The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1902-11-20
DARING RESCUES
Four Families Narrowly
Escape Death in a Tene-
ment House.
MRS. CoPAITT'S ESCAPE
Mrs. stozinger Calmly Saves
NHer Children = Men
Cheered as Heroes.

damage, but greatly endangered the lives
of four families aud at which half doz-
ems daring and thrilling escapes Of wo-
men and children were effected by fire.
men, policemen and citizens, broke out at
half past one o'clock yesterday afternoon
nthe cellar of the .three-story frame
building, No S34 West Newark avenue.
Bicycle Policeman George Murphy,
Fireman Woods, of No. Engine Com
pany, and George Zwinneman, of New
ark and Baldwin avenues; Ennis J.
Brown, of No. 224 Tonnele avenue, and
Albert Kruse, of No. 36 Colin street, dis
tinguished themselves as heroes by rescu-
ing two women and four children from
second and third story windows by
means of a ladder.
The most thrilling experience was that
of Mrs. " w. Copcutt, who lives with
her fourteen-year-old son on the top floor.
She made several teempts to jump for
a front window while nearly suffocated
with smoke, and then exeitedly closed
the window while men were calling to
her from the sidewalk to make for the
roof"
THE WOMAN RESCUED.
The woman, who is almost an invalid,
groped her way to the next room
through the sitting smoke and bruised
and cut her hands in an unsuccessful
effort to beat down a wire screen nailed
over a window about two feet square
that overlooked the roof of the second
story building next door. The fact that
her face was pressed against this wire
screen so she could get air alone saved
her life. She had partially torn the
screen from it's fastening and seemed
to be in the act of swooning when there
was a crash at the front window and
she. saw man crawling through, fol-
lowed by another.
AS near as Mrs. Copeutt can recall,
the rescuers were Ennis J. Brown, G. D..
Kruse and Mr. Zwinneman. This was
before the fremen arrived. She says she
seemed dazed until she revived in Gluck-
mans drug store, diagonally across the
way.
and the fremen came up. Ladders had
been procured from neighboring yards
before No. Truck arrived. Mrs. Cop
cutt had been alone, her boy having
gone off to work.
OTHER ESCAPES.
On the floor below Mrs. Annie Brand,
her fifteen-year-old boy Lewis, her
daughter Mabel, and her ten-year-old
daughter Elsie had made their way to
the street.
The building adjoins the one on the
northwest corner of Newark avenue and
Tonnele avenue. A hallway separates
them and doors lead to the upper floors
of both houses from this hallway. On the
third floor of the corner house lives the
family of Mrs. Olga Kiessling, who with
her two children, five year old Oswald
and twelve months old Albert, were
taken from window and carried down
a ladder by Policeman Murphy and Fire
man Woods of No. engine. Murphy
took the children down and then Woods,
with some assistance, tok doown Mrs
Kiessling.
From the second story window in the
Tonnele avenue side were taken down
the ladder five year old Christian Stozin-
ger and his two year old brother. Mrs.
Stozinger handed the children out. She,
realizing that she could Step down the
ladder at any time, after having shut off
the thick oke from the hall and stair
ways, heroically refused to leave her
home until she ould bundle up some
clothes to throw down into the street.
FIREAIEN IN PERIL.
The firemen and policemen had all the
occupants out and the fire under control.
1t broke out in the cellar under Joseph
Rittuss barber shop on the first floor of
No. S34, among some old lumber and rub
bish, including bedding. 1t is not known
how it started. It burned two holes in
the floor at the back of the barber shop.
Fireman George Klink, who was with
Fireman Michael WhaIen, both of No. {
Engine, barely escaped esuffocation while
fighting the fire in the cellar He was
rescued just in the nick of time.
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