The Savannah morning news., 1902-10-22
IN TRAP OF FLAME
TWENTY-NINE MEN, IMPRISONED,
SAID TO HAVE DIED.
CUT OFF FROM ESCAPE
THEY pEHIsHED Ely FIRE AND
UNDER FALLING WALLS.

Glucose Refinery brings Dcstruc-
tion and Death In Its Lurid Train.
From Third Floor Men Had Bare
Iy Time to Escape with Lite,
While Those who Died Were Four
Floors AbOve-Mnssive Building
Reduced to Mass of Debris.
Chicago, Oct. 22.-By a fire which
broke out shortly before midnight in
the plant of the Glucose Sugar Rein
cry situated at Taylor street and the
Chicago river, that factory was almost
entirely destroyed. and it is said TWEEN
ty-nlne men lost their lives. The num-
Der has not been established as yet,
but 1t is known that the men were in
the building. and all were working on
the seventh floor.
The flames spread so rapidly that a
man who was working on the third
floor had barely time to escape with
his life. and 1t is not thought by the
employees of the concern or by the fire.
men, that the men in the upper story
could have avoided death. At midnight
two bodies had been taken from the
ruins, but the fire was burning so
rapidly that 1t was impossible to make
further search.
it"mes Spread wildly.
The plant of the refining company
consisted of three buildings, the drying
house. seven stories in hight the main
refinery, fourteen stories high, and an
other structure OF four stories. The
fire started in the drying house, being
caused by an explosion. The flames
spread with almost incredible rapid
ity. and by the time the first of the
fire department had arrived the build
ing was ablaze from foundation to roof.
1t was impossible for the
f1remen to make any effective
fight against the flames and in short
time all the walls were down and the
buildings within half an hour from the
time of the explosion, were a mass of
| debris.
The vinduct Threatened.
The Gre was so hot that at one time
| II was feared the Taylor street via
| duct, across which access is had to the
south side Of the city, would be de-
stroyed, but the fremen managed to
save this after a hard struggle. They
bent every effort toward saving the
building of the refinery, but so intense
was the fire in the drying house that
this caught fire In several places, and
at 1890 a. m, II was evident that,
even If ii could be saved atall. IL would
be badly damaged.
The fire was under control before /
o'clock. and. although 1t was not pos
sible at that time to form any esti-
mate of the loss of life the statements
of the men employed in the drying
house were so conflicting that the po-
lice declared that in their opinion the
loss of life would not be more than 10
or IL. Several of the men who made
their escape from the lower part Of the
building said that there were not more
than ten or twelve men on the top
floor and II is not thought that there
will be any loss of life among the men
employed in any other part of the
building.
dashed by whips of Flames.
The men employed in the three lower
floors of the drying house ran for the
doors and windows as soon as they had
knowledge of the fire, and all of them
succeeded in reaching the open air. on
the third floor there was one man at
work. He was compelled to make a run
for his life down stairs. He burst
through mass of flame when he reach
ed the lower doorway and was badly
scorched.
The men on the seventh floor had no
chance whatever fer their lives. Several
of them left the windows and crawled
along the sills in an effort to reach
place of safety, but with the exception
of two men, all those who attempted
to reach safety in this way made up
their minds that 1t was certain death
and went back into the burning build
ing.
The two men, however, determined to
take the chances of a leap and climb
ing up on the window ledge. they
sprang out into the air. One of them
came straight down for the greater
part of the way. but just as he was
within a short distance of the pave
ment his body swung around and he
struck the stone walk at full length.
The other man turned over and over
as he came whirling down. Their bod
les were horribly crushed and mangled,
and 1t was impossible for any of the
men who saw them directly after their
jump. to identify them in any way.
Four men jumped from the windows
on the fourth fioor. These men were
terribly injured and were taken in po-
lice ambulances to the county hospital.
Frank Rothenberg, a foreman on the
fifth floor of the drying house, jumped
for a net held by the firemen. but fall
ed to strike II and was instantly killed.
Joseph Butkos and Paul Kauris also
jumped, but broke through the net.
The former was badly hurt.
The officers of the company when in
formed that the two smaller buildings
had been destroyed and that the four
teen-story building was damaged,
would not make any estimate of dam
age. One of them said:
ut may be anywhere between $780,
900 and $1,000, 900, and that Is all we
can say at this time