The Portland daily press., 1872-12-12


that there was only little fire Ia the laun Try
| This attempt TO keep the fire quiet SO as t
| avoid panic helped to bring about the terrible
| result. When the IN SITS became cognizant o.
| their danger, scenes Of confusion ensued the
people moving about in apparent distraction.
The following are the girls who lost theil
| lives:-Delia Cummings, Mary Corday. Marga-
ret Connors, Mary McCabe, Lizzie Moran, Mar
garet Campbell, Honora Ward, Mary Donnelly
Kate Gushing and two others.
Mary Heavey, one of the servants of the ho-
tel, is at the Bellevue Hospital, having been in.
Jured by falling through fire escape. She
states that when the alarm of fire was given,
she ran and knocked at nearly all the doors OF
the other servants and burst open two of them.
She then tried to get down stairs, but the smoke
and flames drove her back when with Mary
Turney and Bridget Curtis she broke open
skylight and got on top of the roof, remaining
there till firemen rescued them. She will soon
recover.
The Fifth Avenue Hotel is all in confusion
to-day, constant stream of visitors pouring in
one door and out through the other.
In addition to the girls burned to death, two
others; Mary Ann Pagan and Mary Jones, who
escaped the fate of the others sleeping with
them by tearing down wire screen from a cor
ridor window and escaping on to the roof, were
badly injured.
blood from the dead bodies carried down
Mr.. Griswold, one of the proprietors, contra
diets the statement that there was delay in
sending the ALARM and says that prompt meas
ures were taken to arouse the guests and serv-
ants.
The walls of the laundry on the fourth floor
where the fire originated, are burned to cnders,
and masses of iccles depend from the ceiling
The staircase leading to the topmost landing,
where the servants apartments are situated, are
completely destroyed Most of the adjoining
rooms are gutted and the walls are already torn
down by workmen. The three upper floors of
the Twenty-thlrd street side are deserted by the
guests, in consequences of the constant dripping
of water through the ceiling. The furniture is
piled together in each room aud covered with
tarpaulins. Broken trunks, heaps of damaged
clothing and debris OF the burned rooms lie
about on the stairs and corridors.
Externally there is nothing to indicate that
fire had taken place.
The HHerald's Account.
The Herald says the loss by fire at the Fifth
Avenue Hotel is a hundred and fifty thousand
dollars. 1t gives the following details:
The staircase on which the fire started was
at the back of the house, leading from the
laundry in the basement to the servants room
on the attic floor. The flames ran rapidly up
the stairway. 1t was as chimney, there being
no opening from it but at the top and bottom,
and the strong draft which the fire itself Gre
ated drew it onward with rapdity that no.
thing could excel. 1t ate up the staircase and
charred its surroundings. Reaching the open
space into which the rooms of the servants
opened, it burst into it's fullest strength The
flames in their passage did little damage until
they reached the corridor at the top, the draft
driving through the narrow passage-way carry
ing the flames quicker and making them more
destructive. As they went on they spread over
the eutre extent of the west wing. The wood
work OF the rooms where the servants slept
Immediately caught, and soon the entire wing
was mass of flames, which spread SO rapidly
that the servants asleep were overtaken. and
before assistance could reach them they were
completely shut off from the main building.
The fireme-i rushed to that side of the build
ing, drawn by the wild shreks of the terrified
women. Before they could reach the apart
ments of the poor creatures the flames had en-
veloped them, and all became silent in the EN-
brace of death.
For long time while the fire ragged it was
supposed that only two or three persons were
injured, and that they had been taken from the
building. Shortly after one o'clock it was
found that number of persons were missing,
and Capt Burden and Chief Perley, of the fire
department, climbed from the second roof to
topmost by narrow iron ladder, and entered
the rooms through binding smoke, where the
people were supposed TO be. Breaking through
small window that opened upon the roof of
the main building, they went into the two rear
rooms of the southwestern wing, and there
found the charred and burned bodies of thir-
teen persons. The beds, bedding and furniture
were strewn about the rooms, confused with the
human remains. The bodies lay at the different
places from which the poor people had tried to
find means of egress Some had endeayored to
| escape through the windows, and others in en-
deavoring to find air, had fallen at the head OF
| the staircase. The bodies of two women were
half concealed under the bed in the outer room,
| where they had evidently tried to shelter them
| selves from the smoke and flames.
When the firemen and police got into the
! wing, the floors of this room were sound, but
| the roof and timbers were burned and had fall
| en- upon the floor in a confused mass upon tho
| bodies. The water was several inches deep up
on the floor ana was filtering through to the
ground The heavy beams of the roof had fall
| en- upon the burned bodies, severing limbs and
mutilating the remains horribly The bodies
were removed to the hospi al as speedily as pos
| sible.
| The building was most unfortunately con-
structed, SO light indeed were its floors thai
| the water went through them as through sieve
| 1t was an imposing sham. With the certainty
| That hundred persons would be domiciled
| upon each floor, there was yet provided but one
| means of exit and to reach this many of the
| guests were compelled to traverse corridors al
most labyrinths
1t was fortunate for the people living in the
vicinity that the fire did not break out the night
before, when nothing could have saved the block
with the high gale then blowing.
Protest Against Mayor Hall.
| The Committee of Seventy has made public
| pointing heads of departments on the eve of bis
| retirement from Office, and resolved not to fa-
| vor any species of legislation at Albany, this
winter, which looked only to party aggrandize
| ment
| Maine Association.
| The second meeting of the Maine Association
| was held to-day. A constitution and bylaws
| were adopted and the following officers chosen
| President Andrew Snow; Vice Presidents
| Erastus Brooks, Richard 2. Buck, Samuel c.
! Fessenden and Rufus ingalls,; Secretary, Joseph
| Treat; Treasurer Charles H. Lewis.
The annual reunion and festival will be held
March 15th the date of the States admission
to the Union. A reading room will be estab.
| lished for the benefit of the members, and pro.
vision will be made for the relief of any desti
tute natives or for residents of Maine.
Various Matters.
| A large number of witnesses have been sub
| penaed for the Stokes trial next Monday
There were several fires in Brooklyn last
| night Conklin's plumbing works on Flatbush
Avenue were burned. Loss $4,000. Dwelling
houses on Hanover Place, on 18th street, and
two dwellings in the outskirts of the city, were
also badly damaged by fire.
Thomas Connolly, shoemaker on Butler St.
Brooklyn, beat his wife to death4ast night.
Henry j. Caster, Cashier of the National City
Bank of Brooklyn, Is defaulter in the sum Of
$4,000.
A motion to quash the indictment against
Boss Tweed to-day was denied by Judge Ingra.
ham.
A man naned Rlaclr;e 10 cold to hove S,,rr,,,