The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-19
DISPUTES MILES'S RESCUE.
FIRE CHIEFS REPORT SEEKS TO DIS
CREDIT CO.'S BRAVE DEED'

PoIicemsn's Efforts, chief welsh Says. were
Unnecessary and Of No Assistance :"
saving Dora Murray From burning to
Decentralization OF mhess >Ap'""
Deputy Chief Duane, who isin commahd Oh
the Are force in the absence Of Chiei 'roker,
has received n report from Bat'ahoh 'hiei
Welsh. in which the Chief asserts fhat fohce-
man ". A. Miles did not rescue Dora MURRAY
In the fire al 2s2 East Thirty-third street
Wednesday eve ming Chief Welsh states;
Upon arrival AZ the fire I was Informed Of
the presence OF n woman on the top moor anu
ordered Hook and Ladder Company 10 rase
sj-foot ladder to that floor and get her out
Fireman Mark Kelly of Hook aud Ladder Coni-
pany 7 and Fireman Edward j Levy oil hhS"hc
Company q assembled ladder and in rear room
found Miss Dora MURRAY, aged p, o' Nafra-
gansett Pier. X. l., in an unconscious CON
dition. They carried her into the ma"
and we're about to carry her 10
the street, when a man In his shirt sleeves anu
without a hat appeared and by his talk ana &C,
lions gave me the impression that he was the
husband Of the woman. and as such ] allowed
him to take her out of the building l learned
subsequently, that this man was Patrollman WI.
liam A. Miles Of the Twenty-irst. precinct and
was no rclutlNp OI Inc WOfUHn. NJ nt Viz "
come up the stairs he must have entered the
building through a. rear WindoW. crossing from
a window OF the adjoining house, No. ?lo
While the action OF this pa,rolman was com :
and were Of no assistance, 10 the woman. as
Firemen Kelly and Levy had the woman IN the
hall before he appeared on the scene Dep9iy
floor and directed Fireman Levy TO carry the
woman down. ] also respectfully state that az
The time Of this occurrence an danEer b nsn
extlngnished and the covers Of scuttles ana
skyllght on the roof having been removed,
thereby ventilatlne the top floor ii.
Miles has been made a roundsman, Tor MS
bravery. The fremen. when talked to last
night. rather contradicted Chief Welsh. Instead
OF saying that all danger was over, they insisted
that the two ilremen who went into the room
had to crawl on their hands and knees on ao-
Capt. DELANEY OF the East Thirty-nfth street
police station, who is Miles's commander. was
very angry last night when told OF Chief
an outrage and as a fabrication
III there was a ladder there, y said he. why
should Miles have taken a chance Of hs
life by being swung from one window TO the
o,her' If all danger was past at the time Of
and the girl were so badly burned that at first
II was thought the injuries Of both were
mortal? The truth is that. freman
was in the house with Miles ana he
refused to be- swung from one window to the
window In the burning house aud that Miles
got angry at this and said that he would 20
himself That fireman was afraid TO make slch
an acrobatiC experiment The girl wHs uncon.
scious on the bed when Miles found her, and
was not In the hall q,
THE official report that | have here is signed
by three citizens who are not Interested In the
matter one way or the other except 10 tell what
they saw and 10 tell the truth. Their names
are Edward sullivan Of i47 East Thirty.second
street, Edward Bessinger Of 22i East Thirty
second street and DAME Thompson OF $40
Third avenue. They helped to swing Miles over
to the window IN the burning building and
can testify that a fireman was afraid, TO
enter the building the same way. President
Woods of the Board Of Aldermen also put his
name down as a witness to what occurred. l
think that the word OF disinterested witnesses
and the condition OF Miles and the woman are
more 70 be trusted than the report of a fire
chief who is anxious to save all the credit for
a rescue for his own department, .
A subscription amounting TO $3.50 was raised
on the floor Of the New York Stock Exchange
yesterday for Miles. Before he Joined the force
Miles was n telephone clerk on the Exchange.
Dora Murray was alive In Bellevue late last
night and there was "A fair prospect of her
recovery.