The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-02-15
OLD GROYEST, SCHOOL BURNED
ASST. JiNITOR LIFTS 20 GIRLS
TO SAFETY THROUGH WINDOW.
Fire Broke Out an Hour AFTER Glasses
We're Dlsmissed-Chldren sim In
Annex, but None Hurt-Lafayette
Visited Public school on same site.

/
Annex. but None Hurt-Lafayette
Visited Public school on same site.
The old Grove street public school. known
as School 3, at the corner of Hudson and
| Grove streets. was Quilted by fire yesterday
| afternoon. The fire broke out at a few
| minutes after o'clock. Had II been an
hour earlier the 300 children who attended
! the school would have been in their class
rooms The fire swept rapidly from the
! first to the fifth floor and the efforts OF the
! hremen had little effect for over an hour.
Andrew II. Scoble OF 80 King street,
a tenement house inspector saw the smoke
coming out of the first floor windows as
he passed the school. he raced for the
nearest alarm box. Before he could reach
the box he slipped and fell. breaking his
right arm. but he got pluokly to his feet
and sent in the alarm
At about the same time Janitor Hammer
who was at work in the basement, smeled
the smoke and going 70 the first floor,
rang the fire gong which sounds through
the whole building lie believed that all
children and teachers were out, but he
was taking no chances Miss Egbert, the
principals clerk had remained in her
room on the third floor to do some work.
With her was another teacher Hearing
the gong, they started down the stairs.
but, meeting the smoke, turned back and
went down the fire escape, reaching the
street without difficulty.
Nearly all the children had left the build
ing and the cleaners were at work As
sistant Janitor Charles Hutchinson says
that he was working on the third floor
when he smelled the smoke and at the same
time heard the patter of feet in an adjoining
room. He opened the door and round
twenty badly frightened little girls whose
! retreat down the main stairway was cut
! off. He picked up the two smallest he
says. and, ordering the others 10 follow,
! led the way to an annex III the rear and
down 10 the first floor, where. finding the
| door locked, he opened a window and lifted
! the children out through II. Meanwhile
200 children who We're in the school annex
rooms had escaped without difficulty
| Mary Leach, cleaner, lost her head at
sight OF the smoke and was about to jump
! from a window on the Grove street side
Of the school when she was seen by Charles
Winters. a roofer, whose shop is nearby.
Winters called to the woman to wait and
ran back for a ladder. When the ladder
was in position. the woman. who weighs
close to 200 pounds did not wait TO lie res
cued. but scrambled down uuaided and
made the last few feet with rush SO that
the rungs broke under Der weight She
was unhuH,
BY the time the firemen arrived the
flames were shooting from the windows
on the Hudson and Grove street sides and
a second and third alarm were rling in rapid
succession. As the flames gained head
way, the interest Of the crowd centred
in a large flag that hung from a staff pro-
jectng from the third story on the Hudson
street side. Every time the flag caught
fire the fircmen stopped long enough to
wet it down and every time The flag was
saved the crowd Cheered wildly.
Chief Croker arrived shortly after the |
third alarm was sent in, For a time there |
was danger that pawnshop on the north |
side of the school would catch fire, and the !
Chief set force TO work 10 prevent the !
flames from spreading to it. They succeeded !
after a hard fight. and the place escaped |
with a slight sCorching and flood Of water /
The house at 1903 Bedford street, directly
in the rear Of the main school building,
was filed with smoke, and the tenants fled /
without waiting for further warning, but
there was no danger on that side.
At sos o'clock there was sharp explo-
sion which seemed 10 come from the third
floor The onlookers were considerably
startled, but Cmet Croker never turned a |
It's only a small boiler saying good-by,"
he said, and IT has done no damage what
ever.
The men were now at work on three
sides Of the building, and were slowly
getting the upper hand Of the fire. The
Intense cold added to their difficulties and
the old non freproof building burned
stubbornly. The entire main building was
Quilted and tho annex was damaged by
smoke and water. Chief Croker estimated
the damage at $4,000
SUPERINTENDENT Of Schools Maxwell said
last night that between 1900 and 1000
pupils attended Public School 3. but that !
| thew would all be taken care of this morning
-Only last February he said Public
School III, at 80 Vestry street, was ab n
! doned because ii was old and antlquated.
| II il hut a short distance from the burned
school 1t will be reopened Immediately
! and will accommodate 100 or 500 pupils. We
/ will try TO squeeze in 900. The other
| pupils will be distributed among the other
| schools of the neighborhood many OF them
/ in all likelihood. on half or part time.
/ Mr. Maxwell said that the school which
/ had burned was one Of the Oldest in the city
II was 90 or 70 years old, he said, but many
additions TO 1t had been built in recent
/ years.
Several times Of hte years. he said he
had advocated that the building be torn
down and a modern structure put up IN
/ its place Now. he said, the city would be
obliged to build a modern sohoolhouse.
| Plans for the new building viii be begun
this morning by c. B. j. Snyder. the archi-
tsct of the Department Of Education. 1t
will be built on the site Of the old school.
A meeting Of the teachers employed in
tho burned school has been called for this
morning. The pupils will then bc located
and assigned TO otheer schools.
Tho Grove street school occupies the site
of the first public school built In New York
The old school was built IN 1871, cost s, 100
and was shown TO Gen. LAFAYETTE as a model
school building when he visited the country
in iS24-25.
The building just destroyed was put mp
In lsOO 1t also was considered n model
structure. II bad ten exits, nine iron fire
escapes and four stone staircases The
annex was built within the last twelve |
wears A tablet concentrating I.afayctte's (
visit was to have been placed IN the school
in the next few days It's unveiling would
have been part OF tho celebration Of the
Tooth anniversary Of the founding Of the
public schools in New York, which takes
place next Monday.
Norse-DodEe Argument Goes over.