Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-29
|4PERSONS RESCUED
|MANy ARE ROUTED
lin APARTMENT FIRE
Three Elderly Residents and
Baby Carried From R Street
BuiIding-s15,00O Loss.
LOUIS KETTLER SHARES
HER0ISM WITH FIREMEN
Hesse, Pratt and Burlingame on
Scene as Neighborhood Is
Illumined by Flames.

Three elderly persons and baby
were carried from the Gladstone
Apartments, 1923 r street, last night
when four-alarm fire caused more
than $4,000 damages and Illuminated
the vicinity for blocks.
Firemen escorted several other per-
sons to safety. The first alarm was
turned in at lila o'clock by Ulysses
Prince, colored. of 1445 r street. The
second, third and fourth alarms were
sounded in rapid succession upon ar
rival of the firemen, who had the blaze
under control at the end of an hour.
Louis Kettler of 1921 Allison street,
who was driving by before the fire.
fighting apparatus reached the scene,
made three of the rescues. He first
carried to the street Lyman P. Sterne,
an invalid, who lives in an apartment
on the second floor. Then he returned
and took 16-month-old Betty Harring-
ton in his arms from the burning build
ing. Mrs. S. u. Harrington. the childs
mother, followed them down the stairs.
By this time the firemen had arrived
and carried Miss Emma Marston, rs
year-old invalid, living with her sister.
Miss Eleanor Marston. in Apartment 81,
a chair. Kettler. rushing back up the
stairs after turning the baby over to
the mother. picked her up and carried
her the rest of the way.
Man, so, and Wife Saved.
z. p. Roderick, 80 years old, who
lives on the second floor was found by
firemen staggering to the head of the
steps with his wife in his arms. The
fire fighters relieved him of his burden
and assisted them both out Of the
smoke filled building.
The fire started, it is thought, from
sparks falling on the roof. 1t quickly
spread to the elevator shaft and down
floors, and then, skipping the first and
second floors, broke out in the base
ment. The principal damage was to the
roof and fourth floor. An accurate es-
innate of the damage is impossible until
the value of the furniture in the apart
mentS ruined by smoke, fire and water
is ascertained.
| Due to a strong wind from the north,
! the confiagration was confined entirely
! to the south side of the structure. Six
| teen engine and four truck companies
and the water tower were called into
service. The tower was erected In r
street and water poured into the upper
| part of the building. Firemen climbed
onto the roof from johnson avenue and
| fought the fire from the rear. Chief
Engineer George S. Watson responded
TO the second alarm and directed the
operations until the blaze was extin-
guished.
Mrs. M. L. Adams. her two children.
Betty, years old, and Billy. 9 years
old; Mrs. M. Henry and Miss Pearl
Henry, all occupants of apartment SO,
and Mrs. John Pewley and her daugh-
ter Jean, 8 years old, were routed from
their homes.
Doors Broken Open.
The women had just returned from
church and gone to bed when f1remen
broke IN the doors of their apartments.
But for their return shortly before ii
O'Clock the children would have been
alone when the fire broke out. Several
other families we're forced to abandon
their apartments for the night. Prac-
tically every suite in the building was
badly damaged by the water.
Police reserves under the direction of
Maj. Edwin B. Hesse, retiring superirl-
tendent Of police, and Inspector Henry
G.. Pratt, his successor, restrained
crowd Of more than 1000 persons. Cap
Guy E. Burlingame, in whose precinct
the apartment house is located, also was
there.
Learning the location or the nre
few minutes after the first alarm, Lieut..
Edward j. Kelly, chief Of the headquar-
tiers homicide squad, who lives next door
to the Hawarden Apartments, rushed
home in the police car with screaming
siren, fearful for the safety of his wife
and her mother.
Four battalion chiefs worked under
orders of Chief Watson. They were
John Darlington, Benjamin Weaver, j.
B. Watt and P. r. Davis.
Considerable difficulty in fighting the
fire was experienced, due to the solid
line of automobiles parked on boz.
sides of r street. Police were forced to
push some of the machines onto the
sidewalk to make way for the firemen.
Meanwhile Policemen w. S. Gordy-
and r. c. Jackson of the second pre-
cinct went through the apartment rous-
ing the occupants.