FATAL FIRE IN BUFFALO.

FAMILY OF SEVEN LOSE THEIR LIVES IN MYSTERIOUS FIRE.

Buffalo, N.Y., Jan. 13. -- HENRY PEARLSTEIN, his wife and five children, ranging in age from 1 1/2 to 12 years, were burned to death at an early hour yesterday morning in a fire that destroyed a two-story frame building. JOSEPH SUPOWSKI, who owned the building, and KARL BRACKI, his brother in law, have been arrested pending an investigation. SUPOWSKI carried an insurance of $9,000 on the building and its contents.
The PEARLSTEINS' and another family lived in rooms above the shoe store and were asleep when the fire started. SUPOWSKI told the police yesterday that he accidentally dropped a lamp. A few minutes after the fire began there was a loud explosion that blew out the front of the store and hurled some of the contents of the windows into the middle of the street. Plate-glass windows on the opposite side of Broadway were shattered and the sound of the explosion was heard two blocks away. The flames enveloped the building in a short time. The family living in the rear flat barely escaped with their lives.
The PEARLSTEINS' were awakened, but before they could reach the only stairway leading from their rooms the fire had undermined the floor in the hallway, and it collapsed, carrying them down into a mass of flames. Their charred bodies were found at 8 o'clock, four hours after the firemen had extinguished the flames. The body of the mother and baby were found together, the little one tightly clasped in its mother's arms. PEARLSTEIN'S body was found close to that of his wife. He also held one of the children in his arms. The bodies of the other three children were found huddled together close to the father's body.

Wellsboro Gazette Pennsylvania 1902-01-17
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!