The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-03-22
CHEATING The FLAMES
How Fire Laddie Hereof
Snatched Living Prey
FROM THE JAWS OF DEATH
Deeds of Surprising Moral
and Physical Majesty
FROM THE JAWS OF DEATH

The terrible fire in New York last Fri
day, the destruction of the Windsor hotel,
was more notable in it's harvest Of heroic
acts than any event of the half century.
Some Of the deeds Of daring, omitted from
the dispatches, but given in the New York
papers. are far too golden to be passed
over. They are given below:
This is the experiences of Edward Ford,
fireman, of Extension Truck No %, Mercer
street, who was the last fireman to leave
the hotel, bringing down the last person
rescued alive.
Ford told his story yesterday to a Jour
nal reporter at his station, though It was
only after repeated urging that he would
give the details Of the heroic part he
played.
Ford, who is thirty-five years old, has
been a member Of the fire department
for thirteen years. He is considered one
Of the ablest and most cool headed men
in the service. Up to five months ago he
had been continuously at the fire head
quarters on East Sixty-seventh street,
Will the eAJELl that s5AfC -AASN
TO the newer men in wall scaling and ex-
pert lfe-saving drills.
His knowledge Of mis- duties stood him
in good stead yesterday.
Il left here in the afternoon" he said,
cat about $3.50 on the Elevated to go home
for supper, and at Forty-second street saw
the smoke OF the fire. When we got to
FoFrty-sixth street I looked east and saw
that it was the Windsor hotel. got off
at Fiftieth street and ran as hard as I
could in that direction. When I got there
the hotel was seemingly ready to fall, and
smoke was pouring out of almost every
window.
'T pushed my way through the crowd
and was helping a hose company lay line
when two women cried out that there was
an old woman in room on the sixth story
.on the Fifth avenue side, near Forty-sev-
enth street. 1 looked there, but could not
see any one, and some one said that The
firemen had just let down two women, and
that the others had jumped. 1 saw the
man up there, but he was in the room to
the north Of where the woman was said to
be, and he could not tell whether there
was anyone in the next room or not
Somehow, though there was nothing to
prove my belief that there was some
one there, and started to go up. There
was a scaling ladder from the second floor
up to the room where the fireman was, and
so I took a thirty-five foot ladder and
placed it inside the hotel railing and start
ed up.
1T seemed but a second until reached
the top and found Fireman Bill Clarke
there. The room was half full Of smoke
and I could hear the fire cracking and
roaring against the door a sit raced along
the hall.
Thinking to get into the next room by
means of the hall, I threw myself against
the hall door and forced it open. A storm
Of flames and smoke belched into the room
almost suffolating me. I tried to force
the door closed, but che strength of my
attack had broken the hinges and it fell
into the flames. Seeing that 1t was impos-
sible to get into the hail, tried the win
dow.
Standing on the stone Intel Of the win
dow beneath, I grasped the woodwork with
my left hand and reached for the next
window, but could not make it. Putting
my feet firmly on the Intel on which I
vas standing, jumped for the other one.
1 caught the sill firmly, and drawing my
body up looked in There, sure enough, on
her knees, was woman. shouted and
sprang into the room. She turned and
with upturned face grasping my knees,
cried, Save me! For Gods sake, save
me" She was frightened half to death.
Il seized her and dragged her TO the
window and called for Clarke to help. The
walls already seemed to totter, and I knew
that we must do what we could quickly or
not at all.
"Clutching her firmly around the waist
with my left arm. climbed out and stood
on the Intel of the window below, holding
myself TO the building. Clarke was al
ready out OF the window and Reaching
toward me, but ne could not reach US.
The woman was afraid that I was going
! 70 let her fail and kept praying and shrek
/ ing for me 10 save her Al the same time
grasping anything she could reach and
/ greatly hampering my movements. At last
/ / shook her free from her hold on the win
/ dow sill and told her that if she fell /
would so with her.
she then became unconscious and re-
manned dead weight on my arm. In the
+ meantime, .he fire was eating along the
floor towaS the window. and the wood
| work on wlsch l was holding myself to the
build ng was commencing TO s1orch.
= shifted my hold and got another on
. top Of the Sill and dulked my head and
! shoulders below the sill and out Of range
/ o. tAe flames which we're already cam:ns
cat Of the window.
Lean over here, I called 70 Clarke. I
. can't mold any more" He eaanei as far
! as he could. h0i1iag with his Jeff and
/ ana -eaachins with his right. / lifted the
4 woman toward him with all my remaining
f strength and he seized her around tho
( waist. Then, for he is powerful man.
! he lifted her 20 the top ~ the ladder and
/ l jumped back 20 where had come from.
/ He then took her down and brought ber
. 70 the drug store. still unconscious. There
one Of the bell boys Of The hotel told me
: she was Mrs. Cho shou. and .hs- her
4 room was M. 81. She vas about fa--v-
/ I'VE years old and had stray hair. This
Vas the lass person taken trom the build
/ .nc.
/ a lew moments later the walls fen"
Just after the walls OF the o-d annex on
/ i2e t2rts'-Ss yeath strest side had faI.sn q
! stout woman, richly soRne5. rushed vp
. 10 the policeman III front 90 the Helen
F Gou-c's home and asked for news ~ Ny
H-Eoee, who Is "a retired army officer. and
+ was III III his room in ,ae hotel. Sbs
said Jhat she was SI-. Hisbee.s sister
that she had been down town ssoy.s7r
and had heard rlu-l-s--,- ~ .,-, II,