A Brave Man.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 313, 14 January 1902, Page 1

A Brave Man.

Fifty women were imperilled, three firemen were overcome by Sllioko, U-lld LdOOO darnago was dono by a fire in the Planet Jute Mills, Brooklyn, on November 28. At the risk of his own life John Weldon, an elevator man in the building, saved , nearly all the women employees in the factory by operating the elevator until the flames began to eat into the shaft. Several bales of jute stored in the cellar of the building wero discovered on fire at ten o’clock. The police reserves, under command ol Captain Michael Devanncy, ran through the building warning the employees of their danger. Before a hose could be brought to play on the fire the flames had spread to the entire lower portion of the building. On the top floor, employed as sorters, were fifty young women. There are no fire escapes on the building, and the stairway was on fire. , It was at this juncture that Weldon s courage asserted itself. The elevator was at the bottom of the shaft. He might easily have left his post, as advised by a policeman. Instead, however, be ran the elevator to the top floor, filled it with frightened women, and ran it down to the street entrance. Again he sent the e.evator soaring to the top of the building. Again it was filled with white-faced women, who wero carried to safety. On the third trip up Weldon found the elevator shaft afire, but he helped another load of women to the ground and made a fourth trip, and then a fifth trip. Not until he was satisfied that all the women were safe would he desert his post. In the meantime the firemen were fighting the flames in the cellar, which several times threatened to get the better 1 0 f them. The smoke from the burning jute was suffocating, and the firemen had to work in relays. Firemen Joseph Barrett, Edward Cunningham, and Edward 1 Dunphy, all of Engine Company No. 104, > were overcome and had to be carried from the cellars by their fellow-workers. All three were removed to the Long Island College Hospital, where it was said that ’ the condition of Dunphy and Cunningham was serious.