The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1911-03-26

many half burned corpses from this hole.
500 Employees In the Building.
Joe Zito and Joe Gaspar. the two eleva-
tor men OF the building. said that there
were 800 machines on the three hoors Of
the building and each was bein operated
by girl at the time the Are started. The
total number Of employees. according to
the eievato- mer. was abou. ,oo0 Deputy
Police Commissioner Driscoll said later
that from what he had been able to learn
there were about 400 persons working in
the place when the FIRE started. Among
those on tho Top door at tie time were
Mr.. Rlanck. one Of the proprietors. his
two children and a governess. Mr..
Dlanck had just ordered q taxicab to send
his children and the governess home when
the fire was discovered All got out
safely
More than an hour after the last of the
girls had jumped policemen who had ap.
preached the building to gather up the
bodies and stretch them out on the oppc-
site side OF Greene street found one girl.
Bertha Weintraut of POS Henry street. the
last girl to leap from the ninth floor. still
breathing. Two or three dead bodies
were piled alongside her and as the oo-
licemen were moving these away they
heard the girl sigh. The police yelled for
=. doctor end the girl was hurried to St
vincent'e Hospital altk ough there was nc
hope OF saving her life
A man who has an Office on the third
floor Of the building in washin gton plaos
just across from the entrance Of the
burned building said that he looked ur
from his desk upon hearing shrieks higf
up across the way and saw a girl clint
out Of the window second from the mos
westerly window on the ninth floor o.
the Asch Building. At this time the man
who refused to give his name. says tha'
there was no sign Of smoke or fame.
The girl stood for q moment on tn,
window sill and then jumped and whirlee
around. q streak Of black and white TO
nine floors that ended in sidewalk smash
About the same time DR.. Ralph s. Fralicl
Of lls Waverley place waa walking across
Washington Square Park toward the build
ing and started on a run as he saw tn
heads Of screaming girls at the Windows
Of the three topmost floors and say
dozens moro crowd out upon the foot wid
terra Gotta ledge which runs along tn
window sills OF the ninth floor.
The girls fought for time. the docto
says. on the little ledge. Then a gil
jumped and another and another. Som
Of them fell true and straight a. q plum
met and smashed through the vaul
lights Of the street into tAs hssemsn
under the sidswalk. Most Of them turne,
many times. shrieking ~ they fell. ou,
girl, the doctor says, deliberately tool
her hat and laid it on the ledge befor
she jumped.
| Man Dropped Girls - street.
But the greater number were jumpinl
from the east side Of tho corner building
land landing burned and crushed in Green
street. One man ran from window I
window. picked up girls bodily an
dropped them to the pavement. Eithe
he thought the nets were there to cate
them or he believed that this was tn
easiest way. And when he had droppe
the last girl within reach he climbed o
the sill and jumped straight out. with
hand raised. as bridge jumper holds hi
| arm upward to balance himself.
After many girls had jumped from tn
Greene street side OF the building and
seemed that the ninth floor ledge OH thi
side was clear two girls clambered on
} upon it. One OF them seemed self f-pot
sessed; at least her movements SCENE
slow and deliberate. With her was
!. younger girl shrieking and twisting wit
fright.
The crowd below yelled to the two nc
: to Jump. The older girl placed both arm
around the younger and pulled her bao
on the ledge toward the brick wall an
she tried to press her younger companio
closer to the wa1l. But the girl who Wa
being held twisted her head and shoulder
loose from the protecting embrace. too
step or two to the right from the gi
! who was trying to save her and jumpe
i nine nOOro 10 tu0 pavement.
, Every one had jumped then and th
solitary girl still was standing on tf
ledge. After her younger companion hs
died the girl who was left stood bac
8 against the wall motionless. and for
1 moment she held her hands rigid again
n her thighs. her head tilted upward ar
looking toward the sky. Smoke bega
to triokle out Of the broken window
few inches to her left. She began to raii
her arms then and make slow gesture
t as il she were addressing q crowd abo'
h her.
q A tongue Of fame licked up along Il
window sill and singed her hair and thu
y out Of the smoke which was beginning
u hide her from view she shot feet foremos
n her arms still raised and falling wtho
l. turning to the street. 1t was Bertl
Weintraut. whom the police found mo
than an hour later still breathing und
the cataraots spilling from ledge to led
. upon the dead who lay around her
q saved by Law students.
l. About two hundred other employees
d mostly women. meantime had got o
"a on tho roof OF the ten story buildir
crazy with fright, Across the SIN.
II k~..N yewNv q