Smyrna times., 1856-09-10
Dreadful Calamity at cape island.

Dreadful Calamity at cape island.
Burning II tie Mount Vernon {oieI-Sr
PERSONS Burned 10 Death--A FqaaiLg S,oegt
AWay. '0'V'1''
About quarter before eleven o'clock on Fri,
day night, the people at Cape Island were start.
LED by the cry Of" Fire !" The flames were
bursting IRON the monster building known as
Tie mount vernon Hotel, and by the time the
regular dwellers upon the island, and the few
VlSltorS VINO still remained, had reached the
spot the IRE was raging so furiously that it was
apparent that the whole,of the vast structure
must iail prey to the devouring element
1t was known that there were no boarders in
the house; but the family of Mr.. Pbilip Chin.
one OF the lessees, was in the building, and but
one OF the family escaped from the burning
mass Young Philip Cain leaped from the
second story balcony, but he was so shockinplv
burned that he died at two O'Clock Saturday
afternoon. None of the rest of the family
oiA persons In all-Were seen during the DrO-
gress of the confagration
In very short space of time after the alarm
was lIrst given, the immense edfce was in a
Ilght Dlaze IN every part, the flames lckinr
AROUND the balconies, roaring up through the
lofty towers, Illuminating the ocean and the
surrounding country for circuit ofn miles
ana sending thrill through the breasts Of those
VINO witnessed the awful scene.
Inc saddest part Of the story is the loss of
lie involved IN the catastrophe. We have
ALREADY SAID that such of the family of Mr.
Caln as were In the building perishci. Their
names are as follows Philip Cain, Sr.. aued
% years; Philip Cain, Jr., aged lS years; An.
drew Caln' aged 20 years; Martha Cain, aped
- -. years; Sarah Cain, aged 13 years; Mrs.
Al6ertson, aged 35 years
The charred remains of the elder Mr. Co;u
were louhd IN the morning, outside the line of
,ne PiaZza' From this circumstance it is be-
lie'eu mat ne had leaped from the balcony to
escape the flames, but that he was so badly
hurt by the fall as to be unable to ,ot o,,,a;
from The spot where he fell lie was burned
10 clnder upon the ground. The BUILDING
was constructed entirely of wood: it was four
stores IN height in the main, with two towers.
each hVe stories in height. Three of these
towers occupied the corners of the buiIdinr.
ana one stood midway of the only WING. i'm
addItlSn TO these towers, there was IN immense
lower SIX stories IN height, in the centre of the
I'ohC' Inc entire structure, both outside and
uPon 'he court yard, was surrounded with wood
en- piazza that extended from the rropnd to the
leoI' win floors a each story. The WING was
" quarter o. m'Le ln Length, and the from,
,,S, covered nearly an equal extent of ground
IN ne dining room, which was 425 feet long and
m m00 feet IN width, was capable of accommodating
3oo0 persons. There were 1872 rooms in the
building. In addition to the main build.nr
mere was stabllng for fifty horses, curra@e
houses' ten-pln alleys, &C., &c There was a
"a tahK III the centre tower of the wing of the
Mount Vernon, capable ofhoIding twenty thou
sand gallons fwater. The water was forced
lnto 1t by means Of a steam engine. There
were at the time, fortunately, no visitors at the
hotel' else the loss oflfe would have been mucb
greater those already mentioned being all that
were in the house. "'' '""'
II ls supposed that the furniture in the build
"s was worm IRON S2O,OOO to $30,00O, ma.
KING total loss of 100000, which is nartiaIiy
covered by insurance. ''~'''
1t was supposed to have been set on fire. and
several persons have been arrested under sns.
'iclon' but subsequently discharged.