New-York tribune., 1912-03-04
ONE DEAD, ONE HURT IN
MADISON AVENUE FIRE
Police Make Thrilling RescueS
from Flames That Destroy
Boarding House.
WOM4N'S ESCAPE CUT OFF
Fireman Severely Injured by
Shower of Debris - Church
goers Watch Rluecoats Help
Occupants to Safety.

/ a
avenue. between G2d and G3d streets
went up in flames early yesterday morn
| ing. causing the death of one of its
woman occupants and serious injuries e
la fireman. The dead woman was Mrs
| Ella White. widow of Charles White. .
Wall Street broker. who died some fif-
teen years ago, and the injured fire
! fighter is Lieutenant Benjamin Parcel
OF Engine Company $, who fell with \
/ shower Cf burning debris when the etair
way between the third 'and fourth floors
gave way. 1t was said last night at tho
! Hahnemann Hospital Park avenue and
! 9th street, to which he was removed
after the accident. that he was resting
comfortably and would in all probabil-
| ity recover.
Mrs. White. since her husbands death
/ had been church visitor for the Mad.
! son Avenue Dutch Reformed Church. at
57th street. of which the Rev. Dr. Will
| lam Carter is pastor. DR. Carter said
last night that she had been a membe"
Of the church for about thirty years,
and that after Mr.. Whites death. find
ing herself in somewhat straitened cir
| cumstances, she had given her whole
time 10 church work, acting also as sec
retary 10 the pastor. She was born In
New Haven. he said. about fifty years
ago and had sister, a Mrs Jones, liv-
ing in Bridgeport.
81. 90
told by the clergyman. was that afte~
living at the Madison avenue house for
a number OF years Mrs. White moved
away about a year ago. only to move
back again within the last six weeks,
wishing. as she remarked, 70 be among
her old friends. The funeral will be-
held AT the Madison avenue church TO
morrow and she will be buried beside
her husband in the family plot at South
Norwalk. Conn
Near Homes OF Prominent Men.
The burned building was one OF a low
Of brownstone houses on the west side Of
Madison avenue in the same block with
the homes Of John r. Drexel. Joseph II.
Choate. John Rhinelander Stevens and
William -. Parsons. Theodore Roose-
welt. when he was Police Commissioner,
lived diagonally opposite. on the south
east corner of Madison avenue and SD
street. Within the immediate neighbor-
hood are the houses Of John Jacob AS
tor, William Guggenheim, Douglas Rob
inson and other well known men.
IL was about d o'clock yesterday morn
ing that Mary Reilly n maid who slept
in the basement OF the house was awak-
ened by smoke pouring into her cham
ber Running up 10 the main floor, she
was met 10y a whirl Of flame that sent
her back TO the basement TO arouse John
Daksh, the porter. who tumbled into the
street shouting the alarm. Patrolman
Brosnan, Of the East 9th street sta
ton, pulled the box at Fifth avenue and
G1st street. and arrived at the door of
the burning building just as Patrolmen
Lorenz, James and Fitzpatrick ran up.
The four dived into the building. already
belching fire from nearly every window.
to begin the work Of saving the occu-
pants.
A series Of rescues which thrilled the
onlookers, many Of them returning from
early mass I'm the churches. followed
over each window Of the burning house
and the house next door, belonging 10
Dr. Charles II. May, was stone ledge
some six or eight inches in breadth
Miss Elizabeth Rattien. though suffer
ing from rheumatism, which had con
fined her to her bed for several days,
tossed the rope fire escape attached 10
the sill of her window on the third floor
out of the window, and with its aid
managed to reach the ledge over the first
floor window There, uncertain where
10 turn next. she was found by Patrol
man Fitzpatrick. who passed her over to
Lorenz. Clinging to a ledge on Or. Mays
house. where she scrambled i'm to safety
Rescue Woman Of Ninety.
A woman nearing ninety years, II wa
said. Miss Crosby by name, appeared
on the same ledge a moment later,
helped there by her maid, Caroline
Krohn The same process was repeate |
with her and she was later taken across
the street to the Hotel LeOnori, suffer
ing from exposure and shock.
In the mean time Miss Eleanor Gues5,
a singer, who roomed on the fourth floor
front. climbed out OF her window to the
ledge below and got across to the third
floor ledges of Or. Mays house without
help. But the first room she came to
there was filed with smoke. Taking Il
for one in the house she had left she
continued past two other windows. with
only the narrow ledges between her and
n drop OF forty feet. until she came to
the windows Of the cooks room In the
Nav house. In front of this she stood
shivering i'm her thin night dress, COW
cred only by an opera cloak. for several
minutes before she was able to gain A.
entrance.
w 4. Boyden, another rGomer on the
fourth floor, who followed Miss Guest.
took the first window he came to in the
Nav house and found himself in the
room of Miss Aubrey. the doctors sec.
retary. lust awakened by his entry. For
n moment there was a dramatic scene.
MIR. Boyden finally being able to make
II clear in his excitement that he WAS
not a burglar. nut refugee from his
burning home. IT was thought for q
while that all the occupants Of the house
got out safely, but an investigation later
showed that Mrs. White was missing.
Her body was hnally found in a front
room on the fourth floor. where she had
apparently wandered dazed by the