New-York tribune., 1910-12-23
FOURTEEN DEAD IN
PHILADELPHIA FIRE
Forty More in Hospitals-Mys-
Tic Number 1913 Blamed
by firemen.
eoMPANIES ARE DECIMATED
Police Think Enemy of Leather
Maker May Have Been
Firebug-Tales
of Bravery.
COMPANIES ARE DECIMATED
rsr Telegraph to The Tribune.

rrv Telegraph to The Trfbunel
-.S,5eInhia. Dec. ea-Fourteen frenlen
= ,c,ioernen are known to be dead and
- 4rar forty are in hospitals suffering
i,i,,-ies from which some will not
.,,sr as the result of the collapse of the
rs If the burning FIVE story factory OF
- F-iedlander. dealer in leather rem
--e at No. 1l1s TO 1Ieo Bodine street.
-,. rebound ruins are still being searched
o ,be body OF Charles EdIeman, who is
,c7rn 70 be dead. and TO discover if possi-
., -As bodies Of several other firenen who
.-a reported missing
.,,,-.s-sritious after the manner of men
vho oy occupation may be called upon to
face Death ar q moments notice, scores of
,e7rials in the Fire Department who come
q, fauct 7vith the departments books could
m, for the last week rid themselves Of an
-nsasv foreboding Of calamity
The ''hoodoo" figures 131S represented the
7r-r7l4er Of members in the Firemen's Re-
lief Association. organized primarily TO tide
he families Of fireulen who die in the per
feT7nance 0f their duty over temporary diff
iculties-
A week ago the number stood 1.517. BY
good fortune il was thought that the
--hoedoo" had been skipped The successive
deaths OF five members and the enlistment
o. another brought the number down to
ISIS ard there it stood.
The Prophecy Fulfilled.
To-Day the prophecy was fulfilled. The
--Ynber was decreased by whole page of
names the result Of a fire which. in the
number Of ffremen whose lives were lost.
IS rot 70 be matched in the history of the
department..
Il Is reported that the authorities are con-
--irsezd that the fire was of incendiary origin
ard expect 10 make an arrest in the case.
-he police and hremen say that the fame.
seemed 70 spring rp all over the building
- the same time. There was nothing
stored IN the structure of an inf1amnla ole
character. the floors being filed with ma
ch-nery and leather
there are reports that the place may
hive been t,urposeIy set on fire by an enemy
# Friedlander. He says he has not deter
mined what started the blaze and intimated
that Il might have been started by men who
10 sand had been seen lettering about the
factory for some zine.
The mass Of debris is frozen Solid and II
nay be several days before additional bod
ies are taken from the ruins Although
F5leu7an's dcdy was almost directly beneath
s1-izzier as the lsT-er lay on the sidewalk.
fhe remaining walls had TO be razed before
= vas deemed safe 70 continue the work of
digging in the ruins.
Building Fifty-eient Years Old.
The factory building was ffty-eight year.
oiG. Edwin Clark, chief Of the Bureau Of
Building Inspection, said The walls col
iaused because of their age and the man.
Ter Of their construction The mortar. he
said was so old that a little heat converted
Ta-- int so
no adhesive power The girders and beams,
instead Of being iron and steel as in modern
buildings. were Of wood These burned out
quickly and took away the only support OF
Ife walls
Ny Clark agreed with many Others N
saving that the 5iremen should not have
entered the building after the girders were
pllsze- Henry Clay, Director of Public
safety said that he had often impressed
7r1.on firer1len that when they are working
N 81 old building It is far better TO save
tleJr lives than 10 Try to save it
William -lazier. who was held fast in
-he ruins for more than thirteen hours, ts
n Z hospital suffering from pneumonia, but
= late hour tonight his condition was
reported 20 toe greatly improved, and the
physicians have hopes OF saving his hfe
Pinned beneath an immense iron girder,
F-SZieT ESTa one OF the SEedNtSl eAiA4Ah-
+fors Of forriru6a on record When he was
FOUND alive. held down by tons OF debris,
uhysicians wanted TO eruputate his legs
IN order that he might De removed. He
protested. saying. I viii get out all rlght
and IN plenty of time. What good would
7 te without nay legs? I would rather trust
% the boys getting this junk away.
Some Of the fire companies whose mem
hers net death and injury in the IRE ana
cofa7sc re practically wiped out Engine
companies = - . and Truck lost more
than half their crews while other comps-
MES suffered less severely.
Nearly all the dead men left families The
ease OF Henry Bertoiet is particularly
1-stbetic His father. who lives at sol
oiers' home. had come home 10 the sons
morse 70 spend Christmas with him and
rhe seven grandchildren, whose mother died
nineteen months ago. Everywhere abouE
Ire house were evidences Of preparations
for the coming Of Santa Claus, and even
though The real Kris Kringie Of the house-
hold iav cold IN death. the little children,
Who -ange from less than two years TO teh'
talked q the expected visit Of the rnythicai
one
TIE work Of digging into the ruins was
eraspe-arinsiv slow 20 the policemen ana
fiIenlen. r7ho had been on duty all nignt
This vas due principally to the extreme
rnId weather which froze the wet ruins INTO
ri almost solid mass. It was one Of the
coolest mornings Of tire year and the res
-.---rz R..%