The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1901-11-01
GREAT LOSS OF LIFE
NINETEEN PEOPLE KNOWN TO
HAVE Persisted IN A PHILA-
DELPHIA FIRE.
MUCH PROPERTY Is BURNED

An Eieht-story Furniture Factory and
Three Adjoining Buildings Are De-
stroyed-Many of the Victims Die
a Lingering Death in the Presence
of Thousands Who Are Unable to
Lift a Hand to Assist Them.
Philadelphia, Oct. 26.-Nineteen
known dead and property loss amount
ing to upwards of 100000 is the awful
result of fire which occurred in the
business section of the city. The num-
Der of injured is not known definitely,
but fully a score of victims were treat
ed at various hospitals. Police and
firemen are delVing into the ruins in
search OF bodies supposed to have
been buried beneath the debris, as it
is feared that others besides the
known dead may have lost their lives
in the flames. The buildings destroyed
were the Sstory structure, 1919 and
1921 Market street, occupied by Hunt,
Wilkinson & Co., upholsterers and
furniture deliVerers, and three 3-story
buildings occupied by small merchant
men. The cause of the fire is IN
known.
Such disastrous fire attended with
| so great a loss of life in such a brief
period was never before known in this
city. Men and women died a linger-
Ing, agonizing death in the presence
Of thousands of spectators who were
unable to lift a hand to their assist
ance. The rear of Hunt, Wilkinson &,
Co.'S building faces on Commerce
street, a small thOrOughfare On the
fire escapes at this end of the build
ing two men and a woman were slow
" roasted to death, while the horror
stricken thTOng on the street below
turned sick at the sight. In front on
Market street a woman, driven to des-
peratiOn, leaped from a window on the
| top floor and was dashed to death on
| the pavement. These are but a few of
| the heartrending scenes attending the
contiagratiOn. Firemen claim to have
| seen men and women, unable to reach
| the windows or fire escapes, burned
| to death in the interior Of the build
| ing. If this be so little OF nothing re-
| mains of these victims and it is doubt
| full if any portion of their bodies will
| be recovered.
Seveuty-nine Of the 100 persons in
Hunt, Wilkinson & Co.'S building
| when the fire started were employees
and the remainder were customers
and outside wOrkmen who were en-
| gagged in putting the finishing touches
on the new eighth floor. More than
| half of the firms employees were on
| the upper five floors and it was among
| these that the greatest number
Were Killed and Injured.
! With the possible exception of the
| engineer, who is missing, all persons
| on the first three floors got out of the
building safely.
It was exactly 1920 a. m. when
| Howard F. Street, a young man en-
ployed by Hunt, Wilkinson & Co. OBJ
| served flames shooting up the ele-
vator shaft from the basement. He
| was on the second floor and imme-
| diateIy gave the alarm to the other
| employees. He then FASTENED to the
| street to notify a policeman. In the
| meantime the employees Of the cleo
trical bureau at the city hall saw
! smoke issuing from the building and
| transmitted an alarm to the fire de-
! paTtment. When the engines arrived
| the flames had envel0ped the building
| from top to bottom and the intense
heat from this terrifying mass Of
| flames made it almost impossible for
! the firemen to get within close r2nGe
| of the seething furnace. Ignoring the
! flames for the time being the brave
| fire fighters devoted their whole atton-
| ton to the work of rescue. As some
| Of them stood within the scOrching
! heat of the fire with nets Cutspread
! to receive those who leaped from the
| burning building their comrades
| played lines of hose upon them. When
| their work in this respect was ended
many of the firemen were completely
| exhausted. Most of the fatalities oc-
| Cured in the rear of the building. AS
| if by common impulse the majority of
| the employees attempted to reach
| places of safety by means of the fire
| escape on the Commerce street end OF
| the structure. Many of them, rem
| dered practically insane by fright,
| leaped to the ground, and others, be-
| coming unconscious from the intense
| heat and smoke, fell to the payem t.
| When the firemen arrived Commerce
| street was filled with these unfortu-
/ nate victims and for the space of an
| hour the police and hospital service
| was taxed to its utmost capacity.
BY noon the fire was under control
| and at 2 O'Clock a force of men or
dered by the department of public
| safety began the work of clearing
away the debris for the purpose of re-
covering the bodies of the victims
huriod in thn ruinS