Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-03-05
FLAMES FIRED BY
BLACK HAND" GANG
FIREY FURNACE IN NEW YORK
TENEMENT CUTS OFF ESCAPE
FOR VICTIMS, VIII YDIE IN
THE TRAP.

girl OF nNe
Five persons, including a policeman
who was cut by flying glass and male
child about a year old, were injured ana
taken to hospitals.
Black Hand Plot.
1t is believed the blaze was incendiary
following a BLACK Hand" Matchmaking
letter which an occupant of the building
received several months ago. The dead:
ROSALIO FILLIBERT. 60 years Of age.
CONTANZO GRUPPI. IS years of age
sister of Rosalio Filliberti.
ROSE sPLACIA, aged T.. F1llibertfs
niece.
/ CAROLINA sANsONE, aged so.
MRS. JOSEPHINE TRAYISANO, aged
so, daughter of Mrs. Sansone.
! JOSEPH TRAVISANO. It. brother of
! Lena.
LENA TRAvIsANo. aged 20. daughter
of Josephine. Sae5 III.
EVELYN PAsIFo, aged a.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN, about 30 years
I of age.
/ The injured:
+ Robert Sampson, fireman, was cut by
glass about the head and taken to a
| hospital f-r .t
-wereeo yersonle~ by smoke and. suffered SCI
+ IAN unidentified girl four years of age
was yoYercone- by smoke ,'..s,i.s (. .s,.,.
I. --t3oultutrlS Fttiberti Suffered the fracture.
,eofs several. ri bs.s s atf
z The only member of the Travisano fam
! ily who survived was Mamie, aged IS,
/ who left home. last night to, visit. s.
: Thirty Families Saved
There were about thirty families, most
ty ItaiianS IN the, tenement house and
! policemen and firernen rescued many Of
/ them by ladders. -and by swinging them.
across from windows to nefghboring build
! ings. Several babies were thrown from
the windows and caught by iremeE who
were standing on the extension ladders.
4 The street floor of the building was
occupied by the undertaking rooms OF
/ Patrick McDonald7vand the Lincoln res
taurant, while Antonio Urso, a barber,
| occupied the basement The fire started
| in the, bottom of an air shaft and was
discovered by Patrick Monks, a watch
man, in the undertaking rooms. Monks
ran upstairs and awakened the Modem
aid family and Mr.. and Mrs. Mcdonald
4 and their four children were passed across
the narrow alley way to the windows of
an adjoining building whence they es-
capped. ID 't
| Monks then returned to the burning
/ building, the Railways of which were
then blazing and filled with SMOKE. He
raped on the doors of the apartments
up to the third floor awakening the oc-
cupants and then turned in fire alarm.
! Most OF the occupants of the tene-
Ement were asleep when the fire began
and many of them were overcome before
| awakening. Policemen Riley and Gal
| lagher obtained access to the upper floors
: by climbing to the roof of an adjoining
| structure and creeping along a cornice
| TO the rooms of an apartment occupied
by Attilla Pasifo who with his wife and
| son, Louis, aged z, were taken. out of
I No he
nice to the adjoining building whence
/ the firemen took them to the stree.
Children Unconscious
Two other children of Pasifo were
i found unconscious on the floor. but were
rescued by fremen. Evelyn Pasifo, aged
| four years, attempted to run down the
stairs, and later her charred body was
| found on the stairway. A fireman found
Miss Muanna Aranot unconscious in her
| rooms on the fourth floor and attempted
to carry her down ladder to a window.
but was himself overcome. Other fire.
men saved them both.
Three babies were taken from the
| rooms on the fourth floor by thrilling
work of two fremen. Standing on an
| extension ladder outside the windows.
Robert Nelson, one of the firemen,
caught two of the children as they were
4 thrown to him by other firemen from the
windows.
AS Nelson started down the ladder with
| the two babies in his arms, the man
/ again appeared at the window and called
out: 81 have got another baby here;
catch it" Before Nelson could reply.
/ 1.-THE man threw the baby out of the win
4 dow, and Nelson, with two babies al.
ready in his arms, managed to catch the
| third and carried them ali down the lad
der to the street.
---- -cr- Overcome By Smoke
All but two of those who persisted In
the FIRE were occupants of tenements on
the upper floor of the burned building.
Apparently they were overcome by smoke
| before they could escape to the windows
/ in the front of the house. The flames.
passing up the Railways, burned out the
rear or the building, but the apartments
lin the front were not badly damaged.
! The work of rescue was delayed by the
! falling of three firemen from the second
and third floors when their scaling lad
! ders slipped off the window stills. The
firemen were not much hurt. Many of
the occupants were taken down on seal
ling ladders and later on extension lad
ders which reached to the fourth and
fifth floors.
d, Firemen say the fire escape in the rear
was clogged with refuse which had to
be cleared off before they could mount.
Family Is Trapped.
The Travisano family evidently were
/ trapped in their rooms on the top floor
! and made no effort to escape. The bodies
of the parents were found lying on
| couch while the son and daughter were
( kneeling on the floor with their faces
in their mothers lap and seemed to have
been suffocated while praying. The mem
bers of the Filiberti. Gruppi and Placia
| families were found in their beds on the
| fifth floor where they had been over
come by smoke while asleep.
| The belief that the fire was the work
o. a group of blackmailers arose from
| the statement of Antonio Urso, the bar
| Der, who said he had received a Black
! Hand letter about two months ago, de-
handing the payment or about $500 to a
man who he was to meet in the street.
| Urso said he paid no attention to the let
! ter, expecting that others would follow.
| Firemen said that the fire seemed to