Warren sheaf., 1911-03-30
HOLOCAUST IN
new YORK CITY
COSTS l5| LIVES
PANIC OCCURS WHEN FLAMES
BREAK oUT-NETs AND
BLANKETS FAIL TO
BREAK FALLS.
BODIES ARE LITERALLY
RAlNED THROUGH THE AIR
Three Upper Floors of Ten-story
Building Are Burned.-casuaities
Occur Within 20 Minutes
Fire Out in One


and ffty-one persons-nine- -tenths of
them girls from the East side-were
| crushed to death on the pavements,
Bmethered in smoke, or shriveled crisp
m factory fire and twelve are dying
n hospitals in the worst disaster New
York has known since the steamship
Gen. Slocum was burned to the waters
edge of North Brothers island in 1904.
Nearly all, if not all, of the victims
we're employed by the Triangle Waist
company on the eighth, ninth and tenth
doors of 10-story loft building, on the
western fringe of the downtown whole
sale clothing, fur and millinery dis
srict.
The partners of the firm, Isaac Har-
MS and Max Blanck, escaped un-
pcratched from the office on the tenth
noor, carrying with them over an ad-
Joining roof Blanck's two young daugh-
eers and a governess. There was no
hear outside fire escape on the build
ing.
Origin Unknown.
How Che fire started will perhaps
never be known. A corner on the
sfghth floor was it's point of origin and
the three upper floors only were swept.
On the ninth floor so bodies were
found, 63 or more persons were crush
ed to death by jumping and more than
30 clogged the elevator shafts. The
loss to property will not exceed $780,
300.
Pedestrians going home through
Washington place to Washington
square at 10 minutes to 5 were scat
tered by the whizz of something rush
Ing through the air before them; there
was horrible plop on the pavement
md body hattened on the flags.
Four alarms were rung within Is
minutes. Before the engines could re-
spond, before the nets could be
stretched or the ladders raised, five
girls had fallen from the eighth and
ninth floors so heavily that they broke
through the glass and iron roofs of
the sub-cellars and crashed through
the very streets into the vaults be-
low.
Holocaust Soon Over.
In an hour the fire was out; in half
an hour it had done it's worst; prob
ably the death list was full in 20 min
ates.
The building stands on a corner, with
exposure on two sides, but the only
Sro int -
light and air shaft In all there were
seven exits-the single fire escape, two
freight elevators at the rear, two pas
senger elevators in front and two
stairways. All of them proved al
most useless and practically all who
escaped either climbed to the roof and
scrambled thence to the roof of the
building occupied by the American
Book company adjoining, or fed in the
first rush for safety before the crush
and the smoke grew too thick.
The first rush of flame was almost
IN explosion. Operators died in their
chairs, their lungs scared by inhaling
flames. Others were crowded into the
elevator shafts after the cars had
made their last trip. Still others were
pushed OF In the inadequate interior
IRE escape.
Shower Of Bodies.
In such a horrible stream did the
bodies overflow from the windows that
the fre nets, stretched by the first
company to arrive, were soon gorged
beyond capacity.
From Deadly Heights.
It was IS feet from the eighth floor
to the ground; about IS feet from the
ninth floor, LIS feet from the cornice
Of the roof, and the upward rush of
the draught and the crack1e of the
flames drowned their cries.
Six girls fought their way to a
window on the ninth floor over the
bodies of fallen fellow workers and
crawled out in single file to an eight
inch stone ledge, running the length
OF the building. More than hundred
feet above the sidewalk they crept
along their perilous pathway to a
swinging electric feed wire spanning
Washington Place The leaders paused
Tor their companions to catch up at
the end of the ledge and the SIX
grabbed the wire simultaneously. It
snapped like rotten whip cord and
they crashed to death
Their Last Embrace.
At a ninth floor window a man and
q woman appeared The man en-
braced the woman and kissed her.
Then he hurled her to the street and
Jumped. Both were killed Five girls
smashed pane of glass, dropped in a
struggling tangle and were crushed
Into shapeless mass.
One girl jumped into horse blaA-
1et held By fremen and policemsa