The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1872-12-14
FIRE AT rlErn AVENUE HOTEL.

IRE II the Fifth Avenue Hotel last
night broke out shortly after 7
o'clock, ON the second floor OF the |
hotel. The staircase upon which |
the fire stated Was one a, the back |,
OF i.,e ',nase !. aiding from he iaun- |
dry in the haseWcn, 10 the serv-
en- rooms on the attic Il ,or. The !
HANGS rose rapidly up the stairway
as chimney, there being no opea-
Ing from it but At tie top and bot
tom. II ate up the staircase and
charre,l its surroundings, and
reaching the open space into which
the rooms Of the servants opened,
it burst In is fullest strength The
flames did Iii lie or no damage until
they reached The corridor at the
top. the draugbt driving them
through the narrow passage way,
carrying the flames quicker and
making them more Obstructive as
they went on. They spread over the
entire extent Of the west wing. The
wood work OF the rOoms where the
servants slept, Immediately caught
the flames, and soon the entire
wing was mass Of flames. The
flames spread so rapidly that The
servants asleep in the rooms at the
top Of the staircase were overtak>
IN before assistance could reach
them, and were completely shut off
from the main building. The
firemen who had arrived were too
late for assistance, as by this time
the apartments of tie poor crea
tures were envcloped by the flames
Shortly after o'clock, when il
was found . number OF persons
were missing, arolice officer and
. chief Of the Fire Department ef-
fected an entrance By means oi an
iron ladder TO the room where the
people were supposed 10 be. There
they found the charred and burned
bodies Of thirteen persons. The
bedding and furniture were s.rewn
about the rooms in confused
state with the human remains. The
bodies lay at different places from
which the poor people had tried
to find means Of egress. Some
had endeavorcd to escape through
windows; others, ic their eLdeavo,
TO to find air, had fallen at the
head OF the staircase. The bodies
oftwo women, half concealed un-
der bed in an outer room, where
they evidently tried to shelse
themselves from the binding, suf
locating smoke and scathinl
flames. when the firemen and po
lice got into the wing OF the room
! were found, but the roof timber
had burned and fallen upon tn
| floor in a confused mass on th
bodies. Water thrown from tn
hose was several inches deep upol
i the floor, and was filtering througl
| 10 the ground. Heavy beams Q
root had fallen upon the bodie.
severing limbs aud mutilating tn
remains horribly. Bodies wer
speedily removed to Bellevue. fror
whence today they will be sen.
the Morgue. s srsr
Owing to the confusion and e.
citment, names Of victims coul
not be ascertained. g Up to s:2
o'clock twenty two dead bodie
> had been recovered, sixteen in on
room and six in another, which
probably all. eaa.
4 The alarm of ere Was first give
: BY one Of the female servants VII
shreiked FIRE through the hallway
awakening the guests Of whol
there were about five hundred
. the hotel. Many of the CUES
went to the Office to inquire as
the excitement, but were informe
by the clerks that it was only,
little fire 10 the laundry. This q
tempt to keep the fire quiet SO I
70 avoid . panic helped to brir
> about the terrible result. Whe
4 guests became cognizant of the
danger scenes Of confusion ems
ed-people moving about in .
parent distraction, and baggal
]. flied the Railways. The smokelw
I suffocating, and water drench,
the floors Of the building. it "
! nearly twelve o'clock before an
one gave an alarm to passing ~
d licemen and these learning Of. Il
fire inside, caused the fire engin
a TO come to the epot. The fire
= this time had made consideraL
II Roadway. The ladies we're in
wild state of excitement. The CT
!. pets were still covered with wats
20 A poor servant girl was found I
% the third wrishing in the agoni
. OF pain, her body frightfully bur
= cd. The shrieks OF the seryan
n 1 in tho nnnop ntoriQa ware hpa,