Show t FIRE ESCAPES WERE USELESS New Yorks Latest Tenement Rouse House Horror NINETEEN PERSONS DEAD TWO SCORE INJURED SOME SOM OF c F THEM FATALLY M EW YORK March 14 Nineteen NEW I 1 persons dead two score Injured some so seriously that they may maydie maydie maydie die and nearly persons temporarily homeless is in brief the story sory of New Yorks latest latet fire fre horror The victims of the disaster were typical East Side people The Time scene sene a typical tenement and the incidents attending it were In Inmany Inmany inmany many ways wa s peculiar to that cosmopolitan itan Uan quarter To apparently reckless displays of heroism shown by b firemen fremen policemen and ad volunteer rescuers alone is due the fact that the number nuber of dead is not greater geater Lamp Exploded Two hundred persons herded hede in the big tenement house were sleeping when flames fames from froman an overturned or exploding exploding kerosene lamp in the thc basement spread through throughout out the structure and anti wrapped rapped the en entire entre entire tire tre building in flames fames almost before an alarm alan had bad been sounded Even when the sleepers awoke at the first cry it I was wa almost too late but hardly more than han a a moment was necessary to show them that their troubles trouble had scarcely begun Escape Was Barred The Te long narrow narow iron fire fre escapes which ran down the building on 01 each of its is exposed expose sides had been made mad re receptacles receptacles receptacles of rubbish of all al descriptions little bet be better betel better and in many cases eases they were ter tel than useless It I was found also al o that every lire fire tre escape e cale platform on the building had in it i a blind or a square square piece of board which fits ft into the open opening opening opening ing through which the ladder passes passe in iii the grated floor The he result of these obstructed escapes was evident when it i was found that nearly neary all al of oC the dead belonging on the top toji floor fior of the build building buildIng able ing were roasted before they were to t reach rench the ground Another case of negligence which was responsible for the loss of or some lives was an immense Immen e movable skylight sk at atthe atthe atthe the head of a ladder leading leding to the roof Battened securely and partially cov cow covered covered cowered ered by b ice this skylight resisted all al efforts to force it and a L pile pie of the bodies b dio of or the dead lay under it i when the horror was over |