Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1901-10-31

Philadelphia, Oct. 26.-Eighteen
known to be dead and a property loss
upwards of a half million dollars is
the awful result of fire yesterday in
the business section of this city. The
number of injured is not known def
| initely, but fully score of victims
are treated at the various hospitals
Police and firemen are now searching
the ruins for bodies supposed to be
buried beneath the debris as it is
feared others lost their lives in the
flames. The buildings destroyed were
the eight-stOry structure occupied by
Hunt, Wilkinson & Company, uphol-
sterers and furniture dealers, and
three three-story buildings occupied
by small merchantmen The big fur
niture building extending back a half
block to Commerce street The list
of known dead follows:
Dorothy Kramer, Martha Baker,
Margaret Hebden, Susan Gormley,
Harry House. II. A. Sparrow, Charles
f. Sparrow, Fred Wilmington. Charles
Lands, Walter Stearly, J. L. Arm
strong. Mrs. Martha Banks, coloIed,
Mrs. Mary Mitchell, colored, Margaret
Grady, one unknown white woman,
three unknown white men
Never in its history has Philadel-
phia experienced a fire which spread
with such great rapidity. At 1920
yesterday morning a blaze broke out
in th' building occupied by Hunt.
Wilkinson & Co., and an hour later a
horrible sacrifice of life hal been
made and immense loss of property
accomplished The origin of the fire
is unknown.
Men and women died lingering, ago
niZing deaths in the presence of thOus-
ands OF spectators unable to lit a
hand in their assistance. On fire es-
CapeS in the rear two men and one
woman were slowly roasted to death,
white the horror-stricken throng on
the street below turned sick at the
sight. In the front on Market street,
a woman driven to desperation leaped
from the window on the top floor and
was dashed to death on the pavement.
The tiremen claim to have seen men
and women unable to reach the win
dows or fire escapes burned to death
in the interior of the building.
When the engines arrived the flames
had enveloped the building from top
to bottom and the intense heat from
the terrifying mass of flames made it
impossible for the fremen to get close
to the seethiug furnace. Ignoring the
flames, the brave fire fighters devoted
their whole attention to the work of
rescue, When their work in this re
completely exhausted. Most of the
fatalities occurred in the rear of the
building AS if by common impulse,
the majority of the employees attempt
ed to reach places of safety by means
OF the fire escape on Commerce street
Many of them rendered practically in
sane by fright leaped to the ground
and others becoming unconscious
from the smoke and intense heat and
fell to the pavement. When the firemen
arrived Commerce street was filled
with these unfortunate victims and
police and hospital service was taxed
to its utmost capacity. For an hour
the flames threatened the lives of
everyone compelled to fight the fire
and every minute of time threatened
many other thousands of dollars
worth of property on all sides of the
principal building in which the blaze
started BY noon the fire was under
control and at o'clock force of men
began the search for the victims.