The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1942-11-30

morJuary. She had set out with a
party Of friends TO spend a happy
evening.
A Yale senior. Charles NJ. Fauci.
Jr. OF Wellesley. son of a wealthy
liquor dealer. was Identified by the
grieying father, The young man
would have been graduated in a
few months and planned to enter
the Army.
Carl Thorn Of quincy, vice pres.
ident of the United States Trust
Company and prominent in Mason
ic circles, also was numbered
among the victims.
a nationally known film exccu.
tive, Herman Rifkln. head Of Mon
-ogram Pictures. OF Hollywood. was
among the known dead. AS wa
Joseph A. Boratyn. OF Whitins.
Vile. Mass, a former Holy Cross
football star.
Thousand There
\ capacity crowd OF nearly L.
000 persons was In the gay nigh
club when the fire broke out and
spread with devastating speed.
Flames raced from the basement
bar-the melody lounge-up the
stairs to the main room where
the bulk Of the merry.makers were
conRregated.
The blaze spread so rapidly that
virtually all OF the patrons in the
dine and dance spot were trapped
A young girl. her clothing ablsze
rushed up the stairway from the
lounge shouting: Fire,
Pandemonium broke loose. Cou
plies who had just come off the
dance floor made a headlong dash
for the exits. 1t was a few min
utes before 10:45 p. m, and the
floor show was about to start In
fact, Mickey Alpert. the bandlead-
er and master OF ceremonies, stood
on the platform waiting to strike
The Star Spangled Banner.
Women and men tried to get
through the revolving door front
entrance to the club but they found
It jammed with fighting, maulins
mass of humanity. Agonized
shrieks from women rent the air.
Finally, the door. was broken open
only 10 become blocked by piled
up bodies.
In Mad Frenzy
The patrons became panic strick-
en-. They rushed about madiy,
knocking over tables aud clawin7 AT
each other in a mad frenzy to es-
c..pe. They tried the rear exit AMI
found II blocked too. Some OF those
who managed to fight their way
out Of the blazing inferno were ter
ribly burned and almost nude. Some
collapsed in the street.
Marshall Cook, l9-year-old chorus
boy, saved almost the entire cast OF
thirty-six entertainers by slamming
the upstairs dressing room door In
the face OF the onrushing flames. He
led them out Of a window onto a
nearby roof from which they came
down a ladder to safety.
Hospitals Taxed
The disaster strained the relief
facilities OF Boston to the utmost
coming as It did at a time when
hospital stats were depleted by the
demands OF war.
Newspaper trucks, taIicabs. po-
lice cars and private automobiles
were pressed into service to trans
port the dead and injured to the
mortuaries and hospitals.
The Cambridge City Hospital. the
Cambridge Hospital. the Peter Bent
Brigham Hospital. the Massachu
sets Memorial Hospital, Beth Is
rael Hospital, Chelsea Naval Hos
pital, St Elizabeth's Hospital. Ma
rine Hospital and the Carney Hos
pital all offered their facilities
Service Men Help
Soldiers. sailors. marines and
coast guardsmen reached the night
club shortly after the fire broke
out aud were busy for hours with
rescue work. Air raid vsrdens and
disaster relief workers sprang into
action and gave first aid TO the in
iured.
The suddenness extent OF the
tragedy found tao Of Boston's prin-
cipal disaster agencies ready to 20
into immediate action. These were
the Boston Committee on Public
Safety. OF which Mayor Maurice J,
Tobin is chairman, and the Metro
polltan Chapter, American Red
Cross
Equipment and facilities ready TO
deal with any war emergency we're
quickly put into service to cope with
the worst disaster in Boston's his