The sun., 1909-05-26
MOTHERS STORM K SCHOOL
AFRAID FIRE NEXT noon WOULD
REACH THEIR CHILDREN.
East Side Women Clamor at Doors Locked
ny Quick Witted JanitOr- Pupils
sing star Spangled Banner" and
| the Noisy Panic Is All outside.

| the Noisy Panic Is All outside.
VA gigantic Irishman. John Sullivan, is
janitor Of Public School 91 at Stanton
and Forsyth streets. Sullivan is aware
OF the temper OF the East Side, and AZ soon
as he heard yesterday afternoon that
lively little fire had started next door
to the school building he knew what to
expect
In about three minutes he knew one
little group of anxious women would
gather outside the school building, filled
with fear for their children inside at
their studies To this little group wonld
speedily be added other women. In a
very short time there would be hundreds
OF them. babbing and shrieking. If not
prevented they would make a rush up
the stairways What would happen when
2.4OO children were alarmed by this thrush
OF hysterical mothers nobody could tell.
John Sullivan didn't intend that anybody
should be able to find out. He lost no
time in locking all the doors. The mob
OF women formed exactly az Sullivan
had foreseen, but the only panic was
among them and they were kept outside, +,
The fire started at 9:3O o'clocN on the
top floor Of the six story tenement house
at so Stanton street. adjoining the school
building, in fiat occupied By Salvatore
Massalpe, a tailor.
There were several hundred children
In the assembly room Of the school at the
moment. Miss Mary McClny, the. prin-
cipal; sent word to tho teachers in the
assembly room that the children must be
kept from getting frightened. Sullivan
and his assista promptly closed all the
windows on the Stanton street side of the
building, 20 that little of the uproar in
the street reached the pupils. Meantime
the children were set to singing The
Star Spangled, Banner''-all the verses
and anything else that the teachers could
think Of The fire gines could he heard
rafting III and the hum of the big steamers
was audible as soon as they got TO work,
but the children were told that the blaze
was way down the street and that there
wasn't any danger. They were little
restive but not scared.
Before the fire engines arrived the first
little group OF anxious women had gath
cred. Soon there were hundred. In
fifteen minutes there We're a thousand.
The street was packed with them. They
began TO wall in concert. Some OF them
approached the locked doors and beat
upon them. for as the fire waNed in fury
the fears Of the women grew And when
the flames burst out Of the tenement
windows and flashed nearly half way
across Stanton street a cry OF terror went
up from the women. and they renewed
their futile attacks on the heavy locked
doors.
Miss Henderson one OF the teachers.
came out OF the building. She knew many
Of the mothers personally and tried TO
. quiet them. assuring them that the
minute the tiremen said there was the
least danger the children would be
marched out But the women would
not be comforted. They pressed so
closely ON the teacher that it looked as i {
she would suffer violence.
Just at this moment however. Capt.
Day OF the Eldridge street police station
turned the corner with squad Of re-
serves. They pressed the women back
from the school building and quieted their
fears.
The firemen found that single stream
was not enough to strangle the fire, but
two did the trick all right in about half
an hour. II wasn't much Of a fire after
sll $500 being about the damage.
The women, however. hung about the
school building long after the firemcn had
got control of the flames. Some of them
were still staring at the locked doors an
hour after the fire had started. As for
the children. they went about their lessons
in quite the usual manner.