A TERRIBLE EIRE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 116, 15 May 1880, Page 1

A TERRIBLE EIRE

from Moscow, dated 12th , March, gives an account of the terrible fire at the weaving mills belonging to M, ' Givarjbpffaki. The establishment consisted of several distinct buildings. In one of them, which was four stories high, the ground floor waß occupied by the .cpunting-houfle and the shearing- ; roqm,'an^^ were div-j idedbetween printing rooms and' dormitories for 'the " workmen who were eD^a|ed^inth'e- J ;vanpuß stages of the: mßnufactute. Their number nas " been ' variously given 9$ between 100 and 200, most 'of 1 whom slept on the premises. There was a single stair-case for the j whole building, from top to bottom, and j tins was of wood. The fire broke out; on the ground floor, jat the foot of thisj single yrboden stair-case. The several, stories were formed by wooden joists! laid across the width of the building! and covered over by light floorings of 1 boards. .There were no dividing walls , inside the building; the; partitions; were lightly constructed of wood. It is easy, therefore, to understand that j within ten minutes the whole building - w^B\aprey"to the flames. The unfortunate workmen, aroused out of their sleep, , rushed to the stairs, only to find them! a mass of fire. They then made for the i the only other hope of escape, '. arid lpi the scramble for safety many j were thrown down, falling into the! body of the burning building. Many • flung themselves down from the third j and" fourth stories, some of them being: Jmiioh ' injureicl. , , The police report states that thirty r ihree ; men were burnt tpj death in the building ; two more men! ', died, subsequently, 6t their injuries.: If pur women who had come in from the j ,eountry r to gee their husbands have diapppeared,. Thirty, persons are in the; hospital suffering most seriously from; burns and other injuries. But this is: not the worst, i The police have ascer- i tamed that several- workmen used to! i sleep in. .the building who were not! authorised to do ao. There numberj ia not known, but the police deplarej that: several who, are known to, have! octed thus are now missing. .