Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-03

the LADDER" Mrs. McKeldin asked Fireman
Sullivan later when she returned to her
apartments.
II guess I'm the one." was his modest
response.
"Then you must be the man I Rugged so
tightly" she added.
The fireman blushed and nodded his
head. which was taken as admission Of
guilt
Then. If you are Mrs. McKeldIn re-
marked, come here and let me hug you
again."
Started in Furnace Room.
The fire started in the furnace room in
the cellar shortly after the janitor, George
Mathews, and his wife had departed from
the building. The former was not feeling
well. and had gone to procure medicine.
his wife proceeding to an adjoining build
ing to clean Office rooms. Mrs. Mckeldin
detected the odor of smoke and started to
investigate. AS soon she opened the
door leading to the hallway the room filled,
with smoke and made it difficult for her
or her husband to find their way through
their apartments
Mrs. McKeldin rushed to the front win
dow and shouted loudly for assistance.
while her husband made a rope of the bed
window. During the excitement, and being
almost blinded by smoke. the husband
failed to notice that the blaze had made
it's way from the basement through the
rear part of The Vogue, the store of A.
Minister, and that the lowering of Mrs. Nc
Keldin from that window might have
proved disastrous. The loud cries of Mrs.
McKeldin attracted the attention of pc
destrians and policemen, and an alarm was
sounded from box 145, summoning several
companies Of the fire department.
Hurried to Third Floor.
When the truck company reached the
house the occupants of the third floor were
not to be seen, but those who had gathered
about the burning building told the firemen
that Mr.. and Mrs. McKeldin were still in
their apartments Fireman Sullivan was
acting captain of the company. and as soon
the ladder was raised he hurried to the
third floor of the building. He went
through the front room to the door that
separates the two rooms, but the smoke
was so dense that he mad to return to the
window for air. He saw that Mr.. McKeldin
was all right, so he called Where is the
woman?"
Here I am" Mrs. McKeldin, who was
nearly suffocated. replied, weakly.
Mrs. McKeldin had tried to reach the
water to wet towel. but had not succeed
ed and was crawling on the floor. Fireman
Sullivan, who had been followed to the
apartments by Logan Willard, raised Mrs.
Mckeldin and carried her to the window,
She was almost exhausted. Reaching the
front window, the fireman started to de-
scend the ladder with the woman, but the
latter's skirt caught in a hook that was
ress for an instant The descent was then
made without further delay. the husband
of the woman following the couple down
the ladder.
Rescuing the Occupants.
The work of rescuing the occupants of the
apartment having been accomplished, Fire
man Sullivan joined in the attack on the
flames. The firemen connected with the
several engine companies were also actively
engaged upon the work of saving the build
ing and contents, and preventing the blaze
from spreading to other property. In a re-
markedly short while after the start of the
fire the flames made their way to the top
of the rear building. and took complete pos
session of the cellar. The fire was a stub
born one, and considerable time was re-
Quired in getting it under control. Chief
Belt and Assistant Chief Wagner were
upon the scene. directing the movements
of the men. It was their idea to prevent
as much damage as possible to the building
and contents and when they realized that
the firemen had the flames well under con-
troll they saw to 1t that unnecessary
water was thrown into the building.
+ It was impossible for the firemen to
save anything in the cellar, as 1t was nee
essary for them to flood that part of the
building. Because Of the spreading of the
flames to the Vogue 1t was necessary to
throw water in the rear part OF the store.
Firemen Remained on Scene.
Although the blaze was under control
early in the morning the f1remen remained
on hand until late in the day. Two hours
after the fire was discovered Mr.. and Mrs.
McKeldin returned to their apartments.
and were surprised to find that the carpets
were not even wet. Smoke caused triding
amount Of damage.
On the second floor the blaze had caused
damage to the extent of about 800 to the
office OF D. Elmer Wiber, dentist, and
70 fl,A hr0l 30
Halle & Steiglitz, on the first floor. Fire
Marshal Nicholson estimated the damage
to the building at about $1,000 and to the
stock of Mr.. Minister also at s., 900. Traffic
on the F and G street lines of the Wash
ington Railway and Electric Company was
delayed until the company could erect an
overhead bridge upon which to support the
hose.
1t Is stated that the damage to the build
ing and contents 10 covered by insurance.