Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-09
FIVE FIRES CREATE
PANIC IN GOTHAM
Vaudeville Performer is Arrest
ed as the Incendiary.
ONE WOMAN LOSES LIFE
Rumors Spread About the Neighbour
hood Causing Night of Terror.
MANY HOTEL GUESTS AROUSED
There Were Numerous Marrow Es-
capes and Daring Rescues of the
Tenants by Firemen.
ONE WOMAN LOSES LIFE
Rumors Spread About the Neighbour
hood Causing Night of Terror.
MANY HOTEL GUESTS AROUSED

NEW YORK, November 9.-one woman Is
dead. a man is in hospital suffering from
severe burns, 1000 persons fed from their
home in panic and thousands more passed a
sleepless night as a result of a series of in
cendiary fires in the two blocks bounded
by Goth and G1st streets and Columbus and
West End avenues early today. Scores OF
persons whose lives were endangered by the
confiagration were rescued by firemen. In
all there We're five fires, every one of them
incendiary, between midnight and 3 o'clock
this morning
The woman who lost her life was Mrs.
Caroline Swain, seventy years old. She
lived at 1O7 West Goth street adjoining one
of the buildings which was fired. She died
of heart failure, induced by fright.
Adrian Tompklns is in a hospital with his
hands and feet severely burned a result
of climbing down a redhot fire escape. He
is in serious condition.
Excitement Over to Broadway.
The rapidly succeeding fires, the crowds
of evicted tenants and the terrifying rumors
spread through the neighborhood, with the
constant appearance and temperance OF
the fire engines, and the big squads of
police raised the people throughout the
vicinity TO a high state of excitement, which
did not lessen until daylight brought
measure OF assurance that the ineendiarism
was stopped for while. The excitement
spread even to Broadway. and in the Marie
Antionette. Ansonia. Empire and other big
hotels in the neighborhood of Lincoln
Square the guests Were aroused by the conn
motion In the st. Paul Hotel at the south
east corner of 6lst street and Columbus
avenue and the Hotel Hudson, at gid
street. both close to the fires, all the guests
were aroused and few slept at all during
the night.
All Flat Houses.
All the houses where the fires occurred
were fiat houses. Three of them were &C.
cupied by whites and two by negroes. Most
of the tenants were i'm bed when the fires
broke out, and escaped TO the streets in
the scantiest clothing.
The first fire was in flve-story tenement
house at 1O5 West Goth street. occupied
by five families, all of whom escaped. Mrs.
Caroline Swain, the woman whose death
was induced by fright, lived in the ad-.
joining house and had been taken by her
daughter to a window in preparation for
fight from the house when she collapsed
and died.
The firemen were still busy fighting that
fire when the second blaze began at 1877
West Goth street. in a lot of rubbish in the
basement. All the tenants escaped.
At the third fire at 215 West Goth street
there were several narrow escapes and
daring rescues of the tenants. vi lliam
| Murray, who lived on the third floor car
ried out FIVE of his children. and James
Smith, a spectator. went into the house
and brought the Murphy child down to the
second floor and jumped with il in his
arms to the sidewalk. Another specta-
tor caught them both. The child was I'M
hurt An aged negro was carried out by
other spectators.
Vaudeville Performer Arrested.
An hour later the fourth fire was discov-
cred a block north at 249 West 6fst street.
1t was quickly extinguished.
The fifth ard worst of the fires was dis
covered at 10 West 61st street at am,
while the street was still thronged with
frightened and excited people. There were
twenty apartments in the building. and the
escape of the occupants of the upper floors
was cut off by blaze in the lower hall.
The tenants were so dazed that they were
in danger of losing their lives when police
men and firemen went up on the fire
capes and brought them down Adrian
Tompkins who lived on the top floor. lin
gered so long that he was painfully burned
while climbing down the fire escape
In each case the firemen quickly stopped
the progress of the flames. The loss was
about $4,000
Frank Morris of Boston. a vaudeville per-
former, was arrested suspicion of set
ting the fires. The police allege that in
when they fed from their apartments Nor
ris was the first person they met.
When Morris, whose home Is in Boston,
was arraigned in police court, Fire Marshal
Prial expressed the opinion that he
mentally irresponsible, and asked the mag
istrate to commit the boy to Bellevue Hos
pital for five days for examination. The
magistrate, however, refused, and held
Morris in $4,000 bail for further examiRa-
ton on Sunday.