The star-independent. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1904-1917, 1915-01-06
HUNDREDS OVERCOME BY
SMOKE IN SUBWAY FIRE
Continued From First Page.

the Fiftieth and Fifty-ninth street sta
tions Hundreds of passengers wedged
tight in the cars said afterwards that
it started with an explosion and that
the train came almost Immediately to
a standstill. Aboard the train there
was a frantic rush for the end cars.
Through the open doors at each end
there poured a stream of men and wom-
en- who struggled through the smoke,
apparently oblivious of the d niger Of
the third rail, toward the two stations.
The platforms at these stations were
iammed and in the wild rush for the
exists some persons were thrown down
and trampled on. AS the work of res
cue progressed indications that the
number of fatalities would be larger
than first estimated.
Aid Summed From Brooklyn
Emergency calls to hospitals brought
to the spot every ambulance in Man
haitian. AS fast as the unconscious
victims were removed from the tube
they were laid on the sidewalk, carried
into stores and Offices and given first
aid by squads of fremen and surgeons.
So great was the demand upon the fire
fighting forces of the city TO aid in the
work of reviving the unconscious that
hurry calls were sent by telephone to
Brooklyn for aid from the fremen
there.
The tie-up resulting from the fire
spread to the Bronx and to Brooklyn
and tens of thousands Of persons strug.
gled at elevated railway and subway
stations in those boroughs in an effort
to reach Manhattan.
Placed on the Platforms
AS the fire began to cool long streams
of firemen, each carrying in his arms
dead or unconscious victim, entered
the two stations. The bodies of the
dead were placed upon the platforms;
those who still lived were taken to the
outer air and the firemen went back for
more.
The bodies of twenty persons lay on
the platform of the Fiftieth street sta
tion an hour after the fire started. The
flames were still raging then and there
were only estimates as to the number
of dead in the cars and along the
tracks, Barfied in attempts TO reach the
victims who lay close to the burning
ears, Inspector Egan of the Bureau of
Cumbustibles, dispatched messengers by
automobiles for dynamite. He said that
he would use this, if necessary, to rip
up the streets and thus afford the fire.
men an entrance through which they
could work unhampered.
Collision Caused the Fire
Unofficial reports gave the cause Of
the fire as a collision between express
trains. At the time of the fire the
subway contained smoke from pre-
vious fire extinguished only few min.
utes before at the Spring street sta
tion.
1t was shortly before go clock
that wisps of smoke began to curl from
the manholes along Broadway between
the two stations. The spot where the
fire burned fiercest was opposite Fifty
sixth street. Hampered in their efforts
to reach the blaze the fireman dug into
the pavement with their axes. They
succeeded in making a hole above the
subway at Ffty-third street. From
this opening belched volume of smoke
and flames as if from orator. Hose
was directed through the opening and
even hand extinguishers were used.
| For ten blocks the streets were lined
with the ambulances that came from
all over the city. A Gordon thrown
around Broadway by the police held in
check tens of thousands of spectators.
Two hundred persons in all were ia
ken to the Polytechnic, the surgeon said
but as far as he knew, with this one
exception, none had been fatally in
| Jured.