Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-12-12
HORRIBLE DISASTER.
Particulars of the Burning Of the Fifth
Avenue Hotel In New YOrk-TWenty
Human Beings BurnedtO Death
Several Others Fearfully
injured.
Criminal Neglect in not Giving the Alarm
to the Occupants OF the Upper
ROOms-Partial Destruction OF
the Building.

tAct u8lU Multn lllS AlIt HktLACu, Wa
one at the back of the house, leadin
from the laundry in the basement to tn
] servants rooms on the attic floor. Tn
( flames ran rapidly up the stairway. /
was as a chimney, their being no open
! ings from it but at the top and bottom
( They ate up the staircase, and charred il
surroundings, reaching the open spac,
/ into which the rooms of the servant
opened, where they burst into their fulles
strength. The flames in their passag
did little or no damage until the
/ reached the corridor at the top, tn
J drought driving through the narrow pas
sage way, carrying the flames quicker
and making them more destructive a
they went on. They spread over the en-
! tire extent of the west wing. The wood
work of the rooms where the servant
slept Immediately caught and soon tht
/ entire wing was
MASS or LURID FLAMES.
The flames spread SO rapidly that tn,
servants, asleep in the rooms at the toI
of the staircase, were overtaken before
4 assistance could reach them. They
were completely shut Off from the maiI
I building. The firemen, who had In the
meantime arrived, were too late for as.
sistance, as by this time the apartments
Of the poor creatures were enveloped il
| flames. Shortly after one O'Clock it was
Z found that number Of persons were
missing. a police officer and a chief ot
4 the fire department effected an entrance
! by means of an iroL ladder to the room
where the people were supposed to be.
They there found the charred, burned
bodies of thirteen persons. The bedding
and furniture were strewn about the
rooms, while
ir HUMAN REMAINS
lay at different places, from which the
poor people had tried to find means OF
egress. Some had endeavored to escape
through windows; others, in their en-
deavor to jnd air, had fallen at the head
of the staircase. The bodies of tw
women were found half concealed under
bed in an outer room, where they had
evidently tried to shelter themsel yes
from the binding, suffOcating smoke
and scathing flames. When the firemen
and police got into the wing the floors
of this room were sound, but some OF
the timbers were burned and had fallen
upon the floor in a confused mass upon
the bodies. The water which had been
thrown from the hose was several inches
deep upon the floor, and was filtering
through to the ground. Heavy beams
of the roof had fallen upon the burned
bodies, severing the limbs and mutilat-
ing the remains horribly. The bodies
We're speedily removed to the Bellevue
Hospital, from whence they will to-day
be sent to the morgue. Owing to the
confusion and excitement the names of
the victims could net be ascertained.
Up to twenty minutes past two O'Clock
TWENTY-FIVE DEAD BODIES
had been recovered, sixteen in one room
and six in another, which is probably all
The alarm was first given by one of the
female servants, who shrieked "fireW
through the Railways, awakening the
guests, of whom there were about five
hundred in the hotel. Many of the
guests went to the office and inquired as
to the excitement, but We're informed by
the clerks that there was only a little
fire in the laundry. Their attempts TO
keep the fire quiet to avoid a panic,
helped TO bring about the terrible result.
When the guests became cOgniZant Of
their danger, q terrible scene of confu-
sion ensued. People were moving about
in apparent distraction. Baggage filed
the hallway, the smoke was suffocating,
and the water drenched the floors. 1t
was nearly twelve O'Clock before the
alarm was given, and a passing police
man then learning Of the fire inside,
caused the fire-engines to come to the
spot. The fire by this time had made
considerable headway. The ladies were
in
WILD STATE OF EXCITEMENT.
Carpets were still covered with water.
a poor servant girl was found on the
third floor writhing in agOnies Of pain.
Her body was frightfully burned. The
shrieks of the servants in the upper
stories were heart-rending as the fire
men were making their way to rescue
them. Large crowds had in the mean
time gathered in the streets. The ex-
element outside kept up till about two
O'Clock, VIXEN the fire was about eXtin-
guished.
The Herald editoriaIly says: at is
stated that gross carelessness was ap-
parent in the condition of the warming
apparatus, and that there was too much
anxiety to keep the fire secret and too
little effort made to save the unfortunate
girls. The whole subject viii, no doubt,
be thoroughly investigated. The losses
are estimated at from one hundred and
thirty to one hundred and fifty thousand
dollars"
ORIGIN OF THE FIRE.
There are various statements as to the
origin of the fire. One says it was
caused by the bursting of the steam-pipe
in the laundry. Some seventy or eighty
servants altogether were awakened on
the top floor and hurried down stairs.
Their clothing was utterly ruined
A fireman named Deeny was seriously
injured by falling through the crevice TO
the pavement.
The hOtei furniture was worth about
four hundred thousand dollars; fully
One-fOurth of this was utterly ruined.
The house is owned by A. r. Emo, but
is leased to Darling, Griswold & Co.
Just before the alarm, q guest was as
signed a room, which, on reaching, he
discovered to be on fire. He returned
to the clerk, and was informed that
there was no other room vacant. The
fire was not known at this time in the
Office.
Among the most prominent guests
were General Burnside, General Horace
Porter, and @. NJ. Pullman, of Chicago.
Several of the lady guests were accom-
modated in the neighboring hotels and
houses. Miss Nilsson, the actress, was
a guest.
The building wass slightly construct
ed that the water went through the floors
as Il sieve.
LATER.
There Is great confusion at the Fifth
Avenue Hotel to-day. The proprietor
denies that there was any delay in Civ
ing the alarm. The walls of the laun-
drv are completely burned. Icicles are
hanging from the ceiling. The dam
ages cannot be estimated, yet the ac-
counts Of the number burned are con-
ilicting. II is learned at the hotel that
only eleven persons were burned; these
were all female servants.
Large crowds of rich and poor gath
cred at the MOrgue this morning to as
certain the names of the persons taken
there from the Fifth Avenue fire.
Eleven bodies are already at the
but so far only two have been
recognized, the Others being burned al
most 70 a crisp. These two are Mary
McCabe and Mary Logan, both SER
wants. Mary Harney, one Of the ser
wants is at the Bellevue. She states
that when the alarm was given she
knocked at nearly all the doors Of the
other servants. She then tried to get
down stairs, but the smoke and flames
drove her back, when, with Mary Tur-
ney and Bridget Curtis, she broke open
the skylight and got on the root, re-
naming there till the firemen rescued
them. She will recover. The bodies at
Lhe Morgue have the appearance Ofhay-
ing suffered great agony.
The Congressional Centennial Cele-
bration Committee held their first meet
ing to-day. Judge Kelley, Chairman,
was instructed 70 appear before the Com
mittee ON Apportionment and ask an
for the. printing Of stock