Los Angeles herald., 1907-02-27

dashed up the ladders, followed by Of
ficers, and a desperate effort was made
to save the young woman's life, but she
died soon after O'clock
Constable De La Monte was one of
the first men at the fire. He crowled
under the cloud of smoke searching for
those who had been overcome, and
located two of them, calling assistance
and aiding in getting them from the
building.
Woman Used to Fires
Mrs. M. Chapman, 779 East Pico
street, was also overcome by the smoke
She was found by police officer and
carried to the roof of the building
where she recovered. She then assisted
in making tight a rope to the edging of
the roof and tying it about her body
with the assistance of the officers she
swung out and down to the roof of the
adjoining Newberry building, twenty
feet below.
"Oh, 1 have ceased to be afraid of
fires" said Mrs. Chapman later. 81
have been in several of them and three
times have barely escaped with my life
and I am getting used to It,"
Capt Auble of the police force and his
men did splendid work. Those officers
who could not readily assist We're held
as an emergency squad near the build
ing, and the smoke blinded workers
were relieved from time to time from
that squad. Capt. Auble, in spite OF
the binding smoke, crawled along a
narrow ledge of granite curbing on the
sixth floor of the building, holding on
with his fingers to the uneven rock, and
battered in windows to clear the smoke
from those being suffocated within.
The slip of hand would have dropped
him over 100 feet to the granite pave
ment but he did not stop till the last
window was crashed in
Dog Catchers Assist
William Vacher and a squad of en-
ployes of the city pound who were near
the building at the time of the fire, went
in and worked with the firemen in the
basement. and several of them were
overcome in their effort to help out.
Soon after O'Clock the smoke began
to clear from the front of the building
and it was thought that the fire had
begun to diminish. The cellar of the
building had been flooded to a depth nf
three or four feet with the water poured
into 1t.
Streams were being played from the
front and back of the building, and the
hose coming through from the rear
~ iOfAS bilN SllSo III lHt II All SHOW WIZ
dow and injured two flremen.
Fire Wall Checks Flames
While the other companies were work.
ing in the front and in the narrow
alley at the rear the captain of company
and his men ran line of hose through
the building and into James Morley's
billiard and pool parlors. The dividing
wall in the Morley place is the fire wall
between the old and new parts of the
building and held the fire in check The
south department of the parlors, how
ever, was cloud of smoke.
A hole was chopped through the floor
and below in the back of the rooms
occupied by the Fair company the
place was a seething mass of flame.
Flame shot up and blinded the flremen,
scorching their faces and blisterinR
their hands until they were compelled
to retreat, Twice they went back and
the third time they forced the nozzle
of the hose through the hole in the
floor and directed 1t at the fire below.
They could not see for the smoke. 1t
rolled about in huge clouds, dulling the
bright glare of leaping flames The
Continued on Page Three.)