1891 — Dec 9, Fires, Bamberger & Candy/Fireworks bldgs., Main St., Louisville, KY — 12
–12 Appletons’ Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of…1891. 1892, p. 257.
–12 Kleber, John E. (Ed.). The Encyclopedia of Louisville. Univ. Press of KY, 2001, p. 548.
–12 San Antonio Daily Light, TX. “Louisville Fire.” 12-11-1891, p. 1.
–11 Boston Daily Globe. “Eleven Were Cremated. Fearful Fire in Louisville…” 12-10-1891, 6.
Narrative Information
Kleber: “Boone Paper Co., 637 W Main St., December 8, 1891.
“When several firefighters of Hook-and-Ladder Co. #1 went to Cincinnati to attend a ball to raise money for the families of two fallen Cincinnati firefighters, three substitutes took their places. Within hours these and a regular perished beneath a collapsed wall. The first alarm sounded at six-twenty in the evening, and firefighters battled four hours. About two-thirty in the morning [Dec 9], as the men poured water on the smoldering remains, two thunderous explosions ripped the area. The fire had spread beneath the debris to the basement of several adjoining edifices. Quietly building its fury for hours, it burst forth, devastating the four-story Bamberger, Streng, and Co. (This business was located on the north side of Main, across the street from the ill-fated Bamberger and Bloom.) Once the second fire was under control about 4:30 A.M., the men searched frantically for their fallen comrades buried under eighteen feet of smoking debris. Less than four hours later, tragedy struck again.
“Frank A. Menne & Co., 519 W Main St., December 9, 1891.
“The next morning dawned sunny, as a tiny flame on the second floor of the four-story candy and fireworks manufactory intensified and spread rapidly through the old, poorly constructed building. Smoke and flames rushed up the narrow stairwells and elevator shaft. The third and fourth floors were half the length of the first two floors. Stairways were in the rear from the first to the second floors and in the front to the third and fourth floors. To escape, employees on the upper floors had o traverse the entire length of the building to reach the ground floor. The deadly nightmare took only minutes to claim its victims. People on the third floor jumped to the second-story roof, but those on the fourth floor were trapped. The fourth floor collapsed, hurtling six women and two men to their deaths. Several other employees were injured, some severely.”[1] (Kleber, John E. (Ed.). “Louisville Fire Department/Fires,” The Encyclopedia of Louisville. Univ. Press of KY, 2001, p. 548.)
Dec 9: “Louisville, Ky., Dec 9. – Six lives were lost in a disastrous fire at the candy factory of Menne & Co., 217 West Main st., at 8 o’clock this morning. The horrors of last night’s conflagrations were more than duplicated. The victims, so far as known, were:
Lon Kern.
Barbara Rausch.
Ida Parker.
Anna Lockwood.
Amanda Dickey.
“….The tomb of fire in which the six young girls and one man were cremated is a four-story building on the north side of the street. The firm was getting ready for the Christmas trade and employed an extra number of girls to wrap and pack confections. They were all at work on the fourth floor.
“The Menne establishment was a block above the Boone Paper Company’s place, which was on fire last night. The origin of the fire is a mystery.
“The fire was out at 11 o’clock, and the bodies of eh six girls were soon taken out, burned beyond identification. G. T. Menne, brother of the senior member of the firm, is supposed to have been burned to death.
“The fire cut off escape by the stairway leading to the fourth floor, where the girls were at work, and many jumped from the windows to a second story projection, and escaped with broken limbs or bruised bodies. Others got out unhurt.
“With its forces demoralized from the long and hard fight with the two fires of last night, the firemen were now called upon to contend with another conflagration in the candy factory. To add to the casualties and the confusion, Maj. Hughes, chief of the fire department, and his assistant, Henry Weatherford, were both badly hurt at the early morning fire, as were two or three firemen. In the face of these disasters the firemen stood bravely to their work, and new leaders took the places of those removed. The water tower was manned, and a dozen streams brought to bear on Menne’s place with telling results.
“The fire may possibly have originated from a candy furnace, which may have exploded.
“At any rate the flames communicated with the new and big stock of Christmas fireworks. The first explosion among the fireworks scattered firebrands in the shape of Christmas fireworks all over the store. The skylight fell in and the entire stock, much of which was highly inflammable, was fiercely blazing almost immediately. The skyrockets, Roman candles and giant firecrackers were so wild in their havoc that they impeded the work of the firemen and made it exceedingly dangerous for them to work until the last one had exploded.
“Great confusion exists and business in the vicinity of the fires is almost at a standstill.
“The loss on Menne & Co.’s building and stock is placed at $75,000, and the total loss will be nearly three-quarters of a million.
“The flames were stopped at George W. Wicks & Co.’s cotton house.
“The bodies of the girls were removed as soon as possible to the nearest undertaking establishments.
“Joe Rogers was badly hurt at 8th and Main sts. while going to the fire. He was driving rapidly and was run into by the Salvage corps wagon. His buggy was turned over and he was hurled into the street, badly injuring his head. The concussion of the brain, coupled with the strain of last night’s exertions, may result fatally.
“During the progress of the fire 15 or 20 firemen rushed into the building intending to try and rescue the girls, but the fierce heat drove them back.
“The cries of the imprisoned girls finally ceased, and the floors fell one after another until finally nothing was left of the building but the tottering walls.
“In the rear were assembled the mothers and fathers of some of the girls who were burned to death inside, and their manifestations of grief were pitiable in the extreme. They implored the firemen to save their children, and the firemen had great trouble in keeping some of them from rushing into the flames.
Four Firemen Killed.
Disastrous Fire in Louisville, Ky., Accompanied by Death.
“Louisville, Ky., Dec. 9. – A disastrous fire visited this city last night, destroying the block of buildings on the north side of Main st., between 6th and 7th. In the early evening the entire stock of the Boone Paper Company was destroyed, entailing a loss of $65,000.
“At 2:30 this morning [Dec 9] an explosion occurred in the adjoining building occupied by Bamberger, Streng & Co. The shaky walls crumbled and another fire broke out which, in comparison, made the other insignificant. By the time it was subdued the stores of Bamberger, Strent & Co., Bliss, Wilson & Co., Johanboke & Sons and Miller, Woolfok, Payne & Co., had been gutted.
“When the walls of the Bamberger building fell, four firemen went into the flames and perished. They were:
William Davis.
Thomas Moore.
Samuel Baker.
Tony Stack.
“They were all in the fire service with No. 1 hook and ladder company.
“Sam Graves barely escaped being caught under the wall. He said to a reporter: ‘Just as I got out the wall fell, and turning I saw the four men crushed beneath it. I am positive they were killed.’ Two or three other men also claim to have seen the men killed.
“The loss on the Bamberger building and contents will amount to $400,000.
“This fire had hardly been gotten under control and the weary and saddened firemen were about to withdraw when they were called to the Menne establishment.” (Boston Daily Globe. “Eleven Were Cremated. Fearful Fire in Louisville Buildings. Seven of the Dead were Employed in a Candy Factory. Four Firemen Went Down with a Falling Wall.” 12-10-1891, 6.)
Dec 11: “Louisville, Ky., Dec. 11. – The missing men, supposed to have been lost in the fire of the candy factory, returned home yesterday. The record is eight killed at Menne’s and four at Boon’s paper company’s building. The total loss was lour hundred thousand dollars.” (San Antonio Daily Light, TX. “Louisville Fire.” 12-11-1891, p. 1.)
Supporting Heroes, Inc. On December 9, 1891 at 6:20 pm a fire started at the Boone Paper Company in the 600 block of West Jefferson Street and quickly spread to the upper floors and roof of the Bamberger Streng & Co, F. W. Johanboeke & Son and the Bliss-Woolford-Payne Company. The fire was brought under control with great difficulty at 10:00 pm. Several fire companies were left to overhaul the Boone Paper Company. Some of the gas accumulated in the basement of the Bamberger and Streng & Co. building located next door to the burned out ruins of the Boone Paper Company. At approximately 2:34 am, while firemen were raking away the ruins of the Boone Paper company, a large gas explosion occurred at the Bamberger, Strong & Co. building and flames broke from every floor and shot through the roof. The explosion caused a wall from the Boone Paper Company to collapse onto Firefighters Samuel Baker, William Davis, Thomas Moore and Anthony Schlicht. All 4 firefighters perished in the explosion.” (Supporting Heroes, Inc. “Firefighter William Davis.” Louisville, KY, 2013.)
Sources
Appletons’ Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1891 (Vol. 16, new series). “Disasters in 1891.” NY: D. Appleton and Co., 1892. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=FUcoAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Boston Daily Globe. “Eleven Were Cremated. Fearful Fire in Louisville Buildings. Seven of the Dead were Employed in a Candy Factory. Four Firemen Went Down with a Falling Wall.” 12-10-1891, 6. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=161072074&sterm
Kleber, John E. (Ed.). “Fires in Louisville,” The Encyclopedia of Louisville. University Press of Kentucky, 2001, pp. 546-549. Partially Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=pXbYITw4ZesC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true
San Antonio Daily Light, TX. “Louisville Fire.” 12-11-1891, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=58057270&sterm=fire+louisville
Supporting Heroes, Inc. “Firefighter William Davis.” Louisville, KY, 2013. Accessed 12-21-2013 at: http://www.supportingheroes.org/memorial/hero.php?hero_id=285
[1] Cites at end of the entire article: Louisville Fire Department History, Vol. II 1858-1997 (Paducah, Ky., 1997); David Winges, Volunteer Firefighters of Louisville, Kentucky (Louisville 1991); Historical Sketch and Souvenir of the Louisville Fire Department (Louisville 1894); and Louisville Fire Department History 1858-1989 (Paducah, Ky., 1989).