New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-11
HURT BY EXPLODING GAS
SIX PERSONS INJURED IN A BROOME-sT.
TENEMENT-HOUSE.
FURNITURE DESTROYED BY THE FORCE
OF THE EXPLOSION AND THE TEN
ANTS TERRoR-sTRICKEN - FIRE
THAT FOLLOWS SOON
EXTINGUISHED.

EXTINGUISHED.
Six people were injured early last evening
by the explosion of gas in the basement Of the
four-story tenement-house No. 261 Broome-st
between Allen and Orchard sts None OF the
injured persons were seriously hurt, and 1t was
found necessary to remove only two to hospi-
tai Following those who were injured:
BRAININ Yetta three years old of No 2si Broomest;
right hand cut by glass.
DENISON. Isaac. home unknown cut with razor
LETDEN Isaac twentyone old. OF No ls5 Riving-
ton-st.; head cut by flying glass
L1PscHrTZ seelig years old Of No 2es Broome-
both In right leg fractured taken TO Gouver-
neur Hospital.
RANT fss fFy yss' aeS S4 p of No. %
WAITER. Mrs. Theresa. nfty,one years old. OF No 81
Orchard ST. hands and head cut by glass; removed to
Gouverneur Hospital
The neighborhood Of Broome and Orchard
sts one Of the most crowded sections Of the
city, was alive with people young and old, at
7:10 o'clock last evening, when the community
for blocks around was startled by the sound Of
an explosion. Those who were at Broome and
Orchard SITS. saw smoke and flames burst from
doors and windows Of Nos 250 and POI Broome
St. and saw the air filled with flying glass and
furniture which had been broken into splinters.
There commotion and uproar In an In
slant, and men. women and children shouted in
fear and fled in all directions. Patrolman Ryan.
Of the Eldridge-st. station. was the first to re-
cover his senses. and he sent In fire alarm
from the box at Broome and Allen sts.. one
block to the westward.
In the mean time the tenants Of the two
buildings which four stories In height.
nocked to the windows and to the fre-escapes.
| They screamed and cried for help. and some Of
them were on the point OF jumping to the street,
but the police, who were quickly on hand, re-
strained them and helped some Of them down
a ladder which was procured while others
caught one or two children in their arms as
they were dropped by their panc-stricken
parents.
Firemen were on the spot from the house Of
| Company No. II, close by. almost as soon as
the police were. The staircase in No. 26l the
building most threatened. had been torn away
! by the force Of the explosion. and the firemen
| hosted scaling ladders and carried down the
! frantic tenants These men from Company NO
! II did most Of the rescue work: James j.
| Cusick and James Fallon, who helped an OLD
man named Markowitz from the fourth floor to
! the street although the old man, crazed with
| fright sought to get away from his rescuers
at the second floor when burst or name came
from below: John Duffy and Charles kocn'
| After the last man had been taken down ana IL
was certain that women or children were
left in the house the work OF putting out the
flames. which had followed the explosion was
undertaken in earnest, and the blaze was soon
under control
The street in front Of the burning building
from house. line TO house line. was filled with
mass of broken glass and OF battered FURNITURE
The force Of the explosion was so great that II
blew out a big plateglass window In the estao-
lishment of Marks Roffman. opposite Inc eX-
citement was heightened by the noise OF severai
ambulances which reached the spot IN rapiu
succession, In answer to the police calls for as
sistance But the surgeons found that they had
not much work to do beyond bandaging few
wounds.
CAIrSE NOT DEFINITELY KNOWN.
The cause of the explosion is not dehniteiy
known but was the direct result OF change OF
| gas companies to serve the houses lnVolVeu
Nos. 259 and 261 Broome-st., together with NOS
81 and 81 Orchard-st., adjoining the saloon at
the corner are leased by Abraham Harris the
saloonkeeper For the last three months Harris
had used the gas of the New-Amsterdah uas
Company in the house in which his saloon IS
situated No. 80 on May l Harris leased NO
o61 Broome-st and the two Orchard-st houses
He wished to have all Of his buildings use the
sar,o ,os and he contracted to have the New
Amsterdam meters put in the other three
| houses.
Eight days ago the plumbers OF the New
Amsterdam Company began the work OF repiac-
ing the meters and pipes, and 1t was thoush'
| ,bat tbav would have the work completed yes
| terday All of the afternoon the house NO -oi
was filed with a strong odor OF gas, ana many
| of the tenants complained TO Harris ABOUT IT,
The gas men went away at o'clock Just
after o'clock Mrs. Harris sent Mrs. "ai'eI'
the bousekeeper. to the cellar an errand. 1t
is supposed that the woman vent into the ceiiar
of No 261 by way of an outside door In Broome-
| =. and that the leaking gas In the cellar be-
| came ignited by contact with flame in some way.
| An exnlosIon with terrific noise followed. Mrs.
| Waller was blown over, and was cut on the
head and hands by flying glass. She was par
tally stunned but was picked up by a neighbor
and taken to a nearby drugstore, where sne re-
maned until she was removed 10 tne nospn ~ ,eo-
At the time of the explosion a NUMBER OF peo-
nile we're in Harriss saloon. They were knocked
from their feet by the concussion, ana ran 10, out
OF the place in terror at the SOUND OF 1aillns
furniture all around them. The rear room was
a complete wreck. SO powerful was the shock
that heavy barrels OF whiskey were tossed ABOUT
in all directions, and massive pieces ol lui uiii'
were broken into splinters.
HURLED HIGH INTO THE AIR
In the tailor shop of NJ Weiss who occupied
half of the ground floor OF NO. Zol' sat MI
Weiss. his wife Julia and his little son. They
sat by the door looking out into the street
Suddenly. as Mr. Weiss described 1t afterward
they were all three lifted up in the air so high
that his head, he said struck the ceiling. lie
picked himself UP in the midst Of mass OF
clothing and furniture. helped his wife and child
20 their feet and hurried away for shelter
None of the Weiss household were hurt. but
| nothing I'm his little shop was left unin1ured.
The hie nIate-glass window was taken out COM
nIetely and his stock was deposited mostly on
the street in heaps OF broken glass
In the next shop occupied by Antonio Laoar-
i hara barber were the proprietor. workman
s oe, a. no customers Isaac Denson and Henry