Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-11-25
FLAMES LICKED Up
WOMEN AND BABIES
Thirteen Die in New York
Tenement House Fire.
DEATH HARVEST SWIFT
Crowd Was Cut Down Almost at the
Fire Escape.
MOTHER SHELTERS HER CHILD
Blaze Probably Was the Work of
Incendiaries Started Through
Revenge.
DEATH HARVEST SWIFT
SHELTERS HER CHILD

Special Dfspstch to The Star.
men. women and children, were taken out
dead. following hallway fire in an Ita1-
ian tenement at 2121 I'd avenue this morn
ing. They were found by the f1remen hud-
died together in the front part of the
fourth floor. All of them had dropped
while making for the fire escapes. The
doors of the rooms had been left open In
the hurry of the tenants to escape. The
openings were so many fues through
which the flames went swirling. Breath
ing smoke and flames the thirteen went
down. one after another Many of the
dead were children Most of the bodies,
covered with blankets by the firemen and
carried forth into the street, had been
burned so that they were unrecognizable
This made Identification exceedingly diff
cult. but two hours after the fire, six had
been identified.
That the fatal fire was the work of in
cendiaries who sought revenge is the opin-
ion Of the police and firemen who made
the first hasty examination. Three weeks
ago three Italians were caught in the act
of attempting to rob a safe in the saloon
of Giuseppe Cudano, on the ground floor
The safe contained over 81, ,OOO which the
saloonkeepers friends had withdrawn
from banks during the money panic
The wou1d-be robbers were arrest
ed and are now awaiting trial. The fire Of
today started in Cudano's saloon, and the
police believe that 1t may have been the
work Of friends of the prisoners who took
this means of squaring the account with
the saloonkeeper.
Cudano Gave Alarm. -
Cudano discovered the fire when he
went down to open his place Of business
door he was met by a rush Of flames, and.
without waiting moment to investigate,
dashed up the stairs to the tenements
above, crying out for the occupants of the
building to run for their lives. When ne
reached the rooms occupied by his own
family he burst in the door and, SeiZing
his young son, Domonio, in his arms, told
Mrs. Cudano and other members Of the
family to follow. Cudano and the boy
managed to find their way down the stairs
to the street, but before the women could
get through the flames had cut off exit
D.
Cudano and the other children sought
safety in the upper part of the building.
Just what happened in the burning
building before the fire was checked neve.
will be known.
So quickly did the flames spread that
almost before the f1remen arrived the
whole building was furnace and 1t was
impossible for any one to enter. Even
the cries of agoniZed women and children
were drowned by the roar and crackle of
the flames. the kissing engines and the
frantic, babbling crowd. which pressed as
closely as possible to the fire lines.
Found Dead in Heaps.
Not single person was seen to appear
At any of the windows of the blazing
building. with the exception of those on
the second floor. from which several per-
sons reached the fire escape and were
rescued The reason for this was ex-
planned when, after the flames had been
partially checked, firemen fought their
way through the smoke to the upper
floors There they came upon piles of
dead. where they had fallen victims to
1ore they had chance to attempt to
save themselves In one Of the heaps the
hremen found woman who had made
one last desperate effort to save the life of
her baby. even when she knew that she
herself was doomed to horribl death
she had folded her arms tightly around
the little one and then huddled down
close to the floor her own body protect
Ing that of the child. The mothers body
was badly burned. That of the child
bore scarcely a mark, but it was dead
from suffocation. On every side of the
mother and child lay the bodies Of other
victims.