Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-11-07
CROWD HELPLESS, SEE
EIGHT BURNED TO DEATH
Many Jump From Upper Windows
When Escape Is
Cut OFF.
SEARCH RUINS FOR BODIES
Remains of Six Are Taken From
Charred Stairway, Having Been
Entrapped There by the
Flames

NEW YORK, November g.
Thirteen men and girls are known
to have lost their lives today in a
fire that DESTROYED an old four
story brick and wooden factory
building in the Williamsburg sec
ton of Brooklyn. A search of the
ruins is expected to uncover the
bodies of thirteen other victims,
eight OF them girls, who were re-
ported as missing tonight. Of the
forty injured in hospitals many
were expected to die and a score
more were less seriously burned
and bruised.
The building was occupied by a
candy manufacturing concern and
three firms manufacturing cloth
ing, whose employees normally
totaled 800, but more than a third
had been dismissed before the fire
started for a Saturday half holi-
day
The flames were discovered
shortly before 2 o'clock by a girl
employe of the candy factory,
which occupied the ground floor
and basement, and were soon
roaring up the elevator shaft
around which wound the principal
stairway.
Girls Jump From Windows.
There was one other stairway in the
rear Of the building. and some Of the
entrapped persons escaped by that, but
before the f1remen arrived men and
women were leaping from the win
dows. The flames had swiftly mush-
roomed from the elevator shaft into the
fourth floor, and scarcely had the first
streams of water entered the building
when the roof collapsed. The other
floors soon after fell one by one.
Today's disaster was the worst far
tory nre in New York since the Tri-
angle Waist Company was burned out
several years ago with a loss of 148
lives.
The flames spread so RAPIDLY that 90.
cape for most of the employees in the
building by stairs and elevator was i'm
possible The only fire escape became
1ammed: The flames drove the fright
ened men and women to the windows
and forced them to jump OF the eley-
en- bodies recovered from the ruins. six
were taken from the fire escape and
do dour Were found hanging out Of win
COWS, charred beyond recognition. Sew
eral OF these were girls. burned to
death in the sight of q great crowd
OF helpless spectators.
NO one could be found tonight to tell
how the fre started, but within half an
hour the roof had collapsed. In another
hour 1t was nothing but a tottering
shell of brick walls. inclosing smoking q
missing.
After a preliminary investigation by
the authorities tonight, Mrs Edward
L. Diamond. owner Of the building, and
of criminal negligence and remanded
to jail without bail. Mr. Diamond said
he was in the building at the time of
the hre. but claimed Ignorance as to
the cause.
Police Think 25 Lost Lives.
Not until the list of employees in the
building has been checked up and the
ruins searched were the police willing
tonight to believe that the death list
would exceed twenty-five .one of the
victims taken to the hospital. a man.
died soon after from a fractured skull.
Coroner Wagner started an tnyesti.
CATION Of the cause of the disaster and
other city officials were soon on the
soene for tho same purpose They were
able. however. to gain little informa
tion tonight other than that the fre
appeared to have originated In the
Diamond candy factory. probably In
done.
The loss of life was chiefly amons
the employees of the Essex Shirt Com.
pany and the B. L. & w. Tailoring
Company. which occupied the third and
fourth floors.
Within few minutes after the frs
started the ladders were jammed with
frightened men and girls. Meanwhile
the fire was spreading rapidly through
the various floors, led By the ouan.
titles of cloth with which the oper.
atives had been working.
great crowd had gathered, and
many spectators called to the girls AND
men on the escape not to jump. In
what seemed to be an incredibly shor,
time, however, flames began pourtno
through several windows.
Helplessly Watch Girls Burn.
few moments later many Of tn.
windows were blown out, and thu
crowd was Mortified to see a numbe,
of girls burned to death as they cluns
to a fire escape.
svore or more girls Jumped from
the escape, and nearly all were caugh
by men in the crowd Those that wer,
not caught in all cases were serfousl,
4. injured.
BY this time various pieces of hr,
apparatus reached the scene and hr,
nets were quickly spread, Scores o
those penned on the fire escapes theI
jumped to safety.
Eight girls and one man wer,
burned to death on one fire escape