Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1906-10-27
MANY LIVES LOST
IN KANSAS CITY FIRE
Over Two Hundred People En-
trapped by Blaze.
WHICH DESTROYS BIG BUILDING
Men and Women Perish Jumping
From Windows-Unknown Infant
Frenzied Mother.


Kansas City, Oct. Pin the
ruins Of the Chamber Of Commerce
building, Kansas City, Kan, de-
stroyed by fire early Thursday, there
are anywhere from half dozen to
30 bodies, according to estimates
given out Thursday morning by fire
men who had worked at the scene all
night.
On the other hand, Assistant Fire
Chief Lind, at 8 o'clock Thursday
morning, insisted that the dead would
not reach over eight.
At s o'clock Thursday morning the
body of E. o. Young, a laborer, was
removed from the ruins. Young had
lived on the fourth floor with his
family. The fate of his family is not
known.
The actual loss cf life will not be
known until a thorough search of tn
ruins can be made, probably not then,
as some of the firemen assert that
many bodies must have been burned
to ashes.
The building, used as tenement
house and containing 100 rooms, held
as near as can be learned between
200 and 900 persons at the time the
fire broke out, at 1890 Thursday
morning.
Most of these composed families,
many others were transients, whose
names are unknown. The only per-
son who knows the actual number Of
occupants of the building is the jan
itor, who is missing.
1t was the custom for many of the
transients, who came mostly from
the nearby railroad yards, not to
register, and thus all trace of them
is lost for the time being.
Only a thorough search of the ruins,
that may take days, will finally re-
veal the exact extent of the catas-
trophe.
At 8 O'Clock Thursday morning the
known dead numbered four.
John Lynch, driver of a sand wag-
on, lost his life trying to save the
Sparks baby
An unknown babe was fatally hurt,
dropped from the second floor to a
policeman, who failed to catch her.
Twenty five others were injured
while trying to escape from the build
ing.
The Chamber of Commerce build
ing was situated at Park and Cen
trail streets, in the Riyerview dis
trict of Kansas City, Kan. 1t was
erected IA years ago at a cost of
$S5 900, to be used as a board of
trade The city grew away from it,
however, and it was never used for
it's original purpose, but for many
years had been occupied as an apart
ment house. The structure was 4
stories in height and built of brick
and stone alone.
1t contained 100 rooms, almost all
of which, as far as can be learned !,
were occupied by families, individual
laborers, railroad employees and oth7
ers at the time of the fire.
The fire broke out on the ground
floor from some unknown cause at
1890 o'clock. Isolated as it was
the burning building was difficult of
access and it was some time before
the fire department reached the scene
Several companies were at a fire in
another part of the city.
When the f1remen arrived the en-
tire building was in flames and all
means of escape by stairways for
the score of occupants was shut off
On two sides of the building the
elevated railway tracks hemmed it in
ana made still harder the work OF
the ffremen. Then another obstacle
arose. The ffremen did not have
sufficient ladders and many of those
they had were too short to reach the
upper stories.
A sitting smoke filed the building
evidently coming from the burning
stock of merchandise on the floor be-
low and some of the occupants prob
ably were never able to leave their
rooms.
a When the hremen arrived at che
burning building they saw men hang
ing from windows of the upper floors
and frantic women with babies in
their arms and children clinging tc
them, leaning far out from the win
dows unable to find any means of es-
cape and yet taking advantage OF
the little fresh air which the windows
aEcrdad