Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1870-12-29
TERRIBLE DIS ASTER.
Another Fearful Calamity at Rich-
mOnd. M
THE SPOTTSWOOD HOTEL
BURNED.
Shocking boss Of Life aud Great De
stfuctiOn OF Properly.


d clock This morning just as til
If porter had commenced waking th
passengers for the southern trail
the Spoitswood Hotel was dscoy
cred to be ON fire on the lowe
v floor. An effort vas immediatel,
+ made to wake the guests and th,
scene became indescribable, mel
! were rushing about trying to save
their baggage, and women nearly
naked and barefoot ran into the
; snow in the streets.
The steam engines were prompt.
S ly on hand, but, the water being
! frozen, it was some time before the
water could be thrown on the bull
ding, In twenty minutes the
( flames spread to such an extent
= that escape by the stairway was cut
e off. The que sis then commenced
leaping from the windows. p. p.
Clarke, Of Philadelphia, steward Of
the hotel, leaped from the third
story, receiving fatal injuries The
Z most fearful scene Of the disaster
was the appearance Of Mrs Emily
Kennearly, Of Baltimore, the house
keeper, Mt a window in the fifth
story, with one or two other ladies',
screaming for help. The fire com
panies ladders were put up, but
failed by two stories Of reaching
the window. While the firemcn
were underwriting to lengthen their
ladders the crying women disap.
peared in the thick smoke, and were
lost, the room Frightening up a
moment after with flame.
Up to noon to day the only
burned persons, whose names were
known, are Erasmus Ross, clerk
fof Libby Prison during the war;
Mrs. Emily Kennearly, housekcep
er; Samuel w. Robinson, clerk
with Enker Il Bro. and Samuel
Hines, clerk with Milhiser & Go,
The register Of the hotel was con
sumed, and 1t is impossible to give
the names Of the strangers lost -
Several have perished, as there are
about dozen unclaimed trunks
belonging to persons from New
York and other Northern cities -
The weather was so intensely cold
that the telegraph wires in front Of
the buildings were covered with ice,
and the fire steamers encased in ice
an inch thick, Among the rcmarka-
bic escapes was that Of G SchcIlter,
attached to the office Of State Prin,
ter, who was in the fourth story,
and escaped by dropping from win
dow c0rnice to window cornice IN,
Til he reached the ground. lie was
badly burned, however, The cor
respondent OF the New York Her
aid had a narrow escape. The
guest lost all their clothing, and the
ladies had to walk barefoot over
the snow to places Of shelter The
total losses amount to 10000 -
The insurance is mostly in North.
.ern companies The business'hous-
es we're destroyed Of Messrs Branch |
4 Currants crockery store, Adams
Express Company's office, Howe's
store, and other smaller
stores,
The following are additional
names of persons who are known
to have been burned to death: w.
II A. Themas, agent for the pano-
rama Of the Pilgrims Progress
w, II. Pace, Of Danville, Va,
United States Mail Agent and j.
b. Faress, Messenger Of the South.
orn Express Company
The Spottsylvania Hotel was
valued at $4,000, and insured in
Northern companies for 100000
Messrs. Subtell, Lusk N Co., pro
,lfetors of the SpottswoAd House,
nd the furniture insured for 500.
100, and tie wines and carpets for
~ 900, in the North British Com. j
)any. All the goods ready for do
livery in the cellar Of the Southern
express Compony's office were de- !
tro ed The eompany's money
afcs were bnried In the ruins. ID
An incident Of the fire was the '
ppearance of man at one OF the
pper windows, paralyzed with fear, =,
ho sat tearing paper into small 70 70
leces and throwing them out Of the n. la
lndow, till he fell back among the CO
lmes, Among those who had
cry narrow escapes were NJ, Mail
fert, of New York, Engineer Of n
10 james river distractions; S, A,
ierce, of Columbia, S c., Private az
ncretary of Senator Spraguo, and
'rs. Il, MagilI, proprietoress Of a +
.eatcr The Dehaven troupe lost Y
cir baggage The hotel register
rs found tonight, aud only six
rangers not accounted for were in
1t ls probable some of the citi-
ms have taken some Of them to n
eir houses The name Of the y
,usckeeper burned was Mrs. Emily
enuearly The following are the =
ines Of tho missing strangers 3
H, Wilcox, of Lynehhurg; N.
etmstein, Of Washington; A
ele, OF Pampa, Florida; George e
ID II, Andrews, OF Syracuse, New I.
ork n, II. Grotto, of New York, -
80 II 49,. T. - T.l =