The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-12-28
THE GREAT RICHMOND FIRE
Further Particulars

ruE aBEAT RICHMOND FIRE.
Eurther Particulars,
Our advices by. telegraph from Rlcnmohu
bring Intelligence that Mr.. Lieb, OF Tampa FLOR
ida Messrs. George and Andrews, OF syracuse
New York. and Bernstein, OF Washington, reported
n,ssing are safe. Wilcox, Of Lynchourg' anG
yaden. of Chesterfield, are safe. Holman, OF
Jackson, Tennessee, Is known to be lost, making
the eighth victim. Five are still missing, Of
whom there are little hopes.
The Richmond Dispatch of Monday brings us
the following details Of the catastrophe:
On the morning Of Christmas day. at ABOUT
O'Clock Patrick Byrd the a' .se
NIGHT clerk to call the women, whose duty IL is w
scSur the hoors. Going up stairs. ne thouens ne
detected the smell Of sm0ks ru9 and oGk qEn2g s.
sure In the weather-boardlng OF the old WINE,
room, OF late used as pantry The alarm was s
Immediately given, and Mr.. Knowles Sno ~;
to per in the room TO eXtingutsh the lire. ont
fop1d 1t impossible to get IN without key. fres,
nntIy. however the door was broken down, anu
the DANES were seen craving up Ihe walis anu
ucIing the ceiling with their fiery tongues. IL
WAS too late for buckets OF water, and hessen-
ger was sent to sound the IRE alarm. Meantime
the CIV Of fire was raised IN the mouse, anu tne
halls or the second noor were 10 lew mlnuss
Allied with frightened stupefed, half-clad people,
throwing open the doors and otnerWise clea'ing
che path Of the fiery element.
THE BUILDING IN FLAKES.
Those who escaped sag that In space OF time
almost incredibly short the smoke had hled the
whole house, and the flames MADE tneir wa way
ful rapidity. The fire department, notwl'nstand-
ing the extreme cold. was on the ground WITH re-
Markable promptness, but the water could not De
made 80 speedily available. IN less lnan nan an
honr fire was observed on every one OF the fv-
doors. and the passages were choking with hot air
and almost impaipabe ashes. The scene was now
.one or indescribable terror. Men, women ana
children were IT, the burning. building and
an who were awake were striving 10 get out
with FIRE on every side and smoke-binding, sui
locating smoke-pcnetrating everywhere lhls
was no easy task to those not thol oughly &c,
auainted with the landmarks. the screams ana
prayers OF the panic-strucE terrified the Sell pos
sessed; the weak were either trarapied under 1901
on the narrow stairs or sank where tney stood
parayz.d by fear walsi1S @ ,or ,,Sin Tsei; So rean
ed their presence OF Inlnu, anu those WithouC
bold enough 10 lisk he danger to save human
life. So far as is known, all VINO leit lnerIooms
found means to escape, though with hle alone;
and there was no womaD's cry for help. or in-
fant's wall OF terror, that did not bring man to
the relief Most OF those who lost their lives were
awaked by finding the danes IN their rooms. on
remained In the vain hope OF saving also their
property. The floors began to fall, and all in the
building then could not but perish.
PROGRESS OF THE FIRE.
A strong wind swept the flames westward, and
the sparks and ashes 1ew all over the city, cau'-
ing serious apprehcnslons lest there should be
FIRE in remote places, While the services or the
dremen were needed where they were. After the
Spotswood, the adjoining building, occupied 9y
the Grover g. Baker sewing machine depot, T.
Currants house-lurnishing store, anu M. HUH
gerft rd,s banking establishment, caught anu was
speediy destroyed. WolfdecSe's cigar store ana
Andersons tin and stove depot were Een mreu non
the building on the corner OF MAN ana MUM
streets, known as Bosher's Hail. and m under Tnlch
was the grocery and LIQUOR store OF NJ ~ es nbtS
street the old framed building In the rear Oh tne
Spo swood and belonging to the concern. Was
partially destroyed. At O'Clock the nre was
stayed. -
On the fifth moor there were more children than
in any other part Of the hotel, and 1t seems almost
miraculous that any OF these escaped, wneu
strong men Ike Robinson. Hines and Ross perish
ed Here were the families OF the proprleloIs'
Hessr~. Subletr, Luck and Bishop. These gentle.
men with Ihef wives and little ones, Witnout
exception, got out before single noor leli, ana
oscar ed Serious II jury. Hr. Luck was afterwards
bs DIV sc0rched In attempting TO get papers out OF
the otrce. It Is not known that any cMldren
were losl. II SO, they were the children OF tran
sient bosrders. o-,,.,,
". a. Os
dent Of public printing. had narrow escane. ne
heard the roar OF The advancing name., ana 1rst
Thought 1t the noise Of Christmas fiollc; put
presently, smelling 0re and hearing an alarm,
apeped the door to see lhe passage full OF smoke
Reallzpg that his retreat by the ordlnhry avenue
was cut or, he slammed the door 10 and opened
the window, Some in the crowd urged MIN TO
lump: clheys urged him to walt for help. BE
determincn do leither, but look q chance equal
ly as hazardous. Cnnbing out o1 the WINDOW OF
his room, he clung by the hands 10 .ee Sill, ano
INN fntir
dow below, alighting on the Bill OF that, ana hoia,
Ing fast by the cornice Hewas now on the tnrd
neor. and intended to try the same plan 70 ges
lower but ladder was now brought 10 MS ald,
and he descended IN safety. HIS beard was
BInged and his hands badly cut by glass. He h,st
what baggage lie had in the room aud about sso
wo, til OF Christmas presents, which no designed
taking to his wife and children In Lynchburg
Yesterday morning.
J. E. Ba,klns and Edward Sweetman are: assist
ant inspectors Of gas. 1t ia part OF their duty 10
attend all hres. cut or tho gas, and save the
metres which are OF value to the city. In the
performance OF this duty, they were promptly ~
the scene Of the fire yesterday morning, and nav.
ing saved the one hundren-light metre, worth
about S75, they went to the rear, and haVir
gained access to the cellar. went forward to the
vault under the pavement to save the ten Nght
metre. While they were there, the floors OF tne
hotel suddenly fell in with crash, and their re.
treat was entirely cut OF. There was an immense
cloud If s'nok-, pnd the flames seemed ABOUT 70
swallow them. In ten minutes they would proba-
bly, have been suGocared or burnt to death. when
one found the grating In the pavement above and
poked his fingers through. Fortunately. some
body's attention was thereby attracted. and the
gra!e being lifted, both were drawn out alive.
TIE LESSON TO BIZ LGARNsD-wHAT HOTEL.
KEEPERS SHOULD DO.
While the proprietors OF the Spotswood have
not varied in their practice from all other hotel
keepers, and have exercised an the vigilance that
haB been expected OF hotel keepers heretofore,
still there ID lesson to be learned from ,hls
calamity, from which profit may be gained. II Is