The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1872-12-19
A HORRIBLE AFFAIR.
Burning of Fifth Avenue Hotel, N. Y

\ little aiier III o'clock last night one OF
hr -trE ans whose duty II was to '.,yatch"
Il night in one OF the upper Railways of
tno t,lth Avenue Hotel discovered smoke
sum- from the stairway immediately
5"nf'lth her. and on running down to see
iial WAS the cause was confronted by a
iru,r cloud 81 thick binding smoke. that
rtmo up through The openings in tittu
u-t one after another in quick succession.
Realizing the danger in an instant She
IN down stairs shrieking Fire fire :"
at the top OF her voice At every step She
Iupk doors We're oncned to the right and
W. the lctt and tb" already frightened
gur~t- rusi,-d out hAlt-clad All clamoring
10 Know what had happened, But the
2iri ag ON still ~hriekin9,
FIRE! fKEn'
1l piercing tones and on every hallway
he met some other watcher" who. hay
-n- alrrady noticed the smoke Joined her
N waking up the guests The smoke bv
bis Time had spread itself i'm every part
II the hote and had become sitting
enough to alarm even those who had not
been awakened by the outcries of the ser
ant. 4 Herald reporter happening to be
passing tine hotel 1T the time and noticing
he smoke curling out into The street in
lttr blue clouds under the doors ran in
NJ ascertain the cause. Without. as he
rot of the car, there was nothing Going
IN more Than usual. People We're coming
rom places OF amusement in couples,
aughng gayV, and carriages We're stand
4f at the curb and men stood on the
corner chatting rs usual, no ones atten-
Aon having apparently rs vet been attract
IA To the smoke. Once inside the Vestibule
Ii became evident that something out of
The ordinary had occurred The clerks
looked anxious and a group of men stood
around the marble counter Fostering them
with questions. They were all
GUESTS OF TIE HOTEL
pha 10 everyone the clerks made the same
reply: ''Ihere is nothing to be scared
about its only little fire in the laundlyn
Strange to say, the majority OF the men
scencd to take matters very easy and one
III them very cooliy remarked, "Well,
my folks are all on the parlor floor | can
easily get at them" Meanwhile the smoke
became more and more dense, and down
,t;lirs, in the neighborhood of the billiard
'"om. sound rs of rushing water
,mnouSly echoed in the halls The re-
porter Al once made his way below, and ,
following the course of a huge India rub
ber hosc-pipa that lead from the fire
onglnp room ri the foot of the stairs To
.iud ont OF one OF the windows going to
HE area at the west end OF the billiard
ip"m. was soon bctween the two walls OF
The sings oi the building in the open air.
lhc noise Of the rushing water as it fell
from one OF the upper stories was almost
deliening, and the smoke was positively
Sutlocatng. Above
THE DIN AND CONFUSION
could be head the screams of women and
The crying and loud weeping of Others
coming from the direction OF the girls
attic on the top story on the Twenty -third
street side. Retracing his steps the re-
porter again reached the office. By this
time there was quite a crowd OF people il
the vestibule, all asking one another
whether there was any danger, and nc
one seeming to know anything abou
where the fire was The guests, too, hat
now become thoroughly alarmed. The
hail leading from the Twenty third stree
entrance was darkened with trunks, boxe
and baggage of all description, and a
every step one took amid the now blindn.
smoke, which prevented one person a
one end Of the hall from seeing anothe
ii the other end, he was sure to run
against some half-trantic guest who, car
pet-bag in hand, was making the mos
violent efforts to reach the door TIL
hallway was drenched with water, whic
poure down in a perfect stream from tn
upper floors. During all this time, be i
known, nobody had been sent out to
GIVE AN ALARM
to the Fire Department, and fully half a
hour was allowed to 90 by without any on
connected with the hotel thinking it wort
his while to call for the firemen. It wa
now very near II o'clock, and a police
man passing by noticed the confusion j
the office, learned its cause rushed OF
and gave the alarm, and in minute tn
engines were laundering in front of til
house But much precious time had bee
lost, and TO all appearances the fire on tn
wenty-third street side on the uppe
stories had gained serious Roadway an
everything was confusion in every part {
the building. On the parlor floors TIL
guests were all assembled in shiverin
groups, their baggage all strewn about
confused masses, trunks, valiscs, h;
boxes and baskets being piled up here an
there whichever way one turned. Man
OF the ladies were in
THE WIDEST STATE OF EXCITEMENT.
and were crying piteously through she,
fear and horror The men, at least II
greater portion of them, appeared
frightened as the women, and ran abol
here, there and everywhere in the hall
mol exactly knowing what they wante,
and yet afraid to leave the floor for fe.
of something worse below. The carpe
were soaking with water, and as OF
dashed his way through
THE APPRECIATED CROWDS
the water was splashed about as if from