The Van Buren press., 1904-11-26
THIRTY NEGROES
IN PERIL BY FIRE
Exciting Time at an Early Morning
Fire In a Negro Lodging
House in St. Louis.
-FOUR WOMEN WERE INJURED
BY SUffOCaTIOk OR JUMPING.
Fircmen and Policemen Used sal
Xnue Corps Tarpaulins Rs Life
Nets To Catch the imperiiied oc-
cupants As They Lenped From the
Windows.

st. Louis, Nov. 23.--Thirty negroes,
men, women and children, penned on
the second and third floors Of a burn
ing building at 1900 Morgan street at
five O'Clock Tuesday morning saved
themselves from death by jumping
from windows into tarpaulins held by
firemen, by cropping their way to the
street down smoke and ilame-hlled
stairways, and by climbing through q
scuttle TO the roof and thence to ad-
joining buildings to be taken down by
fremen.
-Four women, injured in their efforts
TO escape. are at the city hospital one
of them Is unconscious and will prob
ably die
Another, who discovered the fire, and
dashed into the building to arouse the
sleepers, has a broken leg. She was
imprisoned by the fire, forced to hang
out of window to escape smoke and
flames, and dropped from a third-story
ledge TO the ground.
The building is a lodging house
There are four rooms on each Of the
two top floors, and in these were hud-
died together the 30 tenants, half of
them being women and several being
children.
The fire originated near the center
of the third floor Lettie Brown, who
lives in the house, was returning home
from work st a restaurant and saw
the blaze. She gave the alarm, and
ran into the house to awaken the In
mates. Patroman McDermott, who
walks that beat heard her cries and
repeated them.
Patrolmen Grace and Silverman, who
were on adjoining beats, joined Nc
Dermott and ran to the stairs and
called to the occupants, all OF whom
seemed to be aroused,
When the fire department arrived
the windows we're filed with m and
women calling 20 be rescued Tar
paulins belonging to the Salvage corps
were pressed into service as life-nets,
and were held by the police and fire.
men.
Too excited TO walt for the arrival
of the hremen, Nancy Smith, aged 30,
Jumped from window of the third
floor, striking the sidewalk and frac-
turing her left hip.
Overcome by the smoke, Susie Bu-
chanan, aged 81, fell as she was crop
ing her way down the stairway from
the second story and dislocated her
wrist
When the fremen OF Engine Com
pany IS forced their way to the third
floor with a line OF hose they found
Lizzie Hubbard, so years old, lying
on the floor In a corner OF the room
unconscious from the dense smoke.
She was carried TO the street and
laid on a pile Of bedding that had
been thrown from the Window, and
the aremen quickly went to work with
hftl0ClHl TehplIdIoH !" 'H'h '"'' W
to rcyiey her while the ambulance was
on the way from the dlsponsary.
Charles Bass and HIS wifo, Nellie,
with their li.months-ola baby, were
on tho second floor when they were
awakened by one Of the dodgers. Fore
Ing their way through the smoke and
flames, with the baby In the mothers
arms, the trio reached the street, com
pletely exhausted from their Efforts.
They were taken to nearby house,
and an hour later were little the worse
for their experience,
Tho other dodgers reached place
OF safety by climbing 20 the roof, from
which they were taken on ladders
raised by the Gremen, by the stairway
to the street and by jumping into the
tarpaulns on the sidewalk.
Tho Are, which Is supposed to have
started from a lighted pipe or cigar
cropping into pile OF bedding, dam
aged ths building, which lB owned by
Mrs Mary Allen, to the extent OF
about $500, The contents suffered a
loss Of not over 800, according to tho
police