The Washington herald., 1911-03-26

opposite side Of Greene street found one
Girl, Bertha Weintraut, of aB Henry
street, the last to leap from the ninth
floor. still breathing. Two or three dead
bodies were piled alongside her, and as
the policemen were moving these away
they heard the girl sigh The police
called for a doctor, and the girl, still
to ST Vincent's Hospital, although there
was no hope of saving her life.
Girls jump Nine Stories.
man who has an Office on the third
floor of the building in Washington place
just across from the entrance Of the
burned building, said he looked up from
his desk, upon hearing shrieks high up
across the way, and saw a girl climb
out of the window in .he ninth floor of
the Asch Building, where the fire oc-
CURED. At this time the man. who re-
fused to give his name, says there was
no sign of smoke or flame.
The girl stood for a. moment on the
window sill and then jumped and whirled
around, a streak of black gown and
white Undertaking for nine floors,
smash on to the sidewalk. About the
same time Dr. Ralph Fralick, of 11s
Waverly place, was walking across
Washington Square Park toward the
building and started on a run as he saw
the heads of screaming girls at the Win
dows Of the three topmost floors and
saw dozens more crowd out upon the
foot-wide terra-cotta ledge which runs
along the window sills of the ninth
floor.
They fought for a time, the doctor
saws, on the little ledge. Then a girl
Nd Some
of them fell true and straight as a
plummet and smashed through the vault
light of the street into the. basement
under the sidewalk. Most of them turned
many times, shrieking as they fell. one
girl, the doctor says deliberately took
off her hat and laid it on the ledge be-
fore she jumped.
Man Throws Girls Out of Windows.
But the gerater number were jumping
from the east side of the corner build
ing and landing burned and crushed in
Greene street. One man ran from win
dow to widow, picked up girls bodily and
dropped them to the pavement Either
he thought that the nets were there to
catch them, or he believed that this was
the easiest way. And when he had
dropped the last girl within reach he
climbed onto the sill and jumped straight
out with hands raised as bridge jumper
holds his arm upward to balance him
self.
All the girls had jumped from the
Greene street side of the building. and
it seemed that the ninth floor ledge on this
side was clear, when two girls clambored
out upon it. One of them seemed self
poised, at least her movements were slow
and deliberate. With her was a younger
girl, shrieking and twisting with fright
Tho crowd below yelled to the two not
TO jump. The older girl placed both
arms around the younger and pulled her
back toward the brick wall, and she tried
to press her younger companion closer
to the wall.
But the girl twisted her head and shoul-
ders loose from the protecting embrace
took step or two to the right from the
girl who was trying to save her. and
jumped nine stories to the pavement.
Found Still Breathing.
Every one had jumped then, and the
solitary girl still was standing on the
ledge. After her younger companion had
died. the girl who was left stood back
against the wall .Ionless, and for a
moment she -Iu her hands rigid against
her thighs, her head tilted upward and
looking toward the sky. Smoke began
to trickle out of the broken window a
few yards to her left. She began to raise
her arms and make slow gestures, as if