The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1858-03-02
THE ST. LOUIS CATAsTROPHE.
A THRILLING NARRATIVE.

she following narrative Of what he saw and expe-
rienced during the confagration Of the Pacific Ho-
tel 1t is copied from the St. Lonis Republican os
February o.
1 occupied room No. q, about thu esn,ra of tLe
Hotter, 10 the third story, aud was awakened about
iant cry Of SIRE" raised mn in 49,, Ia "a IL 49,
my hand against the wall. aud fu nd II 10, ar,,, 81
70 blister jumped mp. put on NV nsnts ,nsssr'
coat. over coat and shoes then uHiockei the door.
ahd iound 1t dibicnlt to get out into the ali on @
count of the crowd. / got ont rntisr iaans. :. -.
WIN the erowdJust in front Of Mr. gochas,ar wia
had trunk on his sheuiter and trtaS =. 80 =, ar
'front.' oil the house on the Seventh street se fetis
hano end push on my shoulder which seemed =,
signify that should go to the back ~ .ha he 20
as the crowd were moving that way Al, ~.
while there were cries of women .4h ca 'ne -,
fea. leasehs, which l heard until, oppressed by a
,eehhg OF snnocation, lost the sense az sonrj =
When found myself in danger Of snfsooa.;n,, r
a let iaii my baggage aud dropped my head m tba
moor. This relieved me for the moment ~ '"o
many OF the crowd had their trunks on their
rom rom suiioca'ion and many fell with them. cauid
near the noise OF their falling the smoka ia;ne,
now so dense was prevented from SEEING ,ha, e
! aiso heard their gasps in efforts to breathe
reached the window, and so nearly In a sta,a -
sufiocation, that for the first time aaa,.aa =,
Ia 3anger OF death. Here again got brs.,L e.. -
10 not know whether il was by stoon;ns 80 s"s 81,
hoor; OF by rush OF air 10 at the window At nv
fha
dow to break the glass to get air but 49, J WIZ
SO, ieli back, and saw him no more A. Ro"hs
ter disappeared, heard running noisa IN .hr
ma nan ana turning around l recognized Mr. stronn
MN lene OF whom was six feet two inches tall
aud went through the window feet foramos, i i
rying sash aud all with him. ''' oai'
hr. Torrence came to my side and snnIted tbro,
the window, gaspiBg, and apparently SO veal h
could scarcely stand. l followed after him ns
like himself and Mr.. Strong, found nyseif y, ,ha
roof OF small building on the plat of tho hacL
bull iings. florence aud myself jumped abont
Twelve ieet ao"h on the Kitchen root, which we
gained in safety. l now looked about this roof
for Strong. Not fndin; him, looked down into
the back yard, and, by the light of the flames
saw him lying on his back aud motionIess i
listened, bat did not hear him groan and conclu.
ded he was dead. Not word passed between nv
self and Terrence until l discovered Strong I
then said, "there lies Strong, and oar plan ia to
jump" He agreed with me. Before Jumping we
tried the windows that side of the hotel think
ing might get in and gain the piazza in front
but on breaking the glass We were repeIIed by the
smoke, which was thicker there than in the story
above, from which We had come. We went ba, L }
the edge of the roof from which Strong had falien
] again spoke to Terrence saying, would jump
first. looked down to see if could Jump with
out striking Strong, who lay between two oreninps
or celar-ways part of an incomplete foundation
there which had never been built upon | found
| coHld not possibly clear Strong with any secu-
rity to myself.
The fire was making rapid progress, and felt
| the roof trembling under me- l then said to Tor
renee, ''if am hurt will halloo," so he could
he guided by that how to jump. In another in
| slant | was on the body of Mr.. Strong All this
from the time of leaving my bed transp;red in
about five minutes, rose to my feet, and Tor
renee came down striking where did. did not
feel ut all hurt but greatly excited. Seeing Tor
renee fall down into one of the cellar ways / cal
led out, Watch - Help" to two watchinen who
were coming down Poplar street. They heard
me, and CAME running up BY this time Terrence
succeeded in getitngout of the cellar then point-
ed dout Strong to the policemen, telling them there
| lay man either dead or dying. When they took
hold of hisi he emitted ths st ep IAN had heard
from him. lie exclaimed ''Uh, kliI ME! kill NE l''
''shoot met and appeared to want fresh air.
left there and walked to Mrs. Green's opposite
the Episcopal church on 9th street. having met
| her daughters on the way and being invited by
them to go there when told them of my escape.
About fifteen minutes afterward Strong was
brought there by the police. lie was in intense
agony, cried for fresh air continuously, and re-
peated hH excamations kill me- don't let me
suffer-" "kill me-" Mrs. Green spread mattresses
on the floor. physician, boarding at the house.
was present. Everything done to alleviate
suffering. Mrs Green sent out messengers To have
the wounded brought to her house. Every one
was willing to render all the assistance in their
power. Strong died in about twenty minutes his
skull and shouder-bone were broken his nose
half torn off, and his shoulders and side burned:
out in front. Torreace taken elsewhere CON
sideraby injured; the blood spirited from his head
as he struck the ground
By the timeI struck the ground, think ne one
was alive in the house; all were gone. Those who
died inside of the hotel, felt none of the pain of
burns, as they died doubtless of suffocation be.
fore the flames reached them. l believe that the
fire originated in the rear of the drug store, that
being the first consumed. The roof over the rear
Of the grocery fell second. Next the kitchen
Just as 1 lit on the ground, / heard the shelves
and dishes falling, aud breaking in the Kitchen
Not less than forty persons, think, were in the
third Story when LETT my room, and believe all
are dedd Only Strong, Terrence and myself
jumped out OF the window. Mr. Johnson one of
those found dead on the ground, back Of the house
is not from Chicago. He is from Michigan BE,
fore going to bed that night, the boariers were
gayer than usual, being more talkatiye and more
sociabe. Mr. McNutt, from Pennsylvania, clerk
OF steamboat, who is reported missing, roomed
with Strong and Rochester, and must haye been
burned, My hurts are very slight, considering
the distance | jumped, which seems to have been
iortytiye feet They consist of shock to the ner-
vous system and bruise of the right foot, which
will prevent nay walking for two weeks. On nay
back, shoulders. and finger and elbow joints, are
bruises and sprains.
The total of those known to have met their
deaths, either by burning in endeavoring to es-
cape by jumping out Of the windows, is thirteen.
Three others not expected to survive the ipju-
res sustained by falling.
C. D. hite, of Pittsburg, Pa, writes the follow
ing in relation to his miraculous escape, with his
family:
At twenty minutes past three, on Saturday morn.
ing we were reused by the lon-like roaring of cur
hosts large dog, and the simultaneous cry of
fire! hrei' resounding through the building
We all at once jumped out of bed, aud | opened
the door aud looked out when the staircase, (the
only avenue Of escape,) was enveUped i'll flames,
in one solid sheet at least twenty feet high. We
were i'll the third story, and our was, indeed,
very desperate one; there We were, confined to
our room, with certain death if we remained ano-
ther minute, and almost certain death if We took
the terrible leap. l raised the window and looked
out; il was a fearful moment; not "a SQUAD escaped
my wife or children, or Alice (the nurse;l all
waited my action. | suatched niattrass from the
bed and dropped it out; it fell as fdvorably as |
could wish. Bidding ali '-good bye" Jumped and
found myself in safety. | looked up, Mary Ellen
{ his wiie) was at the window l called to her To
throw the children, which she obeyed at once, aud
it is almost miraculous to relate, caught them
all one after the other, and then braced self to
catch her, which did, it no doubt saved her life,
but nearly proved fatal to me- she is quite large
woman to fall on a man that distance
1t seems as if the finger of God directed me how
to act, and so quickly Tor it was all done in less
thar il takes you 10 read this. A lady friend of
ours, on the same floor. jumped and broke her
lower jaw all to pieces, broke her Left leg just
above The knee, and the bone ran through the |
flesh, so that it stuck out three or four inches.
think she must die, as she was also pregnant at the
time. Another young lady jumped out of the |
window the next floor below us, and was killed |
at once. A man took the same jump We |
did, broke both legs, injured his head. and was |
otherwise badly injured. L think the Waterman |
ian Engiishman, Henry Peters, was DRINK and
asleep, as / have seen him asleep when On watch, |
previous to the fire. lie was burned SO badly that
he could not be recognized, aud | think cannot
live. lie in the Office, within ten feet Of the |
entrance. It is beyond question that the dog /
saved all our lives by his noise, and such noise
no man heard from the throat OF any dog be- /
fore Another man, woman, child and nurse on |
the same floor with us jumped and were all killed /
One corpse was found all burned to crisp with bis
valse fast in his hand. One young man jumped |
and did not hurt himself, but another jumped on |
him and killed him. All the strangers that were |
in the house were lost; those that were saved |
hnardara Ihe hnaks Xere lost iha IL il l