Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1904-02-05
IR0QU0IS FIRE HEROINE
How Carrie Anderson Saved
Many at Chicago Disaster.
PRISONER ON A HIGH ESCAPE.
with Foot Caught and EnveIoped In
the Flames, which BADLY Burned
Her, She Guided "a Ladder Across
which Many Scrambled to safety.
Rescued with Others.


Rescued with Others.
At the Samaritan hospital in Chicago,
her head and left side swathed In
bandages. lay Carrie Anderson, the
child whose deed of heroism at the
lroQuois fire was recounted in brief
during the corOner's inquest. but whose
name was never learned until the other
day. says the Chicago Record Herald.
Through the steadfast bravery of this
fourteen-year-old girl at least fifty lives
were saved on the fatal afternoon. She
it was who, despite the fact that her
entire left side was being Tapped by
flame. caught the end of the ladder
thrown across the alley from the
Northwestern University building and
guided it 10 firm resting place on the
fire escape of the second balcony.
Across this ladder many men, women
and children scrambled to safety from
the inferno behind them.
She was In the balcony with her
mother. who was employed as cleaner
at the theater. and while she escaped
her mother perished. The child does
not know yet that her mother is dead
and thinks that she is merely badly in
jured.
Il was in the highest balcony with
mamma she said in recounting her
experiences TO a reporter, ''and when
the fire began jumped up and tried to
pull mamma with me- We got to the
fire escape all right and got out on it.
| had hold of mamma but she did not
reach the open air out Of all the smoke
with me- and | saw her kind of fall
back. know she got hurt, because
she has not been TO see me.
Il fell on the escape, and my foot
got caught so that could not stand up
| was lying on my right side. and the
fire burned me dreadful on my left
arm and leg and head. but | was too
excited to think much of that then.
There were only two other people on
the escape with me. One was woman
down below me who couldn't do any
thing and perhaps she was dead. Just
beside me was Il man. He kept moan
ing all the time.
"'You don't realize what this is, little
girl lie said to me. and then a few
minutes after he began groahing and
crying to God. That was when | was
burning, and he was too. All this time
| had my foot so tightly caught
couldn't move to get farther away from
the wicked fire; but. anyway, there was
no place TO go unless | jumped down
into the alley. where could see people
away below me. Then the man lay
very still and the fire was worse over
u.s.
Then all of sudden saw ladder
in the air coming from the building op-
posite u.s. | don't know how caught
the ladder because can't remember
anything clearly after that everything
hurt so. But | caught it some way.
and then men came across to me and
pulled me out from where my foot was
fastened They dragged me across the
ladder and whole lot of people came
after u.s.
After her splendid deed Carrie was
taken into the Northwestern building
and given temporary relief. Then she
was hurried to the Samaritan hospital.
Carries family Is Norwegian, both
her father Axel Anderson. bricklayer,
and her grandmother having been born
in Christiania. Her mother was also a
Norwegian girl, who came to America
from her native land to marry young
Anderson. who had reached Chicago
three years previous to her arrival in
1885 and who had been her sweetheart
in Norway. The little heroine herself
was born in Chicago and lives with her
grandmother and father in that city.