Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-11-26
Girls Trapped on Fourth
Floor of Newark, N. ].
Structure.
MANY LEAP TO GROUND
Only Search of Ruins Can Re-
veal Number of Dead-SeV-
eraI Fatally Hurt.

Newark, n. J., Nov. 26.-Fifteen
persons are reported dead in a fire
today In the factory of the Newark
Paper Box company. Up to 10 o'clock
IL dead were reported to have been
taken from the building. Nearly all
were young women employees.
FOur-stOry Brick.
The building in which the catastro-
phe happened is a fouT-story brick
structure. The first and second floors
were occupied by the Newark Paper
Box company; the third by the Aetna
Electric company, makers of lamps,
and the fourth floor by Louis VOLTS
undergarments factory.
How the fire started is not known.
II is believed it started among a lot of
rubbish on the second floor, and COM
municated with a lot of waste paper,
and then swept to the upper floors In
all, eco persons were employed in the
building.
Leap From Windows.
The girls employed by Wolf, panic
stricken, rushed to the windows. Miss
Anna Hague, forewoman, plunged into
space. One of the spectators said at
least Is girls jumped from the fourth
floor. They stayed at the windows un-
til frenzied by the flames behin1them,
and, nearly suffocated by smoke, leap
TO the street. All the employees on the
first and second floors escaped except
two girls who We're severely burned
about the head and face.
Two of Injured Die.
Twenty-four injured were taken to /,
the hospitals. Two Of these died
Thirty lives we're saved by means of |
life nets, and but two of those who
leaped into the nets were seriously
hurt. Most of those on the upper
floors who escaped reached the street /
by means of the fire escapes. The eX-
act number OF dead will not be known !
until after a search of the ruins, but it !
is thought it will be at least IS.
Foreman is Hero.
Eugene McHugh, foreman of the (
Aetna company, proved himself hero. /
He was among the first to realize the /
seriousness of the situation and guild /
ed several scores of girls in his employ
to safety down the fire escapes. Near |
ly all escaped injury. Less than 20 /
minutes after the arrival of the fire
men the interior of the building was
fiame-swept The floors of the upper
part of the building fell shortly after |.
wards.
Others In the Ruins.
1t is believed a search of the ruins !
will reveal other bodies.
those 4 bo
Rev. Father Quirk: assistant rector of |
st. Joseph's church. He gave the last |
rites of the church TO seven of the vic |
Tins. The priest worked nobly, help |
ing firemen to reach parts Of the build
ing where others of the injured might |
be. Father Quirk said he counted 20 ,
PROSTATE forms on the sidewalk All |
were young women who had leaped
from the upper windows of the factory.
Six Cannot Recover.
Six Of the injured, three of whom
cannot recover, were taken to st.
MichaeTs hospital. Some went in an
ambulance and others were carried in
by firemen.
One Of the mortally injured has not
been identified. The remaining two
are MIS- MlHHie oInICH, dSeu IL, OF
Kearney, and Alice Melzen, 63 Warren
street Mrs Smiths skull was frac
tured and the Melzen woman, in addi-
tiOn to a broken leg, had internal in
juries.
known II Are Dead.
At noon the number of known dead
was IA. Forty or more are injured,
some fatally.
Several deaths in the hospitals have
brought the total death list up to 2S.