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HOUSE WERE RE READING, Nov. 27.—Thirteen per sons narrowly escaped death early this en during a fire that destroyed the home of Weldon Black on Salem street. The damage was $4000. Stupefied by the suffocating smoke that filled all the rooms of the house, the cries and pounding on the door by the neighbors who discovered the fire failed to arouse the occupants, and it was not until the doors were forced and they were dragged from their beds that they knew the house was on fire. UPPER PART IN FLAMES The whole upper part of the house was in flames when the fire was discovered by Ernest Parkin, night foreman at the Boston Northern car barn a short dis tance away. Calling to the men at work in the barn to come with him, Parkin rushed across the street to the burning house, at the same time yelling at the top of his voice to arouse the neighbors. Parkin’s cries were answered by Dr E. Dalton Richmond, Robert Patrick and Sydney Manning, who rushed to the house, and by pounding on the doors at tempted to awaken the sleeping occu pants. Getting no answer the men forced the door, entered and succeeded in awaken ing Fred Perkins, a boarder, who occu pied a room on the first floor. After dragging him from his bed they rushed into the other rooms and succeeded in awakening Black and his wife, who suc ceeded in getting out in their night clothes with their four children. Crawling on their hands and knees along the floor in their attempts to reach the rooms occupied by the boarders, the rescuers were driven from the house time after time by the thick smoke that threatened to overpower them every mo ment. R. J. Bowerman, E. A. Connor and H. 3. Church, three of the boarders in the house, heard the shouts down stairs, but being dazed from the smoke, did not get up until they were pulled from their eds. I. C. Wilson, another conductor, who boarded in the house, had a room on the upper floor, and when the others reached the street they found that we was miss ing. Rushed Through Smoke Robert Patrick and Manning rushed back into the house and upstairs. When they reached the upper floor they found their way barred by the flames, but pull ing their coats over their heads they dashed for the room. Reaching his room, which was filled by fire and smoke, they groped for the bed, and found Wilson unconscious. Dragging the unconscious form of Wil son, they crawled from the room and to the stairs, down which they all fell in a heap. Others outside rushed into the hallway and carried Wilson and his res cuers, who were in nearly as bad con dition as he, to safety. . Miss Margaret Mullaney, a maid em ployed by the Blacks, who had a room in the rear of the house on the second floor, was overcome by the smoke in her bed, and was in danger of being suffo cated, when Dr. Richardson succeeded in breaking down the door of her room and getting her to the street. The flames destroyed the whole upper part of the house, and traveled through it so rapidly that everybody, with the exception of the Blacks and Perkins, who occupied rooms on the first floor, lost all their belongings. They were taken into the homes of neighbors and cared for during the rest of the night. The occupants of the house when the fire started were Weldon Black, wife and four children; Eva, aged 6 years; Helen, 4 years; Russell, 3 years; Minnie, aged 11 months; Martin Plummer, 4 brother of Mrs. Black, and the maid, Miss Mar garet Mullaney. The boarders, all of whom are con ductors employed at the car barns across the street, were R. J. Bowerman, B. A. Connor, I. C. Wilson, H. BE. Church and Fred Perkins. MLE =. WELPON BLACH TO MARY BLACK: HELEIS PUSSEL AEVA
Newspaper Details
Boston Post
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Mon, Nov 28, 1910
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
MA, USA 21 Aug 2026
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