The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1912-01-09

building, in the financial district. /
When in the late morning the subway,
surface and elevated lines began dis
. gorging this huge army in the vicinity
of the fire, it became necessary to
! call out the police reserves from all
the downtown districts and tighten
the police lines to the point of military
severity.
GIbiin's Folly.
The most thrilling rescue ever seen
at New York fire was that of Will
i liam Giblin, president of the Mercan-
! tile Safe Deposit company, in the
4 Equitable building. Giblin, driven out
of the building twice by firemen, re-
turned the third time to rescue some
j, of the priceless papers in his private
, desk. His escape was cut off by the
] flames With two companions, whose
names We're not learned up to 9:15, he
a retreated into an empty safe deposit
vault, closing the door, but calling to
| the firemen through a grating.
; Though tons of debris were falling
/ about them, and great flames licking
, about them, hundred volunteer fire
| men, answering call for volunteers
i for dangerous duty, seized axes and
/. crowbars and fought their way to the
1 vaults. smashing like wild men at the
$ grating to save the three men. Their
8 companions played water into the
;. vaults, submerging the imprisoned
8 men and covering the rescuers with
t sheets of ice to keep them from
!. burning to death. For hours
) cheered by hundred thousand men
o from safe distance, these heroes
It worked Finally the floors fell ane
g Giblin. little man physically and
badly burned, dragged his uncon
scious or dead companions onto the
main floor where. a few moments
ID later, amid wild cheering, the brave
lie firemen fought their way and dragged
v Giblin, dying, to the street. At tina
D. hour they had been unable to find hi
w companions and Fire Chief kenlol
IS was considering calling the heroe
n. from the building for the danger wa
too great.
w Giblin was rushed to the Hudso
IT. street hospital, where physicians sa
Ig. he would die of shock and exposure.
i'd At $3.50 it was discovered that Fir
by Chief Vim. Walsh, in command Of th
on second battalion, who was last see
\ On the fourth floor of the burnin
building was missing. Chief Kenlo
"a ordered an immediate search for hin
- but no trace of Walsh had been foun
es up to $3.50 and it was feared he wa
Iy, killed.
er
Money Melted Up.
81 Conrad Seibert, special officer
the Equitable building, was killet
eo His body was recovered at 9:45.
In At $50 fire underwriters in tn
nd vicinity of the building declared til
en- loss would range from $5,000,000 I
ur $2G,o00,O00, or more depending on til
gh damage done the vaults of the bani
cir and trust companies and insuranG
companies in the building. 1t We
,re not known how many million dollar
ey- vaults of the two big trust companie
ms but the intense heat to which the
,se had been subjected made insurant
by men fear that their contents migl
re- have been affected.
.ze At $3.50 the New York Clearir
he house association, with offices
to Pine street, near the Equitable, W;
be menaced. though the firemen declare
IN, it would not be reached. Owing to II
eet proximity of the flames. the cleari1
me house management announced th
lid bank exchanges today would be MAJ
in the Chamber of Commerce bull
sm ing.
ari- Captain Sydney johnson, of fl
the patrol No /, the last man to see Ca
9th tain Walsh alive, declared there cou
on not be any doubt as to his death.
sed roll call of the firemen fighting d
out flames was ordered, but owing to t
,se. confusion incident to the vast nu
en- ber of men engaged, it was unsat
vas factory.
William Sheehan, special patr
4 man, attached to the building, t
last man to see Conrad Seibert ally
be- was himself seriously injured.
lief
,ar- Eyebrows Frozen.
At Timothy Manning, a fireman
tily tached to truck No 6, one of the
inc roes who dragged Giblin from his
in ferno retreat, was rendered insa
/ by the heat and smoke and ice viii
the froze on him, but attending physical
tus believed he would recover his reas
lew shortly
When a portion of the walls t
lion into Broadway and Cedar streets, t
red streets had been cleared and no o
Ugh was injured.
est, At that hour coffee in buckets
ing being served the freezing firem
j in Their eyebrows had frozen, while
cat man In the squad had failed to sh
cial cut faces from falling ice as the wa