Company. on the sixth
floor, fell victim to his desire to save
others and to protect his books from
harm. He. upon hearing the alarm, ran
TO the rear of the store to warn the EN-
ployees to run for their lives.
lie then rushed back to his desk,
gathered his books and jammed them
into the vault Then he started for the
stairway. but the flames were ahead of
him. and he turned back. There was
nothing but the window. and to this
he went. He clambered upon the sill
and stood there in view Of the crowd
below Clark and Smith had already
bedaubed the pavement with their life
blood. The building was roaring mass
Of flames. and BINS face and hands
were badly burned before he jumped.
He pondered the matter, but few see
onds then his form shot downward
through the cloud Of fame and smoke.
and in the drawing of a breath he was
as lifelpSS as the stones over which his