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Show Slack hand Tenement House Is Fired and Eight Persons . Burned to Death New York, April 30 Eight persons, five of them children, were burned to death and fourteen others wero injured in-jured in an incendiary fire In a five-story five-story tenement house at 37 Spring street, occupied by twenty families early today. The blaze followed a demand by members of the P.lack Hand society for the payment of $1,000 blackmail. It Fpread through the building wilh stortlingrn'pldtty-is-t hi-hallways hi-hallways were soaked with kerosene oil by the blackmailers. In a panic, which followed the alarm, the tenants ten-ants fought their way down the fire escapes or jumped trom the windows, while babies were thrown from windows, win-dows, into the arms of policemen. Among the lujured, three children are not expected to recover. Jacob llruck. the proprietor of tho grocery store on the main floor of the building, build-ing, received, on April IS. a letter reading: 'We demand $1,000 or death. Bring it in Molt street. Petroslno is dead, but the Black Hand lives. (Signed) "Black Hand .Society." On Monday last, Brack received another an-other letter written In a similar strain He turned both "letters over to the police. , |