The Green Forest tribune., 1899-07-06
CURIOSITY SEEKERS.
Are Largely in Evidence at the
 Ruins of Big Fires.
Women Are More Interested Than Men-SOme Incidents of the Windsor Hotel Fire in
 New York.

the Windsor hotel" said veteran ro- icemau, has d side other than the serious one. Ne who are detailed to keep the fire lines have some odd eX- periences, you may be sure. Fake this last fire for instance. One would think that our chief trouble would be with men whose curiosity leads them to try t0 get access to the immediate neigh borhood of recently burned building.
 This is not so. Any policeman of eX- perienee will tell you that women give us more trouble, twice over. This week nearly one-half of those who tried to pass through our lines to see what was
 left of the Windsor hotel were women, and some of them did much to make our lives miserable. You can tell Q man that admission is denied him, and unless he has some real business to transact within the prescribed limits, he will almost always accept the deci- sion. But a woman is pertinacious.
 And that" the officer continued, makes me wonder what there is iii fire that seems to fascinate the average woman. IL is not the pile of bricks and half-burned wood they wish to see; that $ plain. They seem possessed by q desire 10 get near enough 10 be within sight when body is taken from the ruins. It's a bad enough sight for those who are accustomed to it, but how Wom- en-most of them plainly of refinement can have so much morbid curiosity is more than can understand"
 That this statement is not eXagger- ated anyone who was present the last few days can testify. During the search of the Windsor ruins well-ap- bearing women have stood for hours at stretch, one, perhaps two, blocks away, where nothing could be seen save huge piles of debris and, on rare occasions, wooden box, surrounded by Iaborers and policemen. Yet even that much appeared to afford good deal of satisfaction. One-an elderly Ger man woman-managed to pass the lines one day and got midway in the Fifth avenue block just as a body was brought to the police booth. She pushed her way through those stand ing about-nearly all present on busi- ness-and did her best to see what was iu the coffin, desisting only when an officer took her by the arm and forced her away. Even on Wednesday, in the height of the storm, and when police vigilance had been relaxed on that ae- count, numbers of women made their way through mud and water to the bank at the southwest corner, plead- ing with the officer stationed there for ',iust one look" This was usually per- mitted. but ''one look" appeared rarely to satisfy.
 Some of the male sigh1seers showed considerable ingenuity in deTising eN- euses for getting within the lines. Around he W0rllmen were seen at Nari- ous times men wearing tha badges of practically all the departments of tie city governments; each messenger boy invariably had q message 1o deliver at some house on the block, and even ia6- torlnen were admitted s;t times, pre- sumably on the strength of their blue uniforms Of ou1-oi-toWn police and firemcn there was any number. Che man got through tie lines L5 stcW- ing an immensr plated badge. maltese cross shaped; he explained b reporter that he was q member Of tEe 'pclce de part ment" of t small New Jersey hor- ough. On another occasion ii mem berS Of staten island ire company visited the ruins. All were passed on showing their budges-"counte esy, the uoliceman said-but came near dis2s- ter by forming in line and aradinG around the block. They subsided, how ever. at the eutreaty of Patrolman who told them that the inspector was about and would fire the whole push if they did not make themselves less conspicuous.-N. I. Post.