Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-01-10
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES.

boots and pants, was the work of mo-
ment, and, seizing coat, vest and hat, to
open the door followed, as matter Of
course. very rapidly. A cloud of smoke,
which already filled the corridor, at once
entered the room, and rendered any re-
turn or rescue, of property out of the
question. The room referred to was
near the northwest corner of the build
ing. and close to the only stairway. 1t
was, lucky thing it was so. for the
smoke, already nearly filling the entire
fioor,l lacked only the short distance
to the head Of the stairway Z Of
doing SO completely. Acquiring ad-
ditional impetus from the opened door,
lit was a race between the smoke and the
lodger for the top of the stairs, whichthe
latter reached first, and descended, una
ware whether he would not be met on
some of the fowerAoors or the numerous
J stairways by another enemy of the same
kind, and forgetting the fact that he was
q the last person to leave the floor, in the
happy consciousness of a lucky and a
narrow escape Less than ten minutes
thereafter the floor fell in upon Farwell
Hall, and in FIVE minutes more the roof
ioofI the structure fell in upon them both.
Not knowing where the fire was first per-
! .csiysd in the building never hearing a
: single cry of s'.Fire," and awaken
led only by the running in the hall,
the writer Is confident that not over go
minutes elapsed between, the time when
% the occupants Of the. first, floor knew
icthsir danger, and the moment when the
: floor fell in. Reaching the ground floor
at last, a few people were seen at the
uopen doors of Farwell hall, j gazing up
within its walls.9aThe view showed "a
7kindling, smoking, cracking mass of
fame, clinging almost entirely to- the
,dgalleries and ceiling, which was to all
appearance already burned through, and
ready to drop, giving very vivid con-
,ception of the frailness of the charred
and cinder-like floor upon which, a mo-
ment before, the writer had been uncon
{ Iisciously sleeping. There was no fire
upon the floor of the hall, except only
such as was created by the brands fall
ing from above. $50. .,,.,......-i I'D .'.i
VIEW FROM THE OUTSIDE. -i1
s9q Leaving the entrance of the hall from
very fear of a general crash from above,
the outside of the building and the street
= was gained The fire department was
just running hose into the halls below
but it was plain -that-all they could do
would be to save the two wings, which
run forward from the hall to the street.
Gaining La Sale street in moment
8 more. the flames were just breaking
through the roof As they did so, huge,
Z forked9 tongues shot upward, above the
!, still conspicuous sign, "Farwel Hall, -
for one hundred feet or more, subsiding
in height only to- increase the surface
from which they were fed. It was a
sight which, but that it was pitiful
would have been grand to look upon
Occurring at night, it would have light.
led up the entire city, and given to the
ssubnrbsa fearful apprehension Of what
was going on in the city. The wind
was from the westand carried the flames
in an easterly direction, yet the heat
upon La Sale street soon become in
tense, forcing the crowd Of spectators to
separate into two bodies, one standing
near Madison, and the other near Mon.
ro street. HsAes ,A1aiS Io.'.e. 3isanl
-.,..o.... FALLING OF THE WALLS.
At about $3.50 o'clock, a tremendous
crash announced the falling in, or rather
"out, )" of the south front, which carried
destruction to a portion of the rear Of
.Jeyne & Almini's building, from which,
however, all the occupants had alread y
retired. A fireman named Henry Fiede-
: mann was injured, not seriously, how
ever, and sent home. It is believed that
this is the, only bodily injury sustained
by anyone. Not long after, the east
wall fell, followed in a few moments by
the wall on the west, which fell, in a
mass, inside the building. Fragments,
however, fell upon the outside, crushing
house standing adjacent, belonging to
Mr. ohm iO'Neil.. The fall of the walls
completed, the destructionof the entire
building, and was, indeed, the first seri-
GUS. damage done to the floor beneath the
hall, upon, which the Christian Associa-
tion business Office and lecture room were
located. The fire, commencing as itdid
from above, and communicating down
ward, had not yet reached these rooms,
as well as numerous others occupied, as
offices by private parties. They were,
however, SO broken up and ground by
the fall of brick upon them, that the, fire
easily took hold and completed its work,
burning on until the whole hollow space
within was burned dry. > q ni1d .1.aTs'r
bne za. THE WINGS SAVED. 1 aeir
Then ensued long battle between
the fiery element and the still ferier de!
partment, for the possession Of the wings
Ths fall of brick had laid open several
apertures through which the fire labored
to seize the as yet lunharmed sections oi
the building. Strong currents of all
poured through them, giving the flames