The San Francisco call., 1910-11-27
GIRLS BURNED
ORCRUSHED TO
death At FIRE
Twenty=four Perish During the
Rapid Spread OF Flames
in Factory
Terrible Scenes Attend Scram
BILE to Heated Escapes and
Leaps to Pavement

NEWARK, n. j.. Nov. 26.--In 10
this morning or crushed to death on
the pavement by leaping from the win
dows and fire escapes aof the four story
factory building at Orange and High
streets, occupied on the top floor by an
underwear manufacturing concern.
! Here the death list was heaviest. The
lower floors were occupied by two
paperboX concerns and two electrical
fixture factories.
The latest count tonight shows that
10 of the "a bodies recovered have been
identified and that six girls are miss
ing. They may be among the uniden-
tilted dead or yet in the ruins. The
collapse of wall tonight interrupted
further search. Fifty were taken to
the hospital. of whon1 two may die.
Among the injured is Joseph E. sloane,
deputy fire chief, who was overtaken
by the falling wall and buried in rub
bish and bricks. He is badly hurt but
may recover
SWIFT RUSH OF FLAMES
The rush of the flames was so swift
and threw such terror into the girls on
the top floor that the body of one was
found still seated on charred stool
beside the machine at which she had
been busy when the first cry or Hre
petrified her with fright.
Horrible as must have been what
went on in the smoke of the crowded
upper room, what befell those outside
in the blight sunlight was worse
The building was exceedingly infiam-
mable and the first gushg of flames cut
off all escape by, the stairways.
The elevators made one trip, but took
fdown no passengers and never came
,.1- l,o ox,lx- rx-c- Nv =
capes, the lower platforms of which
were % feet from the street Onto
these overcrowded and steep lanes,
scorched by the jets from lower win
dows, pressed forward a mob of women
blind with panic. driven by the fire and
the others behind them.
GIRLS BEGIN TO JUMP
A net had been spread beneath the
windows and the girls began to jump,
Like rats out of a burning bin" was
the way fireman described the de-
scent.
They came out of the windows like a
thick treacle, rolled upon the heads of
those below them and cascaded off the
fire escape to the pavement 60 feet be-
low.
Some OF them stood in the windows
outlined against the flames and jumped
clear; others jumped from the land
1ngS, Stlll others from the Steps WHtfe
they stood. The air was full of them
and they fell everywhere-into the net,
on the necks of the firemen, and 10 of
them on the hard stone slabs.
When the awful rain ceased there
were eight dead in the street and gut
ters ran red. Seven more were so badly
crushed that they died in hospitals.
Fifty are still under surgical care.
PANIC Is SPREAD
Clouds of smoke and showers Of
burning embers rained down on neigh
boring roofs. AS the news flew panic
spread to other factories, where many
of the girls in peril had friends and
relatives, and several firms had to shut
down for the day. Thousands flock ed
to the fra and made the work of the
flremen and police more difficult.
Italian silk workers knelt in the
streets and prayed. Priests and clergy
men worked their way through the
press to give the last consultations to
those of different faiths Ambulances
| and automobiles, Communicated for
| emergency service, were hurried in
! opposite streams to the hospitals and
back again.
Before any order could be restored
every police reserve in the city had
been called out, and it was not until
tonight that an estimate of the prop
erty loss could be ventured. The fire
| department estimates the loss at
| $165,000