Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1907-11-29
THIRTEEN PERISH
IN TENEMENT FIRE
ITALIANS CAUGHT AS IN FURNACE
WHEN NEW YORK BUILD
ING BURNS.
SEVEN VICTIMS ARE CHILDREN.
Catastrophe Believed Work of Friends Of
Robbers Punished for Raiding
Saloon.
A MOTHER DIES SAVING BABE.

NEW YORK, Nov. 25.-Thirteen per-
sons lost their lives and several others
were injured early today in tenement
house fire at Tooth street and Second ave
nue.. All the dead are Italians. Seven of
the thirteen are children. The bodies
were found huddled together in rooms on
the top floor of the four-story building
where the terror stricken people had been
driven by the flames which rushed UP
from the lower floors. They had sue,
cumbed before they could reach windows
which led to the fire escapes. Some had
been enveloped in the flames and burned
alive. Others, overcome by smoke. were
spared the agOnies Of death in the flames.
Believed Work of Incendiaries.
That the fire was the work of incendi-
aries who sought revenge is the opinion
of the police and tircmen. Three weeks
ago three Italians We're caught i'll the act
OF attempting to rob Il safe i'll the saloon
OF Pietro Cudano on the ground floor.
! The safe contained over $1,000, which the
saloon keepers friends had withdrawn
from the banks.
The would-be robbers were arrested
and are now awaiting trial. The fire
of today started in Cudano's saloon and
the police believe that it may have been
the work of friends of the prisoners, who
took this means of squaring the account
with the saloon keeper.
Saloon Man Finds Fire.
Cudano discovered the fire when he
went down to open his place OF business
early this morning. As he opened the
door he was met by a rush of flames and
without waiting a 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
he reached the rooms occupied by his
own family he burst i'll the door and
Selling his young son, Domonio, in his
arms and 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 by that avenue. Ii is
supposed that Mrs Cudano and the
other children sought safety in the upper
part Of the building.
No Chance to Escape.
Just what happened in the burning
building before the fire was checked
never will be known. SO quickly did
the flames spread that almost before the
hremen arrived the whole building was
furnace and it was impossible for any
one to enter. Even the cries of the
agOnIZed women and children were
drowned by the roar and crackle of the
flames, the kissing engines and the fran
tic babbling crowd. Not single person
was seen to appear at any of the win
dOws of the blazing building with the cX-
ceptiOn of those on the second floor.
from which several persons reached the
fire escape and were rescued. The rea-
son for this was explained when, after
the flames had been partially checked,
tiremen fought their way through the
smoke to the upper floors. There they
came upon piles of dead where they had
fallen victims to the rush Of flames and
smoke even before they had a chance to
attempt to save themselves.
Mother Dies for Babe.
In one of the heaps the fircmen found
a woman who had made one last des-
pcrate effort to save the life of her baby
when she knew that she herself was
doomed to a horrible death. She had
folded her arms tightly around the little
one and then huddled down close to the
floor, her own body protecting that of
the child. The mothers body was bad
ly burned. That of the child bore
scarcely a mark, but it was dead from
suffOcation. On every side of the moth
er and child, there were bodies of the
other victims.