The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-03-14
VICTIMS TRAPPED
ON FIRE ESCAPES
Continued from First Page.

she pleaded with him to leave her on the
escape and go in after her little brother,
whom he had carried to the window
he had fallen unconscious and y was
roasting, she said. Bonner Jumped
thru the window, and it seemed to those
below as II ne was going into furnace.
He found the little boy just inside the
window and carried him out.
Fireman Hannigan repeated Bonner's
feat ON the third floor, rescuing Miss
Fannie Gifsberg. 4
- A woman, her nightdress blazing, was
seen to crawl out of a window and start
down the fire escape from the top floor
The hot iron blistered her feet and
burnt deep into her flesh, but she went
on. The scaling ladders were run up
close to the escape and fireman had
almost reached her, when "a belch of
flame covered her like a wave and bore
her down. She fell back and died in
sight Of the horror stricken crowd.
More and More Desperate.
The position of those who had taken
refuge on the rubbish choked fire es-
capes became more and more desperate
every minute. They feared to jump and
ladders reached them, so intense was the
heat. Now and then one would jump
to the ground with a scream.
baby was flung into the arms Of
policeman below by its fear-crazed
mother. Just as the policeman caught
the child, the mother dived to the
ground. Her body struck the police
man on the head, and he fell uncon-
scious:., The woman escaped injury by
The baby was unhurt.
r. Four Roasted to Death.
Death was.reaping harvest on other
fire escapes on the building as well at
this time. At the rear, two men and
two women were seen on the escapes.
The women came first and every step
box Of rubbish, often too heavy: for
them to- lift: The men would then
come to their assistance and hurl the
obstacle Into the yard. The quartet
were descending Slowly between the
third and fourth floors, when the flames
burst from the windows all about them.
The flames darted up from the floor
windows enveloping the two men and
women and they fell and were roasted
to death. The bodies were got down
by the fremen.
Thru the smoke another figure was
seen on the fire escape on the fifth floor.
No one could tell whether it was man or
woman. The clothes were afame. In
minute the victim sank to the escape
and diel.
Family Caught by Flames.
On the top Of the fire escape on the
other side Of the house lay three bodies,
Mrs. Solomon and her two sons, isaac
and JACOB. They had been overcome
by the flames. Two other members OF
the Solomon family were seen to look
from the windows and then fall back
in the burning building. The elder
Solomon, the husband and father. was
one Of those rescued by .Patrolman
Dwan. When he reached the street his
| whiskers had been burned off and he
wore nothing but underclothing. For
| more than an hour he wandered around
in this condition, seeking his family,
when he came upon the bodies after
| they had been removed from the fire
escape. AS he recognized the charred
bodies he broke into passionate weep
ing with agonized cries Of "Mein
kinder, mein KINDER
His experience was paralleled. by
dozens Of others in the, house. After
the fire was under control the street
was filed with half-dressed, weeping
| p1oring the fremen and policemen, to
the loved ones whom they believed per-
ished there.
One man whose family had been
| saved bewailed the loss of some jewelry
left in his apartment and begged a
fireman to save it for him.
How Mother Saved Babe.
The desperate resourcefulness of some
mother in her effort to save the lives
of her children was shown when a
bundle was seen to fall from a high
window in the burning building and
light gently upon heap of snow .. - In
the center of the bundle, wrapped
around by several thicknesses of blan-
kets and comforters, was found 4-year-
old boy who suffered not at all from his
unusual experience. The fate Of the
mother is not known.
Fire Chief Edward F. Croker said
the loss of life was mainly due to delay
in giving the alram. Eight minutes,
he said, elapsed after the fire started
| before the alarm was sounded. He
added that the fire escapes were shame
fully clogged and that it was the duty
| of the tenement commission and
the police department to have seen that
the law against fire escapes obstruction
was enforced.