Omaha daily bee., 1899-03-22

juries were dangerously painful. Both ear
were almost burned from his head, while
| his hands are chasred and disfgured. Thes'
injuries were received while he was trying
| to open the door to the room where thu
women were. They were so frightened tina
they crowded against the door and it wal
impossible for him to open It. After the los
of precious time, during which severa
women had leaped from the window, HI
managed to get in and assist several dowr
the stairs, although he suffered terribly il
doing so.
| Good Work by the Firemen.
| After the last sign of flame had disappeared
the interior of the building was striking
proof of the effective work of the fremen.
In spite of the fact that their arrival was
delayed by an error in the transmission of
the alarm, which sent them first to Seven
teenth street and Capitol avenue, they sue
ceeded in combining the fire almost en-
tirey to the center Of the third floor. The
gasoline explosion occurred in immediate
proximity to the elevator shaft, and in a
few seconds the flames had shot down the
shaft and communicated to the rubbish in
the basement. When the firemen arrived the
shaft, the basement and the entire center
| =
One Of the first streams was turned into
the shaft through a basement window and
with this the fire was cut off below the
third story. Other streams were carried up
| the stairway and a couple of lines were
| raised on ladders and turned through the
front windows. On the Douglas street side
! hose was elevated by means of the fire es-
capes and by that time a second alarm
had brought the first reserve into action.
The fire was held in control from the minute
the first streams were brought to bear and
no serious damage was done except in those
parts of the building that were already blaz-
ing. The walls were uninjured, and the
roof was kept intact except in the center.
| The elevator shaft was burned out from
| basement to roof, but the second floor and
| the north and south ends of the third floor
| were merely scorched. The entire building,
however, was drenched with water and
! blackened with smoke. Such of the con-
| tents as had not been removed were soaked
with water that continued to seep from the
| floors above for hours after the fire was ex-
| tinguished.
| Chief Redell said that from the appear
ance of the building it Is difficult to say
whether the fire originated in the basement
and went up the elevator shaft or dropped
, down the shaft from a beginning on the
! third floor. The testimony of those who
were in the building points to the latter
conclusion as they declare that it began
with an explosion in the rear room in which
a gasoline stove was found by the firemen.
| In speaking of the loss of life Chief Redell
! said that it seemed as though it could have
been prevented If the occupants had thought
| of using the fire escape 1T is horrible
| to think" he said, 'of those poor women
| jumping to their death when there was a
fre escape within easy reach"
| Rushed to the women's Assistance.
| One of The Bees carriers who was pass
| Ing at the time the fire broke out has this
| to say: Il was just in front of the build
| ing when the women on the third floor com
menced to scream. Three or four other
men and boys were with me and we rushed
I upstairs to help the women. As we went
up we met about half dozen women com
| ing down and they were bruised terribly.
| Their faces were black with smoke When
we got to the top floor some of the doors
were locked and we had to kick them in.
Ihe rest We opened. Then we came down
stairs and as we got to the street the people
began to yell for the women to jump. l
uhlnk about ten of them had jumped
before the department came. The
people Immediately crowded around and
= did all they could for them. Most OF
them were terribly cut up. Their hands ant
races were all scratched and bleeding wher,
they had tried to grab the wall as they fell
The colored policeman on the beat dif
everything he could to break their fall. bu
he couldn't do much"
What an Eyewitness Saw.
One OF the witnesses who saw the unfortu-
nate women leap from the third story win
dows was Madame Duboissen, who resides
at the southwest corner of of>Seventeenth and
Dodge streets. dlagonslly across the street
from the burned building. "Oh, 1t was hor-
ribe.' declared Madame Duboissen II can
never forget 1t. 1t was all over in a few
seconds There was a rush of smoke from
the windows, a crash OF breaking glass and
then the windows seemed to be filled with
women They scarcely hesltated a moment
The ones in front looked upward for a min
ute, as though they were praying for de-
lVerance, and then they threw themselves
outwards, and In an instant crashed together
on the pavement below. Those who were
behind seemed TO follow them blndly. They
jumped as fast as they could reach the
! window, and as the last one dropped a
sheet or flame swept after and seemed to
envelope them. l counted seven women
who jumped, The flames burst out so sud
NohiS luai IL loohSu as lnOuSn some were
cut off before they could reach the win
dow"
After the flames had been subdued a thor
ough investigation failed to discover any
additional bodies and the fremen stated
positively that no one was left in the build
Ing.
: Pathetic scenes and Incidents.
! No fire that has ever occurred in Omaha
was so prolific of incidents of human pathos.
The fact that nearly all the sufferers were
wives and mothers lent a tinge of peculiar
sadness TO the catastrophe. In the hospitals
and In the improvised refugees that served
The hrst purposes Of surgical attention
shrleks OF anguish were continually hushed
while agonlzed women talked OF their hus-
| bands ana children and mourned for those
Who needed their care and love. Mrs. ed,
shrner lay on the floor OF Dr. Grossmann =
ONCE and did not complain OF her terri
| BILE injuries whllo she thought OF her three
months old baby, oh. | cannot die" she