The New York Herald

Another Calamity-Destructive Fire in Catharine Street.
FIVE PERSONS BURNED TO DEATH-CORONER'S INQUEST, AND THE VERDICT OF THE JURY.
We are again called upon to record another of those fearful calamities, which seem to be of periodical occurrence in this city. Yesterday morning, about four o'clock, a fire broke out in the building No. 102 Catharine street, near Cherry street, involving a melancholy loss of life and considerable destruction of property. The building itself was of frame work, two stories high, with an attic. The first floor was occupied by P. H. McGuire, as a boot and shoe store, while the second floor and attic were occupied as a dwelling, by P. Colgan, policeman of the Fourth ward, and his family, consisting of his wife and five children:
At the time the fire broke out, they were all in bed except Mr. Colgan, who was on duty in another part of the ward. Owing to the very combustible nature of the materials of the building, the fire spread with great rapidity, and before the alarm was given, and before the inmates became conscious of their perilous position, they were already surrounded by the flames, on all sides. The poor creatures were then seen near the windows, from which the flames were already issuing, crying for help and running about in a frantic state. None of them would venture to pass through the flames, in order to reach the windows, whence they might have been saved by jumping into the street. But they retreated into the back rooms, until all egress was cut off, in consequence of the rapid progress of the fire.
The fire department were promptly on the spot, and wrought manfully, but did not succeed in reaching the unfortunate inmates until several were burned to death. Colgan lost his wife and three children. The flames communicated to No. 104 Catharine street, occupied by John Walker as a hat store, and also to the rear of No. 112 Cherry street, occupied by Wheeler & Hart as a wholesale drug store. The two buildings, Nos. 102 and 104, were entirely destroyed. Loss of McGuire, about $3,000; insurance about $3,000, in the Eagle Insurance Company. The loss of J. Walker is about $500, with no insurance. The drug store No. 112 Cherry street was considerably damaged, probably to the amount of $7,000, which is fully covered by insurance, in the United States, Broadway, and the Union Mutual Insurance Companies.
The following are the names of the persons burned to death:
Catharine Colgan, wife of Philip Colgan, aged forty-five years.
Sarah Jane Colgan, daughter, about twenty-one years of age.
Mary Elizabeth Colgan, daughter, ten years of age.
James K. Colgan, son, seven years of age.
Margaret Logan, aged twenty years, who was employed as a capmaker in the store No. 104.
Those who escaped were C. Colgan, eleven years of age, and P. Colgan, Jr., twenty years of age, sons of Philip Colgan, Bridget Slaven, servant girl, and Michael Chambers.
The son of Philip Colgan was considerably burned and scorched, and also Michael Chambers, who is perfectly blind, and whose escape is almost miraculous. Bridget, the servant girl, rushed through the flames to the front of house, and threw herself upon an awning, and was by this means saved.
The bodies of Mrs. Colgan and her two daughters, and of Margaret Logan, were completely burned to a crisp. They were all conveyed to the Fourth ward station house. Captain Ditchett, of the Fourth, and Assistants Williston and Baird; Captain Leonard, of the Second; Brennan, of the Sixth; Bradford of the Tenth, and Assistant Merritt, of the Seventh, were early on the ground, and rendered valuable service in helping to subdue the flames.
Coroner Ives was called to hold an inquest on the bodies, and at 10 o'clock a jury of twelve was sworn to make the inquisition. Ex-Alderman Purser, ex-Alderman Fitzgerald, Assistant Alderman O'Brien, and other respectable citizens, constituted the jury. At one o'clock the jury were sworn, and visited the ruins of the conflagration, and viewed the bodies. Mr. George H. Purser was chosen the foreman of the jury, and the following evidence was taken:-
TESTIMONY
Bridget Slaven being sworn, says-I reside at No. 102 Catharine street; this morning, about 4 o'clock, I was up, but had not got down stairs; I slept in the open garret; the house is a two story attic building; I heard the cry of fire; I ran down stairs, upon the back stoop; I could not get out there-it was all on fire; I got out of the front window, upon the awning; some person took me off; Mrs. Colgan was awake when I left the garret; she exclaimed, "Heavenly Lord! we shall all be burnt up!" I saw no more of Mrs. Colgan until I saw her here, dead; I did not see her follow me: I left her in the attic bed room: I saw the oldest son on the back stoop when I got down; we all slept in the attic; the rear of the house was on fire; the front of the house was also on fire; at the time I left the attic Mrs. Colgan, her two daughters, and two sons, were up there; one of the sons was got out alive afterwards; I recognise Mrs. Colgan, the youngest daughter, and the boy; the face of the eldest daughter is all gone, but the hair is like hers; my trunk was in the kitchen; I took it and threw it into the street, and then got out myself; the kitchen was upon the second floor.
Phillip Colgan being sworn, says--I resided at No. 102 Catharine street; I was awoke this morning about 4 o'clock, by the cry of fire; I slept in the attic bedroom, facing Catharine street, with my brother Cullen; when the cry of fire was given he left before me; I took my youngest sister by the hand; she drew her hand back, and by that time the flames were coming into the second story; I think my mother ran up stairs again; my oldest sister was down to the second story; I then ran through the fire down into the alley; my brother then halloed to save my mother; I then attempted two or three times to run through the flames, but they were too strong for me; a butcher attempted to go through the flames, but they were too strong for him; I then went down the alley, got upon the awning upon our house, and from there to the house next door; the people then called to me to come down; when I got down to the back stairs the blaze came up from the rear; the privy was not on fire at that time; the fire was more towards the druggist's; the fire seemed to come from the rear of the house next door below our house, towards Cherry street; I had no opportunity of judging where the body of the fire was; I have seen the bodies in the rear building, and identify them as those of my mother, brother, and two sisters.
John Walker being sworn, says-I reside at No. 104 Catharine street; I moved there about the first of March; myself and family sleep upon the premises; I was, this morning, awoke by the alarm of fire, about 4 o'clock; when I first saw the flames, they were coming down towards where I live; I was sleeping in the second story; the flames were coming from the shoe store; when I got up, the rear of my house was not on fire; I got up; I looked out of my rear window; the druggist's fence separating our yards, was not on fire; the fire seemed to come from a shed in the rear of Mr. McGuire's house; there is a tailor's store between me and McGuire's; the rear of the tailor's store, as far as I could see, was not on fire; Ann Purdy and Margaret Logan slept in the attic of my house; they hired with me; I called to Ann Purdy; she came down; Ann said that Margaret awoke her; I have had no conversation with Mr. Rich or Mr. McGuire upon the origin of the fire; Ann Purdy is at No. 33 Maine street, Brooklyn: I am not insured.
Henry H. Howard being sworn, says-I reside at 111 Centre street; I am assistant engineer of the fire department; when I arrived at the scene of the fire in Catharine street, the fire was confined mostly to the rear of the house of Mr. McGuire: the shed and fences in the rear of the Catharine street houses were all on fire, and the sashes to the next house above the alley were also on fire: I brought out a female from the house over the shoe store; the flesh was all burnt off her face and head; her arms also were badly burned; there were no ladders there when I got there; I could not have saved the persons had there been ladders there when I arrived: I found the deceased in the attic room fronting on Catharine street; I got upon a ladder.
Israel A. Rich, being sworn, says:I reside at No. 94 Catharine street; I am a clothier; about four o'clock this morning, I saw a light; I thought it was a fire; I had been up about two minutes, when a policeman rapped at my door; I have a little brother who sleeps with me; I ran to the rear of the door of the house, pulled off the shutters from the windows, and saw the fire in the drug gist's yard, and the fence was taking fire; I did not discover that McGuire's premises were on fire at that time; the flames were spreading very rapidly; I could see the flames in the druggist's yard; the flames reached high; there is a fence between my yard and that of McGuire's; I cannot say whether his premises were on fire or not; I did not look; I am not insured; I am of the opinion that the fire originated in the druggist's yard; there was but little fire in the rear of McGuire's store, if any.
James Hopkins being sworn, says-I reside at No. 11 Oliver street: I was present at the fire; I am a fireman; I assisted in getting Mrs. Colgan out of the building over the clothing store; the rear of the houses on Catharine street were on fire; the body of the fire seemed to be in the rear of the drug store-the corner nearest Catharine street.
David Coxson being sworn, says-I reside at No. 1101 Cherry street; a few minutes past 4 o'clock, I was lying awake, and I heard something cracking: I jumped out of bed, and lifted the curtain to the window looking into my yard; I was in the second story, rear room; the first thing I saw were flames issuing from the druggist's yard ; the druggist's shed was on fire on the farthest side from Catharine street; it was just commencing to burn: I could not see the fence on the farthest side of the druggist's yard; the drug store extends some ten feet farther back than my house; I think the fire originated in that shed, (the druggist's) ; I could not see the rear of McGuire's house from my window ; when I went into the yard I did not look to see if McGuire's house was on fire on Catharine street; when I looked out of my window, the cracking I heard resulted from the breaking of bottles.
Robert Masson being sworn, says-I am a clerk for Wheeler & Hart, No. 112 Cherry street; I was aroused this morning by the alarm of fire; I reside at No. 78 Madison street; on looking out of the rear window, facing the south, I saw smoke in Catharine street, in the vicinity of the store; I dressed myself and went down; I entered the store, but on passing down Catharine street I observed the upper part of McGuire's house was on fire; when I got to my store, I went to the safe facing on the yard; the flames were just beginning to creep through the window and the double back door; there was no fire inside the building, on the first floor, then; might have been soon in the third story, at the eaves, which I discovered on my return; there was not much wind; the flames ascended; there was a shed in the yard, the flooring of which was of boards; the roof was six or eight feet wide; the side facing Catharine street was not enclosed; the height of the shed was ten feet probably; we kept nothing in the shed but acids; there might have been one or two carboys of spirits of nitre; there might have been in all about fifteen carboys; from the roof of our shed to McGuire's fence was ten or twelve feet; against McGuire's fence we kept boxes and old rubbish; when I went into the yard, I found the carboys all bursted, but the wooden casing was but slightly burned; I judge, from the slight damage done to our building, and the fire having nearly consumed McGuire's house, that the fire must have originated near or upon McGuire's premises; our store is a brick building, with frame shutters: we put the straw in the yard; there was none there yesterday; it was not quite 4 o'clock when I left home; Robert and William Steele went in with me into the store; I have heard it reported that persons were seen in the rear, that they had lighted matches against the fence; Mr. Brown was one of the persons who stated the above to me; he lives up an alley leading from Catharine street.
The Coroner briefly referred to the evidence, and that the duty of the jury was simply to ascertain the cause of death, and any further inquiry as to the origin and cause of the fire would be investigated by the Chief of Police, under the recent law passed by the Legislature. The following was rendered by the jury, as their
VERDICT.
"That the deceased, Mrs. Catharine Colgan, and her three children, also Margaret Logan, came to their deaths by being suffocated or burned at the fire which occurred at about half past four o'clock, on the morning of the 8th instant, at No. 104 Catharine street. The jury further add, from some suspicious circumstances, the Chief of Police is recommended to institute an investigation into the origin of the fire, under the provisions of the law passed at the last session of the Legislature."
The bodies have all been placed in handsome coffins, and will remain at the station house of the Fourth ward police until three o'clock this afternoon, when the funerals will take place.
The friends of the deceased Margaret Logan are requested to meet at the same place.
The bodies of Mrs. Colgan and children will be interred in Greenwood Cemetery.
During the day, Alderman Oakley, and Alderman Purser Captain Ditchett, and others, collected various sums varying from $5 up to $25, given by Brooks Brothers, and different other merchants in the ward, amounting in all to $200, for the purpose of defraying the funeral expenses.
At the scene of calamity, a large crowd of persons were collected during the day, and the pickpockets taking advantage of the excitement, managed to divest several ladies and gentlemen of their pocketbooks and money.
One lady, we heard, lost her wallet, containing $125.