The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1905-03-15
Death FLAMES
New York Tenement House
Fire
MANY ARE ROASTED
Nineteen Persons Dead and Over
Two Score Are Badly
Injured
BRAVERY OF THE FIREMEN
Two Hundred Persons Were Herded in
Five. Story Tenement House When
Flames from an Overturned Lamp
Spread Throughout the Structure.


sons dead. two score injured, some so
seriously that they may die. and nearly
200 persons temporarily homeless, Is
in brief the story Of New York's latest
fire horror. The victims Of the disaster
were typical East Side people; the
scene, n typical tenement, and the in
cidents attending II were in many ways
peculiar to that cosmopolitan quarter
To the apparently reckless displays Of
heroIsm shown by hremen, policemen
and volunteer rescuers alone Is due the
fact that the number OF dead is not
greater
Two hundred persons, herded In the
Ibig flve-storied double-decker tene'
ment house, were sleeping when flames
from an overturned or exploding kero-
senc lamp In the basement spread
Throughout the structure and wrapped
the entire building in flames, almost
before an alarm had been sounded.
Even when the sleepers awoke, at the
first cry. II was almost too late. The
long narrow iron fire escapes which
ran down the building on each side of
It's exposed walls had been made reeep-
tacles OF rubbish of all descriptions,
and IN many cases they We're little bet
ter than useless. II was found also
that every fire-escape platform on the
building had In II blind" or a square
piece Of board which fits into the open.
Ing through which the ladder passed
In the grated floor. The result of these
obstructed escapes was evident when
It was found that nearly all of the dead
belonging on the top floor of the build
ling were roasted before they were able
to reach the ground.
Another case of negligence which
was responsible for some lives was an
immense movable skylignt at the head
OF a ladder leading to the roof Bat
tened securely and partially covered by
ice, this skylight resisted all efforts
to force It, and pile of the bodies of
the dead lay under 1t when the nor,
ror was over.
Heroes developed at this time. Lieu.
tenant, Bonner son of the former fra
chief ascended the now red-hot fire
escape five times. Four times he came
down with a woman or child in his
arms. The flfth time he was making
for the street with an unconscious wo-
man when his strength gave way He
staggered and would have fallen to
death had not comrade come to his
assistance.
AS Bonner reached the fourth story
window on one of his escents and
dragged little girl from a window
where she stood surrounded by flames
she pleaded with him to leave her on
the scape and go In after her little
brother, whom she had carried to the
window. He had fallen unconscious
and was roasting, she said, Bonner
jumped through the window and 1t
seemed to those below as II he was
going into n furnace. He found the lit
tie boy just inside the window and
carried him out.
Fireman Hannigan repeated Bonner's
feat on the third floor, rescung Miss
Fannie Gmsberg,
A woman, her night dress blazing,
was seen to crawl out Of 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 continued on. The scaling ladders
were. run up close to the escape and a
fireman had almost reached her, when