Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-07
SIX LIVES LOST
AND OTHERS HURT
BADLY At CORNELL
Flames Burn Beautiful Frat
House and Kill Students
and Firemen.
CRUSHED BY THE WALLS
Some of the Students Show Rare
Heroism and Manage to
Save Lives.
BEGUN IN THE KITCHEN RANGE
Chi Psi Lodge Was the Handsomest
Building of Its Kind in the
Country-Home of Famous
Organization.
BEGUN IN THE KITCHEN RANGE


merly the residence of Prof. Will
lard Fiske, and later the home of
the Chi Psi Fraternity Lodge at Cor
nell University, was burned today,
with loss of life, and several STU
dents and fremen injured. The
mansion was the handsomest home
of a frat society in the United
States. Chief Justice Fuller, for
mer Speaker Reed and many other
distinguished men were members
of the fraternity. c. J. Bamberger
of Salt Lake City and Robert
Turner of Pittsburg were among
the heroes which the fire developed.
Special Dispatch to The Star.
ITHACA, n. Y, December six lives
Were lost and six persons were seriously in
jured. two of whom will die, in the burning
of the Chi Psi Fraternity Lodge. one of the
group of buildings of Cornell University
this morning. Some of the dead are fire.
men. who were crushed by the falling walls
of the historic old structure and others are
students. The dead so far as known now
are:
Fred GreIler, student, Orange, N. ].
William Holmes Nichols of Chicago, H.,
a Cornell senior. who was burned to DEATH
body recovered.
Esty ]. Landon, forty-five years old. vol
unteer fireman, foreman of the Empire
State Housefurnishing Company; killed by
falling wall.
Alfred C. Robinson, thirty years DID, at
torney and volunteer fireman.; killed by
falling wall.
John Rumsey, twenty-eight years old
volunteer fireman. son of Charles j. Rum
sey of Ithaca killed by falling wall.
o. l.. Schmuck of Hanover Pa: died at
Q o'clock. of burns. in the Ithaca city hos
pital
Schmuck was the victim of his own hero
ism. McCutcheon was substitute fullback
on the Cornell foot ball team. and played a
part In the Princeton foot ball game in this
city this season.
James McCutcheon of Pittsburg, Pa, bad
ly burned; in the Cornell Infirmary; expect
ed to die.
Henry Milo Curry of Pittsburg, Pa, Sc
riously burned; in the Cornell Inflrmary
Weiner Goetz of Milwaukee, Wis. in the
Ithaca City Hospital suffering from serious
burns and a broken ankle.
Clarence Pope of East Orange n. j., in
the Cornell Infirmary; painfully burned but
will recover
The old mansion. situated on the side of a
Hill amid the most picturesque surround
ings, was ready fuel for the flames. The
fire is believed to have had its origin in
the kitchen range. 1t spread with great
rapidity up the stairways, mushrooming out
on the upper floors and cut off the escape
of the students on the second and third
floors in that direction.
Some Time Before Discovery.
1t was some time before the fire was dis
covered and an alarm had been turned in
for the Ithaca volunteer fremen. When
they arrived sheet OF flame was shooting
upon the college campus, lighting up the
surrounding group of buildings so that ev-
tlylnlng was as wei Illuminated as IL II
had been daylight, instead of o'clock in
the morning.
Schmuck had already got clear of the
building when he suddenly remembered
that he heard nothing of his roommate,
who shared quarters with him on the third
floor He ran back to find him, cropping his
way through the smoke, and when he
reached the third floor the flames burst
forth near him that he was obliged to
jump from a window to the ground.
He struggled back and managed after
great difficulty to reach the third floor
calling TO his room mate as he went. All
this time the flames roared nearer
and nearer, and finally burst out directly
behind him. Schmuck searched for a win
dow but before he discovered one his cloth
ing had caught. When he did find a win
dow and jumped he fell TO the college
campus all afire from head to foot and
was seriously hurt, in addition to being
burned, by his contact with the ground.
three stories below. He lay there uncon-
scious until fellow students of his found
him and. picking him up. carried him away
for medical treatment.
Lanes of Fire.
When the students the second floor
had been aroused by the cracking of the
flames and the heavy volume of smoke
which found their way into the room. they