The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-08
STUDENTS PERISH AT FIRE.
CHI PSI FRATERNITY LODGE AT
CORNELL DESTROYED.
Four tudenis Burned TO Death and Three
Volunteer E1reMen Killed 10y Failing
WRlls-Acts OF IIerOism Building Was
Formerly the Fisk e. McGraw Mansion.

,he burning of the Chi Psi Fraternity lodge
at an early hour this morning seven pre-
cious lives were lost, SEQ 900 worth OF
property was DESTROYED and the finest fra
tarnitv house in the world was practically
demolished. Not since the days of the
fever epidemic has there been such a fear
ful disaster as that Of to-day. The entire
city and the whole university commun lty
are bowed in grief.
Seven men we're killed in this MORNINGS
terrible catastrophe. Six OF them died
almost Immediately, the other fingered
through the long hours Of the day only to
flicker away as twilight fell upon the city,
The dead are:
William Holmes Nichols Of Chicago, a
member Of the senior class of Cornell Uni
versity and the son Of a wealthy commits
sion merchant in Chicago. He was a MEM
Der of m any clubs and societies and an
editor Of the Comedian, which is the college
annual. A charred body has been found
in the ruins, but il il not yet known whether
it il his or that of Frederick W. Crelle Of
Fast Orange, n. j., who also persisted in the
flames.
Oliver Leroy SChmuk Of Hanover, Pa,
a senior in Cornell University, n member
of many clubs and very popular among his
classmates. He died in the Cornell Infirm-
airy within a few hours after the death Of
his roommate, Nichols.
Frederick W. Grelle of East Orange, y.
j.. a member of the freshman class. His
body has not yet been recovered.
James McCutcheon of Pittsburg, Pa,
a member of the sophomore class. substi-
tute halfback on the Cornell football team,
and very popular among his classmates.
The city of Ithaca has lost three gallant
fremen-Alfred c. Robinson. an attorney
and a member of the volunteer fire depart
ment: John Rumsey. son of a prominent
hardware merchant and "A member of the
volunteer fire company. and Estey J. Lam
den, foreman of the Empire State Furnish
ing Company and a member of the volun-
teer fire department. All of these men
were killed by the falling of the north wall
of the building while they were engaged
in the act ofetretching a hose on that side.
ORIGIN OF FIRE A MYSTERY.
Just how the fire started will probably
remain a mystery, but at half past 3 this
morning f. S. De Camp Of New York city. a
sophomore of Cornell and a member Of the
Chi Psi Fraternity. was awakened by the
smell of smoke. He rushed to the door of
his room, but found his escape cut of.
Running to the window. he slid down the
vines and reached the ground in safety.
He rushed to the nearby fraternity houses
and sent out the alarm. 1t was fully thirty
minutes after the fire had started before
the department reached the scene. The
campus fire fighting facilities were utterly
inadequate and it remained for the city
companies to make an attempt to check
the ~conhagration. but it was too late.
The fire started in the kitchen, which is
situated in the basement. Famed by a
wind from the west. which was blowing
easily at a forty mile an hour clip it soon
spread all over the house. First it climbed
! the rear stairway, and once in the lower
hall it jumped to the other side and in a
few minutes both staircases were a mass
Of flames. By the time the fire apparatus
had reached the scene the once magnificent
structure was a seething mass OF flame.
ACTS OF
Twenty-seven members of the fraternity
were sleeping upstairs. Az soon as they
awakened there was a scene Of wild confu-
sion, but the first thought of each man
was to save his roommate. And the story
of the calamity cannot be written in its
fullest details without mention OF the
acts of heroism which il brought forth.
Schmuck, a little, blue eyed, curly haired
youth Of %, gained everlasting glory by
rushing back into the seething furnace
after he had once reached safety outside
in a vain attempt TO rescue his roommate,
Mich OILS, who had long since met a terrible
death in the burning building. When
Schmuck was rescued his body was so
burned and blackened that II was almost
beyond recognition and he died within a
few hours.
Students from nearby fraternity houses,
Alpha Delta Phi, Phi Kappa Psi and Phi
Sigma Kappa. we're foremost in the attempt
Of rescue. Morris Halliday, fullback OF
last years varsity football team; Charles
Goodspeed of Columbus, Ohio, and Edward
L. Gibson Of Brooklyn, y. Y, distinguished
themselves by deeds Of valor. Seizing a
ladder, they placed it against the 'Slll, and
climbing over the slippery roof, reached the
almost lifeless body Of McCutcheon, who
had fallen there after a vain attempt TO
crawl 10 a place where he could attract
attention. They carried him carefully to
the ground. His body was so badly burned
that the fingers Of the rescuers sank into
his flesh when carrying him from the house.
Eddy Gibson and other members of the
football team broke into the windows and
res cued three unconscious students from
a fiery death. Many members of the Cor
nell faculty and every physician in town
we're on hand at an early hour TO aid in the
work of rescue.
MANY NARROW ESCAPES.
Many of the fraternity men had narrow
escapes. Clarence G. Bamberger Of New
York city, who roomed directly under
McCutcheon, made a rope out of the bed
clothing in his room and slid from the
second floor TO the ground in safety.
H. A. Uhrlin Of Milwaukee, Wis, while
climbing over the roof slipped and fell. He
landed on a small balcony and was knocked
unconscious. The cold air soon revived
him, and finding three sheets in a bedroom
adjoining he tied hem together and slipped
to the ground below. r. r. Powers of At
lanta, Ga, who was so burned that the skin
hung in strips from his fingers to his elbows
refused surgical attendance until all the
rest Of the men had been assisted.
Meanwhile the Ithaca fire department had
arrived and made a vain attempt to check