Evening star., 1901-10-25
Terrible Mortality at a Fire in Phila-
delphia,
MEN AND WOMEN In DEATH TRAP
Furniture Factory, With 800 En-
ployes, Burns Down.
LOSS ESTIMATED AT S5oo.o 600

which the police say seventeen persons lost
their lives and many more were seriously
and perhaps fatally injured occurred today
in the heart of the business section of the
city. The nine-story building at 1919 and
1921 Market street occupied by Hunt, Wiki
inson & Co., upholsterers and furniture
dealers, and two unoccupled buildings at
1923 and 1225 Market street were DESTROYED
Many other buildings were damaged. and
the loss is estimated to be upward OF
100000
The fire started at 1890 O'clock II is
supposed to have been caused by an ex-
plosion of benzine or naphtha, which, with
other materials used in the manufacture of
furniture, was stored in the cellar. The
flames shot up the elevator shaft and In
less than five minutes every one of the nine
floors of the structure was ablaze.
Panic Among Employees.
There were 800 employees, men and wo-
men, at work in the different departments
at the time. Those on the second floor
were the first to see the flames. Instantly
there was a wild rush for the fire escapes,
but owing to the highly infiammabie nature
Of the material used by the firm the blaze
spread with remarkable rapidity, dealing
death to the unfortunates as they made
Dut eUOrtS 10 escape.
One woman leaped from one Of the TOP
floors into Market street and was instantly
killed; another was roasted to death as she
was descending the fire escape I'm the rear
Of the building. Two others either jumped
or fell from the fire escape and We're killed.
Five others who ieaped from windows were
picked up living, but they died on the way
to the hospital
While the fire-escape was filled with the
panic-stricken men and women, the wall
collapsed and eight persons are known to
have been buried in the ruins. few min
utes later the fr1nt wall fell inward, and
it is not known whether any bodies are un-
der II. II such is the case the persons were
probably burned to death before the wall
collapsed.
Injured Sent to Hospital
When the flremen reached the rear Of the
building, which faces on Commerce street
a small thoroughfare. they found the street
literally piled up with victims who had
been carried down by the falling wall.
These were hastily conveyed to the nearest
hospitals.
new eight-story building at 1917 Mar
ket street, as yet unoccupied. prevented the
spread of the flames to the eastward. in
which direction they were blown by the
wind. Otherwise the city would have wit
messed probably the greatest confagration
in it's history.
Several business houses on the south side
of Market street were badly scorched, but
not seriously damaged.
The fire spread more rapidly than any
blaze in this city in recent years, scarcely
excepting the oil fires at Point Breeze EN-
ployes who started down the fire escape In
the rear of the building before the flames
were visible from the street were compelled
to jump before they had travelled two stor-
les, because of the flames breaking through
the windows.
Efforts to Rescue the Employee
The first fireneu who arrived on the
scene devoted their energies entirely to the
front and rear of the building and some
who jumped We're saved In this way. A
woman jumped from one OF the windows of
the Market street front, but the smoke
blinded her and she missed the net, strik-
ing the pavement and dying instantly. In
the rear a young girl who jumped from
one of the top stories caught on the fire
escape at the third story and the flames,
bursting from the window burned her body
TO crisp in almost a minute. Two men,
one white and one colored, emerged from
the fourth story and stood ON the fire es-
cape with the flames all round them. The
white man danced up and down and ap-
peared to be bereft of his reason. The col
ored man stood for few seconds and then
jumped to his death below. The white man
stood on the fire escape until he was over
come apd then fell to his death in the
small street. There was no fire escape on
the front OF the building and all employees
rushed madly to the rear.
At about IL 80 o'clock the walls OF tho
Hunt, Wilkinson building fell. This gave
the firemen an opportunity to work on the
other buildings that were ablaze, and at
IL o'clock the fire was believed to be un-
der control. The wholesale and retail rub.
Der warehouse of Latta & Mulconroy. ad.
Joining Hunt, Wilkinson & Co.'s building,
caught fire, but the flames were confined to
the upper stories.
Doubtful to Number Killed.
Stories conflict as to the number of per.
sons killed. Hunt, Wilkinson Co. en-
ployed 800 people, mostly girls. The fire
is believed to have started on the second
floor of their building, where fifteen per-
sons were at work. 1t is not known
whether any of these escaped. When the
rear wall of the building fell a number OF
bodies were lying in the small street IN
the rear, variously estimated at from six
to thirty, and these are covered with hum
dreds of tons Of brick and twisted iron.
The police say that twelve are known to
have been killed, and they hesitate to esti-
mate how many bodies are in the ruins.
Dozens of streams of water are playing
on the red-hot ruins, and as soon as the
men can get to work hundreds of city en-
ployes will begin to search for bodies.