Evening star., 1909-04-12
SIX BURNED TO DEATH
Explosion and Fire Wreck
lenox, Mass, Building.
FIVE ESCAPE FLAMES
Woman Is Catapulted From Win.
dow Ledge to Street.
FUND OF $2,100 SUBSCRIBED
Hotel Guests Give Away Their
Clothes to Almost Naked Sur
vivors Of Disaster.
FUND OF $2,1oo SUBSCRIBED

LENOx, Mass, April 12.-Six persons
were burned to death and three others
severely injured in the fire which wiped
out four business blocks and many
| smaller structures in the center of this
city yesterday morning.
| The loss is estimated at $25O.OOO. That
it was not much larger Is due to for
tunate change in the wind and the fact
| that nearby towns sent fire-fighting ap-
paratus without delay.
The dead are:
Cook, Miss Isabel, 40. bookkeeper.
French, Miss Alice, Al, bookkeeper.
Sparks, Miss Mary. %. schoolteacher.
Ventres, Edward c., Al, contracting elec-
trician
Ventres, Mrs. Edward c.. 35 his wife.
Ventres, Miss Leslie. IL, their daughter.
| The injured:
Root, Mrs. Nelson. burned on head, neck
| and hands.
Root George. her son, burned on neck
and hands.
Root. Arthur, her son. burned on hands,
arms and head.
Spontaneous Combustion.
| The fire started presumably from spon-
taneous combustion in the Clifford build
ing, three-story structure in Main street,
at about 1 o'clock. 1t was here all the
deaths occurred.
The main floor was occupied by James
Clifford & Sons. hardware merchants;
the upper floors were divided up into liv-
quantities OF paints and oils and con-
siderable dynamite were stored
| George Root, who with his mother
and brother occupied one of the apart
smoke and found it pouring into his room
through chimney. He awakened his
mother and brother and the three made
a dash for the stairway in their night
clothes.
The halls were filed with thick smoke
and they found the door blazing. The
two men tore the door from its hinges
and dashed out with their mother between
them. All sustained bad burns.
Hardly had the Roots cleared the door
way when an explosion occurred in the
basement. One great pillar of flame shot
into the air and in an instant the whole
building was ablaze.
i Horace Perrill and his wife had come
down the stairs behind the Roots. They
did not wait for the front door to be open
ed, but ran for the back stairs and the
rear exit
They escaped just as the explosion took
place. All the other occupants of the
building were killed.
Lenox has only small unorganized
volunteer fire department., and 1t was
incapable Of coping with SO great . fire.
field, Lee and Lenoxdale. From each all
| available apparatus was sent at once,
| and it was not until the arrival of the
out-of-town engines and trucks that any
real effort could be made to fight the fire
Woman Shot High in Air.
Just after the first explosion Alice
French was seen to climb out of win
dow on the second floor Of the Clifford
building. Her hair and night clothes
were ablaze and the room behind her
resembled q furnace.
| Just as she was about to jump over the
railing a second explosion hurled her body
high in the air. 1t fell straight down.
| while the crowd across the street, watch
ing the awful spectacle. gasped in horror.
A dozen men rushed forward to drag it
out Of the path of the fire. but the heat
/ was too great
The corpse was not recovered for two
hours. 1t was then burned beyond recog-
milton, but was identified by a dentist who
had a chart of Miss French's teeth. She
lived with the Tfllotsons, but had gone
| to spend the night with Miss Cook, whose
mother was away.
Within few minutes the fire had swept
to the south, and the Eddy block was
every one in town, and the occupants
Of the Eddy block had rushed to the
street In their night clothes. They stood
snivertng in temperature only 70 above
zero.
The flames continued to spread, wiping
out the Bull building, the Mahanna build
ing and the residences of Joseph Regnier
and Mrs. Rose Colbert, as well as several
smaller structures.
/ About o'clock the Curtis Hotel and
the public library were threatened. Then,
fortunately, the wind shifted suddenly
and drove the fire back. giving the fire.
men chance to fight the flames to ad-
vantage Shortly afterward the fire was
under control.
At one time s. w. Tillotson, believing
that his stable was threatened. turned
loose fifty horses. They stampeded
through the streets, some running as
far as Great harrington and Richmond.
Clothes and Money for Survivors.
There was great excitement in the
Curtis Hotel. The shivering men and
women rendered homeless by the fire
| were taken to the hotel and provided
with clothes by the guests. Miss Helen
| Alexander Of New York gave away all
| the clothes she had except those she
| wore. Several other women did the
/ same.
| Later a subscription for the homeless
| was started by Mrs. Lindsay Fairfax
1 of New York, who headed 1T with $500.
| Other donors were: Mrs. William Brad
| ford, New York. $500; Samuel E. Gould,
Boston, $500; William D. Curtis, Lenox.
! $500; Barclay Hazard New York, 500.
Total $2.100
| The burned area includes the section
| bounded by Franklin, Main, Housatonic
| and Church streets.