New-York tribune., 1912-01-10
HOME BURNS
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10 pour a freezing spray through the win
dows. His men penetrated to the ofhces
facing the doomed building along Pine
Nassau and Cedar street and fought the
fire from them. dragging their hose up
through the Railways and fastening the
noz2les on the window sills. tn they
found the only effective method of at
tack I'm the narrow little canyons. AS a
result. however, many a lawyer ana
banker had not only 10 abandon all
thoughts of business during the day, but
also to reconcile himself to considerable
loss through water damage and to more
or less inconvenience for some time to
come.
While the fire was at its height Bat
TALON Chief William Walsh at the head
of five firemen, made his way to the
fourth floor of the burning building on
the Pine street side They had been
groping there few minutes when, ac-
cOrding to one of the firemen, there was
a crash, and a large portion of the cell
ing fell, and they were all buried be-
meath a mass Of debris.
Firemen in the street who had seen
their chief and comrades disappear and
heard the crash. shouted a warning. A
crew, headed by Captain Sidney John
son, Of one Of the patrol companies,
went to the rescue A line was stretched
from another window, and the firemen
made their way to the sidewalk. Then
it was found that Chief Walsh was miss
ing. The firemen tried to get back into
the building, but were forced out.
Charles S. Bass, captain of Engine
Company 4. was injured a little later
and was carried from the building. He
was attended in the street and then re-
moved to the Hudson Street Hospital.
When Captain Bass was pulled out Of
the burning building the rumor started
that Chief Walsh had been found, but
later this was denied, and the search
for the chief was kept up.
Firemen attached to four hook and
ladder companies began a systematic
search on the fourth floor last night for
the body Of Chief Walsh. Difficulty was
encountered in tearing away the debris
which was cemented into a compact mass
by the ice. Chief Kenlon said last night
that a fireman attached TO Hook and
Ladder Company | was the last to see
fourth floor and was about to descend.
Captain Sidney Johnson, Of Fire Patrol !,
later reported that he saw Chief Walsh
between the first and second floors of
the building. and Inspector McClusky
reported that he thought he saw Walsh
in the ground floor Of the structure.
Kenlon, however, was inclined to believe
that Walsh lost his life while on the
fourth floor
Seven o'clock saw the climax OF the fire.
Then II was that the roof and upper floors
began TO fall and carry with them the
lower floors, accounting for the loss Of
Chief Walsh and also for the death OF a
porter supposed TO be Massena Fratta, OF
No 225 East 56th street. Fratta was found
by firemen lying unconscious In Pine street,
having jumped from the third floor. DR..
Savage. of the Volunteer Hospital, whose
ambulance was handy, found that the
porter was suffering from fracture at the
base of the skull He lifted him into the
ambulance and sped with him to the hos
pita, but Fratta died before the instltu-
ton was reached.
William Giblin. president of the Mercan-
tile Safe Deposit Company, was another
one to be caught by the falling floors, and
after a fireman had sawed through the
steel bars of his vaults and extricated him
more dead than alive he was carried across
the street TO the boiler room of the Trinity
Building and revived. There he told this
story:
"I was sitting up last night with my
wife. who has been very III, when an en-
ploye of the Hotel Breslin Informed me
that the Trust Company was on fire.
When ] arrived at the building there were
no flames but plenty of smoke. / hurried
into one of the vaults TO get out some
papers, followed by one Of the night watch
men. The sault has a spring lock and
left my keys outside. When the man and
started TO leave the place the door swung
shut and we were both prisoners.
1.-The smoke was awful. We screamed
and shouted, but It seemed as though we
were both doomed. The other poor fellow
was alive up TO half an hour ago. but he
tainted just before / was carried out and
think he must be dead by this time"
Mr.. Giblin was then taken to the Hud-
son Street Hospital. He was weak, II was
said last night. but in no immediate danger.
Broadway surface car traffic was COM
pletely blocked, and as the water from
the fire hose flowed into the slots and
tracks and CONCEALED there several cars
became glued in their places by the ice.
The streets around became rough glaciers
and made the movement Of apparatus al
most impossible. The ice will keep the
streets effectively closed TO horse traffic
until IL is chopped out with pickaxes and