The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-03-27
Spectacular fire EndangerS
 Hundreds of Lives
SIXTY GIRLS ARE RESCUED
Among the Men Killed Was Foreman Walsh, Who Did So Much to Quell the Great Bati-
 more Fire.

New York March 26-F'our firemen perished and about score of tiremen and citizens were injured today in fire accompanied by d series of explo- sions that demolished a six-story factory building at Bedford and Downing streets. That the damage which Is estimated from $9o0.OOO to S4o0.OOO was not far greater was declared by Chief Croker to be due to the explosions which shattered the building and crushed the blaze beneath tons of debris at the moment when the flames were completely beyond control and threatening to sweep the entire block
 One fireman was taken out of the building alive, but died almost immedi- ately. The bodies of his comrades were recovered after the fire was over, crushed under the wreckage.
 The dead:
 Foreman John Walsh.
 Fireman George C.. Christian.
 Fireman Thomas L. Halpin.
 Fireman J. Healy, all of Engine Co. No. 14
 Bremen Jacob Cohen and L. F. Call, also of Engine Co. No. H. were burned and bruised, and later removed to the hospital The other persons injured were for the most part employees in the fac tory, dwellers in the adjacent tenements and persons passing in the streets, who were struck by falling brick or glass. None of these was seriously hurt.
 Three Hundred in the Building.
 Three hundred men and women were in the factory building during the lunch hour when a slight explosion occurred on one of the upper floors, and almost instantly the whole structure was en- veloped in flames. Some had time to reach the street by the stairs, but the greater number was compelled 10 take refuge on the fire escapes, where they remained huddled together and imploring assistance until the fire apparatus ar rived Before the ladder could be run up, policemen, firemen and volunteers formed a human pyramid against the front wall of the factory and in this way handed down to safety upwards of sixty girls who were clinging to the fire es- capes on the second floor Others jumped into the life-saving nets, or on piles of bedding hastily gathered and heaped on the sidewalks. Within ten minutes all the occupants of the building had been taken out in safety and unhurt, save for minor injuries.
 Tenement Building Crushed.
 Four alarms were rung in rapid sue cess, and several hundred policemen were rushed to the scene to control the panic stricken crowds that thronged all the streets In the vicinity of the factory All the adjoining tenements were ordered va cated, and this task had barely been ac- complished when a topping wall crashed
 in the upper portion or row of seven tenements in Carmine street. A moment later the flames shot across the street setting fire to row of buildings. Bremen Buried Under Debris. Hardly had the flames enveloped the buildings which occurred within few minutes after the outbreak, than a ter rife explosion occurred, followed in rapid succession by four more. the last of such violence as to shake buildings for blocks around With the last detonation, what remained of the walls fell inward, the flames which a moment before was shooting up hundred feet into the air Forty minutes after the blaze showed itself all that remained of the huge build ing was a glowing heap of wrecked floors. walls and beams beneath which were buried the bodies of the four fire men.
 Foreman Walsh was born In this city in 1864 and 1t was he who had charge or the New York fire brigade that aided so materially in stopping the great Balti- more fire in 1904