New-York tribune., 1905-02-15
GROVE-ST. SCHOOL BURNED
u1TRBRE4DTH ESCAPES.
r,nlosion Docs Mach Damage
The Building a Landmarks.

Yesterday destroyed the old Grove-st.
-, FOR many years landmark of the 9th
- II broke out little more than half
ofter the children had been dismissed
81 e,o,ock Most of the teachers had gone
~ ~, several teachers and some pupils
boD@ "a heen kept after school were in the
building coo -. ,.,.
o,,s and. had the fire started hour be-
- = aid start. the loss of life might have
= onnalling. for most of the exits were cut
: - tbe flames. and the fire spread with great
rapidity- .,,.,o. .,,,o,
.-oa the windows of nearby houses and
..-,,h;nc in the burning building but the
art Of The walls crashing to the base
- There we're many hairbreadth escapes
-onortes but no lives were lost All through
,be Gre an American flag few from the high
.aes1af on the building. cheered by the crowds
- intervals when the smoke and flames drifted
- one side and il few out on the breeze.
There are many contradictory reports as to
the number Of persons in the building when the
Are broke out. but there were probably not more
-ban twenty-fve in all. most of them children.
when the principal. Henry E. Jenkins. left the
huading at $50 O'Clock there WAS no sign of
IRE few minutes later Charles Hammer. the
cantor. discovered lively blaze in the girls
cloak room on the first floor.
On the third ioor one of Hammers assistants,
Edward Jones, was at work. Charles Hutchin-
son. another assistant and Mary Leach, the
rnarron were on the second floor. Scattered
sbrough the building were several teachers and
.rom fifteen TO twenty pupils. AS soon as Ham
rner saw the blaze he rushed through the build
ing shouting a warning and ordering every one
out through the annex. smaller brick building
fronting in Bedford-st. 1t is connected with
The main building by passages protected by
corrugated sheet iron. By the time Hammer
reached the street floor again the two lower
floors ana main stairway were ablaze On his
way downstairs he tried to ring an alarm from
the box in the building, but it was out OF or
der. He yelled to a passing fireman. who gave
an alarm from the box on the street corner.
There are many accounts as to how those in
The building escaped. Frank Brecker. employed
81 No 49S Hudson-st-, says he saw five teachers
with two small girls and a boy come out of the
main exit in Hudson-st. Hutchinson, the jan
itor's assistant. found eight or ten children in
classroom on the second floor and piloted then
through the smoke filled carridors into the an
mex The doors were locked, so he smashed
window the first floor and passed the chill
dren out through the hole Three womer
teachers went out through the same window
Jones and a man teacher got out through the
main stairway leading to Hudson-st.
Three alarms were sent in. The iremen
agreed that the blaze was the quickest 10 spread
they had ever seen in a brick building strong
nerthwesterly wind famed the flames. The
annex was saved with great difficulty
Families from several nearby houses were
turned out
The explosion was from one of the two boilers
in the basement At g o'clock the fire was
under control Chief Croker estimated the dam
age at $4,000 or more
One fireman said afterwarG:
All the fire drills in the world could not have
prevented terrible loss Of life the way that
building burned. This city is lucky for this
aHair was just as fortunate when the Casino
burned Just before the audience was due.
Mr.. Jenkins. the principal, said:
The original Grove-st. school. which was one
of the best known in New-York, was erected in
9bll this same site and this building was
pult The building was equipped with ever
possible safeguard against fire. We had an ef-
icient hre drill. fire extinguishers. alarm boxes
two iron fire escapes and eight stairways. ali
substantially constructed
beileVe We could have emptied that building
.ltlin tWo minutes after the discovery of the
aIe. we DO not wait for very alarming symp-
poihs ueIore sounding the fire drill. slight
ooor OF smoke. the mere hint of a fire. or even
IRE IN nearby building. leads to the sound
ing OF the fire gOngs and the marching of the
ohidren TO the streets.
He estimated the loss at more than $4,000.
Among those who were graduated from the
school is Admiral Melville When Lafayette
visited this country in 1924 a reception was
given IN the school building.
s-