Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1902-05-08
AWFUL DISASTER.
Eight Girls and Women Are
Dead and Many Hurt.
cident TO the Janitor of "A PhiIadeI.
phIa Cigar Mandatory Causes a
Cry Of Fire 10 Ise Raised,
which ResuIted in Panic
Among Employees.

Philadelphia, May Am unfortu-
nate accident to deaf and dumb
boy, lsador Baccus, was yesterday di-
rectly responsible for the death of
eight young girls and woman, the ia
tai injury of three and the serious
injury of more than 20 girls en-
ployed in the cigar factory of Har-
burger, Homan d Co., a branch of
the American Tobacco Co., located at
Tenth street and Washington avenue.
The building in which the disaster
occurred is a five-story brick struc-
ture and reaches an entire block.
Twelve hundred persons were at work
at the time of the accident, 80 per
cent. of whom were girls whose ages
range from II years upward.
The trouble began on the fourth
floor of the structure. Baccus, the
janitor Of the building, started for
the fifth floor. The elevator was at
the top of the shaft and Baccus
pulled the rope to bring it down. He
opened the door leading to the shaft
and leaned forward to see where the
carriage was. AS he did so the ele-
vator, which was descending slowly,
struck him across the back of the
neck, pinioning his head between the
elevator and the floor. \ stock boy
released Baccus and cried for help.
The foreman rushed from the build
ing to call an ambulance and imme-
diately there was a panic among the
employees.
Some of the younger girls tainted,
while others, not being able to con-
Ii,
stantly there was a mad rush for the
stairway leading into Tenth street.
The girls rushed down the narrow
staircase until they reached bend
in the exit between the second and
third floors. In their cagerness to
escape the frightened leaders fell.
Others Immediately following tripped
over the stumbling mass of humani-
ty and in less than a minute there
were hundreds of children and young
women struggling in the passagcway
The shricks and screams of the ter
ror-stricken girls could be heard for
a block or more.
During the excitement an alarm of
fire was turned in, but before the en-
gines could reach the scene several
of the occupants of the building had
rushed to the windows and jumped to
the street, a distance of over so feet
Helen Tolini. one of those to Jump.
was almost instantly killed. When
the firemen and policemen arrived
every effort was made to quiet the
terrorized girls.
After few minutes the men were
enabled to check the awful crush on
the stairway and then began the |
work of rcscuing those who had been
trampled and crushed between the |
second and third floors. a call for |
ambulanccs had been turned in and |
as quickly as the dead and injured |
were carried from the building, they |
were hurried to hospitals.
While this was going on the scene
about the structure was hcartrend- |
ing. Parents and relatives of the un- |
fortunate girls were screaming and !
rushing about the streets like mad |
and it was almost impossible for the |
police officials to restrain the moth |
ers and relatives of supposed victims !
from entering the building.
The panic was over IN less than an |
hour