The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1901-10-26
nine TEEN KNOWN
TO HAVE PEFISIlEED. E
Awful Result Of Fire in
phildd lplla.
SCORES ARE INJURED.
And it is Feared There are More
Victims to Flames,
SCENES WERE HEARI-RENDlNG.
Men and Women We're Burned to Cinder in
Full Sight OF Thousands powerIess
to RENDER Aid-.he Origin of
the Blaze IS Unknown.
Properly Loss Is
s5GO,0j0.
SCENES WERE HEART -REN D. ING.
(By Associated Press.)


amounting to upwards Of $5OO.UOO, is the
awful result of a fire which occurred to-
day in the business section Of the city.
The number of injured is not known
definitely, but fully a score Of victims
We're treated at various hospitals, Police
and firemen are tonight delving into the
ruins in search of bodies supposed to
have been buried beneath the debris, as
it is feared that others beside the known
dead may have lost their lives in the
flames. The buildings destroyed were the
eight-story structure Nos. 1919 and l221
Market Street occupied by Hunt, Wilkin-
son & Company. upholsterers and furn1-
ture dealers, and three three-story build
ings occupied by small merchants The
big furniture store extended back a block
to Commerce Street. ana was owned by
Henry G. Lea
THE DEAD.
The list Of known o. ad is as follows:
DOROTHY KRAMER,
MARTHA BAKER,
MARGARET HABDEN,
SUSAN GORMALY,
HARRY HOUSE,
H. A SPARROW,
CHARLES E, SPARROW,
FRED WITTINGTON,
CHARLES Lands.
WALTER STEARLY,
j. E. ARMSTRONG.
MARTHA BANKS (co1ored).
MARY MITCHELL (colored).
MARGARET GRADY,
One unknown white woman.
Three unknown white men.
ORIGIN UNKNOWN. ;.
At 1920 o'clock the blaze broke forth in
81 Company. The origin of the fire is I'M
known 1t is said that an explosion ol
naphtha or gasoline in the basement was
the cause, but TINS is DENIED py AIr. WI
klnsOn, who says there never was sutIi-
cf.nt quantity OF either explosive about
the buliclng to be responsible for to-day :
terrible disaster. Runor has it also chat
an elevator constructor at work in the
basement permitted the fame of his Ian
tern to communicate with some of the
gaseous liquids stored in the basement,
and that this was the cause of the con-
dagration.
Such a 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 lingering death In the
presence of thousands of spectators who
were unable to lift hand to their SIS
sistance. The rear of Hunt, Wilkinson &
Company's building faces on Commerce
Street, a small thoroughfare. On the fire
escapes at this end Of the building TWO
men and one woman WIRE slowly roasted
to death while the horror-stricken throng
on the street below turned sick at the
sight. In the front, on Market Street,
woman. driven to desperation, leaped from
a window on the top floor and was dashed
to death on the pavement. These are put
a few of the heart-rending scenes attend
Ing the conilagration.
MOSTLY EMPLOYEES.
Firemen clam to have seen men ana
women, unable to reach the hre-escapes,
burned to death in the interior of the
building. If this be so, little or nothing
remains of these victims, and 1t is
doubtful if any portion of their bodies
will be recovered. Seventy-nine of the
100 persons in Hunt, Wilkinson and Com
pany's building when the fire started
were employees and the remainder were
customers and outside Workmen, who
were engaged in putting the hnish1nG
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 en-
sineer. who is missing, all persons on
the first three floors got out OF the build
ing safely. The members of the firm
had their offices on the third floor, and
their familiarity with the exits is al
that saved them from Suffocation. Most
of those killed were at work on the sixth
floor, where women were engaged in sew
ing. They were ct work in the rear of
the building. close to the fre-esca pes.
and became confused by the great guam
tity Of smoke that rushed up through
the building.
JUMPED TO DEATH.
It was reported that goods were stored
against the windows, which prevented
the women from getting out on the fire.
escapes but this was positively denied
by a member Of the firm. Several persons
made the terrible leap from the eighth
story to the sidewalk and were crushed,
while the others ran the gauntlet Of
smoke and fire down the rear frees
capes. Among those on the eighth floor
who jumped and were killed were II. a.
Snarrow. an expert electrical contractor,
and Charles E. Sparrow, his nephew and
assistant. A colored scrub woman also
inmned from this floor and was crushed
in the street.
shortly before midnight another body.
which was very badly burned, was taken
from the ruins This makes the number
of known dead nineteen.
CLEARING AWAY DEBRIS
fr,yy noon the fire was under control, and
o+ , o'clock this afternoon a force of men,
oryanized by the department Of public
safety began the work Of clearing away
4he debris for the purpose Of recovering
the bodies of the victims buried In the
ruins.
small buildings in the rear of the fur
n,ture building, and also to the west Of
the burned area, were crushed by falling
walls. The fronts of the stores on The
south side Of Market Street, opposite the
fire. were all more or less damaged by
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