New-York tribune., 1922-03-22
Historic Papers
Saved i'm Fire
At Old Trinity
tCsnt!nucd from page one)

Goodman, curatc Of Trinity, who was
in his study, fed from the parish house
unaided, as did also Miss Mary A..
Cafeteria. on the fourth floor, where
the fire started.
Flames Spread Rapidly
Lenten services in st. Paul's Chapel
had lust been concluded when smoke
was observed pouring from the fourth
floor window of the building, at Vesey
and Church streets. across the old
graveyard. When the first fremcn ar
rived in response to two alarms the
fire had eaten its way through the roof
of the building, and flames were shoot
ing fifteen feet into the air. Fire Chief
Kenlon sent in third alarm.
When the frcmen began to haul their
lines Of hose through the graveyard
they were cautioned by their officers to
exercise great care. Hose also was
taken to the roofs OF the buildings in
Vesey Street and on the west side Of
Church Street, and from these points
and the elevated tracks tons of water
were poured on the flames. 1t was not
until the fire was under control, how
ever, that Chief Kenlon learned from
the Rev. j. p. McComas, vicar Of St
end of the conhagration. that the irrc-
placcable Trinity records, most Of
which date back beyond the Revolu
ton, were not in the burning portion
Of the building, but were in fire
proof safe at the Fulton Street side,
where the Trinity Corporation has it's
Offices.
The fire was at its height when Miss
Armstrong left the chapel, where she
had been attending the Lenten devo-
tions. She began to scream that her
mother, Mrs Elizabeth Armstrong, was
on the top floor Of the building. The
police assured her that her mother had
been taken out and was being shell
tered in one of the nearby buildings.
Starts in Cafeteria Closet
Fire Marshal Brophy and a score OF
assistants visited the scene later to in
vestigate the cause of the fire, and, to-
gether with Miss Lyon and several
cIergymen attached to St. Paul's, went
to the fourth floor, where the fire
shall Brophy said that he found in
closet filled with dishes in the cafe
terra number of cans of paint and
shellac and quantity of paraffin
drinking cups and that he was con-
vinced that the fire started there.
Amusement was expressed by the
parish officials when they learned that
paint and shellac had been stored in
this closet.
The Trinity Parish House is about
forty ye'%s old 1t stands on the site
of an old building that for years
housed the Volunteer Fire Depart
ment. The first floor contains the Of
fees of the clergy Of St. Paul's Chapel,
the second is used a. rehearsal room
for the choir and for Boy Scout activ-
tiles, the third is given over TO Sun
day school activities and the fourth
is devoted to the women's cafeteria.
The south end Of the building, which is
cut off by thick wall, is used by the
Trinity Corporation, over which are
the dormitories Of the clergy of both
Trinity Church and st. Pauls Chapel
Among those quartered there are the
Rev. George B. Cox, curate of St.
Paul's, and the Revs. s. T. Steele, F.
W. Goodman and W. B. Kinkaid,
curates of Trinity, as we'll as DR.. Nc
Comas, the vicar of ST. Pau's. None
of the clergymens rooms were dam
aged
The fire in the same structure two
weeks ago was in the basement and
was discovered before it had gained
much headway, and was extinguished
with slight damage.