The morning news., 1899-04-08
FIRES FEARFUL DESTRUCTION IN
A NEW YORK MANSION.


fire to the house and causing the death
Of a servant. All of the thirteen bodies
have been recovered.
The dead are:
Wallace c. Andrews, president of the
New York Steam Heating Company
Mrs. Wallace c. Andrews, his wife.
Mrs. Georgiana Boyden St. John, wife of
Mrs. Andrews brother Camaliel c. 81.
John, an official of the New York Steam
Heating Company.
Orson St John, aged years
Wallace St. John, aged years.
Frederick St. John. aged 1S months.
Nellie Boland servant
Mary flanagan. servant.
Eva Peterson, servant.
Kate Downing, servant.
Marie Roth, servant
Annie Neary, servant.
Mrs. Mary Laughlin, aged 50 years.
housekeeper in the Adams establishment,
died from suffocation and burns.
Two servants are in a serious condition
in the Presbyterian Hospital, and one may
die. These two, Alice White. a cook. and
Jennie Burns. laundress. were the only
inmates of the Andrews house who es-
capped alive
The list of the injured a the Adams fire
numbers seven, among them being Mrs.
Isabel Adams, wife of Albert ]. Adams,
wound in the back burned, suffering from
shock
BEGINNING of the Fire.
Whether the fire started from an ex-
plosion of lamp or of gas has not yet
been determined but when it was first
discovered, at o'clock this morning. the
flames seemed TO -lstasts 9rom aff,parts Of
the house at once.
Policeman Mcknight of the East Sixty
| seventh street station was at Fifth ave
nue. an Sxtysixth street, in front of the
Havemeyer home, when he heard an ex-
ploson and saw the glare of the flames
in Sixty seventh street. He ran with all
haste to the spot and found tongues of
fire leaping from the upper windows of
the Andrews house and half way across
the street.
He tried to break in the door and arouse
the inmates of the house. but was driven
back by the flames. Not waiting any longer
to arouse the family of the Rothschilds in
the adjoining house, No. 4, he sent in an
alarm.
When the firemen arrived they saw 1t
was impossible to try and gain an en-
trance to the Andrews house by the front
door, and they then made an attempt
~
Death of Mrs. ST. John.
Fireman Charles Fay, of Engine 80; ia
cobs of Hook and Ladder, No. 16 and John
II. Coor, went up together They man
aged to get in the rear rooms of the third
floor and found Mrs. st. John and her g.
year-old son. Wallace. unconscious on the
floor, their night clothes almost burned
off. They We're quickly taken into the
Rothschld house
Mrs. St. John died within a few min
utes Her child died in The fireman's arms
The firemen made repeated efforts to pet
to the other rooms, but they might as
well have attacked a furnace. The build
ing If saturated with oil, could hardly
have burned more fiercely. Like most New
York dwellings, it was high and narrow
and encased on two sides by solid brick
walls and the effect was ike a preot
chimney. The flames roared and cracked
and shot into the air a distance of a hun
dred feet or more throwing a great fiery
spray over the roofs Of the surrounding
houses. Several times these caught fire
but the firemen and servants were on the
roofs with water and chemicals. and ex-
tinguished the flames.
Two Servants Jumped.
All efforts to arouse the inmates in fine
to save themselves were fruitiess and
aside from Mrs. st. John, the only Other
persons who got out Of the house alive
were the two servants, Jennie Burns and
Alice White, who appeared al upper win
dows.
Before the hremen could raise laddarg
to reach them, the women climbed ont
upon the sills. With all their strength the
firemen called TO the women not TO iunn
but the women were past needing warn.
ing. Jennie Burns leaped out She turnAd
over and over and fell directly upon her
head Her skull was fractured in sew
eral places.
The other woman. when she saw the fato
of her friend, hestated for a monent
then, as the smoke thickened she loo
jumped. She fell upon a rear extension
OF the building and was picked up un-
consciouse and severely injured
How the Adams House Caught.
While the fire in the Andrews bouse
was raging, great clouds Of sparks were
carried with the wind, and a brand aeu,
into an open upper window Of the bouse
Of Albert j. Adams. It caught in a cur
tain and instantly the room was ablaze
servant at The window IS thought to
have been Mary Laughlin, for her dead
body was found later al the foot OF the
stairs leading from the fourth floor TO the
roof. Tightly clasped in her arms was
the family pet dog.
When the Adams house caught fire
number of the policemen. iremen and
large number OF the people who were al
the other fire rushed around to Sixty-nlntb
(continued on second page1