The Fall River Fire

The following account of tba fire in Fall River, 011 tbe lHch inst., Í8 taken from a dispatch to the Boston Journal : "Mills Nos. 1 and 2 of the Granite Works had been running abouttwenty minutos when the operatives in No. 1 werestartled with a ory of ' fire,' and the escape of smoke from the fourth story. In this, next to the upper rloor, was the warp-spinning dejjartwent, and there were nearly 200 girls at work under a male overseer. On the upper Hoor, the tífth, about thirty girls were employed spooling and warping cotton. These were the youngest of the operatives. With the alarm the ftanies seeiued to leap to this story, coming trom the wiudowa below and up the great tower in the center of the building whereiu were all the stairs cominunicating with each story. The fiames caught in tho mule spinning room from friction in the mule head, spreading by means of oil on the Hoor und near the machinery with great quicknesa and rushing to the center tower, the only means of escape for those in the fourth and fifth stories, besides four fire escapes, two on each gable end. Once getting into the tower the rlaines ran up to the single entrance to the fifth story, thence spriuging to the roof tiinbers aud fiiled two great rooms - 450 by 50 feet - with dense black smoke and flame. The flamea wero making such terrible headway that the operativas became fairly wild. The overseerssaw there was no way possible to check the fire, and gave their sole attention to those whoin they had at work. They called to them to save themselves, and pointed out ways of escape, principally tbe fire ladders. The overseer of the spooling room, who re maiued until nearly euffocated, atates that the scène in this room, and it muat have been worse in the room below, cannot be depicted. Children ran about crying piteously to be saved, yet wrenching themselvea away when taken forcibly to lowcr them, while yet there was timo. - There were two iron ladders that reached to the scuttle windows of the south end opening upon the roof. At the balcony on Twelfth street were fire ladders, but it was impossible to get a great majority to take even this method to save themselvos. Some wanted clothing ; others souiething else. As the fire frightened them awav from these ladders, they rushed to the windows at the south gable end, nearly sixty feet from the ground, but dare not jump down. Cottou ropes were put down tor them to slide down, but no aooner would a rop.e be lowered but there was a rush to it from below. Too many would take hold and it would be broken and all clinging to it would come down in a bunch. Similar scènes were going on in the mule spinning room. The Harnea had ascended rapidly to the entrance of the tower on the fourth floor, cutting off the means of eecape, but the operatives had the two ladders of the south gable directly before them and were urged by the overseers and citizens below to take to them. Some did, others reshed headlong on the balcony and dropped or tbrew thomselves from the guarda. There was ampie time for every one to have been saved had the girls taken the course directed. The superintendent, as soon as the alarm was given, rushed to the upper story, and with the overseers did all possible to save life When the means provided for escape were rendered unavailable by tbe heat, fiames and smoke the people procured beds and mattresses for the poor unfortunatesto jump on, and many did throw themselves from the windows to almost in every case receive fatal or terrible injuries. The fireinen worked to keep the fiames out of the south end, whither many of tbe operatives had fled. Cadders, as long as they were at coinluiiinl, were used to rescue the girls, and it is said four firemen lost their lives while thus engagud. One fireman was lowered from the roof by six other firemen into the building, and remained so long trying to drive the girls forth that ho had to be let go by those who held bis rope, driven away by smokp, and he was lost. Morgues and hospitals were speedily improvised, the Mission Chapel being taken for the latter, and as fast as a girl could be picked up from undcr the windows of the mili stretchers were readv to carry her to either the chapel ór central station. At the latter place twenty-five dead bodies were soon lying, and other unfortunates had been taken to the stations and homes. In a number of instance3 the bodie8 could not be recognized they were so disfigureo, begrimed and dirt-covered. In the Mission Chapel were those whose sufferings were intense. Every doctor in the city was summoned at the earliest moment. KILLED AND WOÜNDEI). It is not bigh to place the number of killed at forty and the injured at twice that number. The fire was under control shortly after half -past eight o'clock, and then the wall bad not fallen or crumbled much. Below the eaves of the north end the llames had boen kept almost off the buildings. The south and a portion of the fourth and fifth floors were left. The roof north of the tower feil in, and took with it tho end of the north gable, a portion of the fifth fioor, and some of the side walls, crashing through the third story. The carding and two woaving floors remained intact. THE GRANITE MILLS were incorporated in 1863, with a capital of L4,000,000, and employed about 450 males and females in this, No. I, mili. Insurance, f450,000, distributed among Boston, l'rovidence and other Eastern companies. The insuranco agenta estimate the loss ut 60 per cent. of the amount and that the value of that portion of the mili not burned is $157,000.