New Britain herald., 1914-04-14
SEVEN LIVES LOST
 IN BOSTON FIRE
Flames Wreck Five Story ApsT'-
 meat House in AISton District.

Boston, April 14.-Seven persons were killed, sixteen were injured more or less seriously, and twenty-one fam flies, totalling more than seventy-f1ve individuals, were endangered in an early morning fire that wrecked the Melvin, five story brick apartment house at the corner of Common wealth and Long avenues. in the All ston district today. The dead: Mrs. Alice Shackford, wife of c. l.. Shackford,
 Mrs. Edith Bemis, wife of H. D. Bemis.
 Mrs. r. c. Beharrell. sister of Mrs. Bemis.
 James Raymond Power, Mrs. Power and their infant son.
 Miss Mary Connors, a maid in the Power family.
 The cause of the fire has not been determined.
 Started in Basement.
 It started in the basement near the boiler and shot up through waste paper chute and an elevator we'll, spreading rapidly to all parts of the building.
 All of the inmates of the hous. were asleep when the fire broke out,
  in making their way to safety. Some were painfully burned and few were injured by Jumping from windows. (.AIl of the injured will recover
 Scene Was Pathetic.
 The fire was spectacular Nearly all of the suites were small kitchenette apartments in which the occupants were trapped as the flames raced through each story. Men, women and children were standing on the window ledges shrieking for help when the firemen arrived. Some reached the ground by crawling along marrow copings to the fire escapes. Others managed to reach small bal comics on the front of the house from which they were taken down over the fire ladders.
 It was not until hours after the blaze had been extinguished that the casualty list could be made up. Ow- ing to the number of persons who lived in the house, severel were re- ported missing who afterwards were found to be safe.
 Damage Estimated at $6O,OOO.
 The damage to the building, which was opened last September, is esti- mated at $6o,0O0.
 Mrs. Shackford and Mrs. Bemis met death by Jumping. one from the fourth floor and the other from the fifth The bodies of the other victims were found on the fifth floor. two hours after the discovery of the fire and the medical examiner expressed the opinion that all had been suffocated
 Started in Easement Vvr>- a.. near a waste paper chute, and the flames shot rapidly up through the chute and an elevator we'll. The whole building was ablaze when the hyemen arrived
 Miss May Boyd, living next door, was one of the first to see the fire. While another neighbor rang in an alarm, Miss Boyd rushed into the burn liig building and rang the bells in all the suites. The occupants were quick ly reused. Many were able to escape by the stairways. Others used the fire escapes in the rear until flames burst ' Ing from the wind ows made this inn possible. When the firemen arrived they carried number of men and women down ladders Several persons Jumped from upper floors into the life nets.
 Leapcd to Death.
 Mrs. Shackford and Mrs. Bemis, surrounded by flames, refused to heed the warnings of others who shouted to them to wait for the firemen and leaped to their death.
 Among those trapped on the fourth floor were Mr. and Mrs. Clement R. Rogers and Mrs. Robert Adams. They hastily fashioned a rope from their bed clothing and let themselves down to the second floor from which they were able to reach the ground without trjury.
 Miss Helen Hartford, who lived on the third floor, found the doors to her apartments blocked by smoke and flame. She rushed to the fire escape where she was temporarily overcome by smoke. Firemen carried her down . ladder.
 No Time to Dress.
 No one had time to dress and there was considerable suffering from ex- posture in the chill air of the early morning. The survivors found shel- ter In nearby apartment houses
 The state police later in the day began an investigation in an effort to determine the cause of the fire.