Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-03-15

Her body struck the policeman square
~ on the hc;tI with Il iCrcc of Il pile
driver and h. fell unconscious. The
woman ESCAPED unhurt by the fall but
she had been badly burned. The baby
was not hurt a. all.
Death VAS rcapinS q harvest on other
lire ESCAPES Oh the building as well al
this time.
AT the rear two men ana two women
wcr,. seen ,,n tic escapes. The WoIn"l
came first ald every &t"E they mad.
was blocked by some can OF box o:
rubbish. often too ht>tvy FOR them II
lift. The men would then come to then
assistance and hurl The obstacle into
the yard. The quartet We're descending
slowly between the ihirG and fourtiI
floors when The flames hurst from Tho
windows all aDnLt them. They darted
from the third floor y hon cnveloped i'll
flames and went to their death. The
lodieS were found BY ircmen. just It
iris time thrr" was L -rY Of a person
l.. ing burned an the Gfth floor Of the
ESCAPE no on" coulG tell whether a
man or Woman. Tho escape was aii&n1e.
Tie ncmcn s;-w the victim sink ana
die.
on tho top Of the FIRE escape ut the
Other side of the house lay three bodies,
Mrs Solomon ana her two sons lsaa'.
and Jacob. The crowd on the street htl
seen the mother and her two sons con-.
from their apartments, the mother FIRST
and the sons following, each holding to
hrr ana trying to help her. A blast Of
wind drove the flames onto them and the
mother and sons fell on the fire escip.
and were burned TO death. Two other
members Of til" solomon family were seen
| to look from the windows and then fell
| back into the burning building. They
were not seen again.
The elder solomon. the husband and
| IatI:cr, was one OF those rescued by Pa
| trolrran nHan. When he reached tn.
| street his WHISPERS nId been burned of
| and he wore nothing but Understandings
| For more than an hour ne had been wan
| dcrirg around in this condition searching
| for his family when he cane upon tho
| bodies after they had been removed from
| the fire ESCAPE. As he recognized the
| chlrrcd bodies H. broke into passionate
weeping. with asonizcd cries of .AI"in
| Finder. Mci1, K.rder-." His experience
WIS l;.rlllrled b.! dozens of others in the
| house
| After til" fire WIS under control the
street VAS Filled with half-drossad weep
ing people seeking FIR their relatives i'm
piorin% iir"m'n and police to 80 into IT,"
| burning building ana rescue tine lost ones
whOm they believed 10 he pcrIShing there
| I"t one man whose f:nliir had been saw
| ed bcwaied the loss OF some jcwelry left
| III his apartment and begged a fireman to
| save it for him.
The desperate rcsourccfulncss of some
| mother in her effort to saw" the lives of
those she most loved was shown when a
| clumsy bundle was seen to fall from Il
| high window in the burning building and
al!2ht on a heap of snow. In the center
| Of IL" bundle wrapped up in several thick
blankets an'i comfortcrs, was found a 4
N'-tr-old boy who suffered not at all from
his unusual experience. The fate of the
| mother is rot known.
One cause of the terrible loss of life
WAS due to negligence in faiing to keep
the skylight door free and clear. 1t was
not only fastened tight but also frozen
AZ tho flames rushed up the stairs the
tenants dashed for the roof. They found
the door which should have swung easily
open. to be fastened down. In vain the
men ard women pushed ard struggled
| against it. Scorched by the terrible heat
| they fought and clawcd TO get the bar
rier up. Finally, unable to open it. and
wcdccd in Ivy the stirSinc mass below.
they were burned to death.
In reply to the comment of Fire Chief
Croker, Police Commissioner McAdoo
SAID
The fire was discovered hy TIE notice
rs speedily as il could he under any pnsSi-
hle circumstances. 1t was we'll handled
and the police are nowise Responsible for
the occurrence or the loss of life which
resulted. :"
Cf the five unidentified bodies. one has
been recognized as that of Harry ZedIer
50. and another is Thought to he that of
Rachel Zcidlcr. aged L. 1t is possible
that III" other three bodies will never H..
Identified. Apparently every person
knoan to hay" been in the house when
be fire started has boon accounted for
ana ii is hclirVtd these three victims were
visitors with some of the families who
lived There. The bodies were - badly
burned that they are practically nrecoc-
niZ;,!lr.