The Rock Island daily Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1872-1873, 1872-12-12
A large number of Servant
Girls imprisoned and
burned to death.
Attempts to override the
will of the people.
Ravages of the Horse Dis
ease i'm st. Louis.
Other Items, Etc.

New YORK, Dec 1.-THE fire at the
Fifth Avenue Hotel last night broke out
shortly after IL o'clock on the second floor.
The staircase upon which the fire started
was one at the back of the house leading
from the laundry in the basement to the
servants rooms on the attic floor. The
flames ran rapidly up the stairway, which .
was like chimney, there being no openings |
from it but at the top and bottom. The |
fire burned the staircase and charred its
surroundings. Reaching the open space
into which the rooms of the servants opened .
it burst into its fullest strength The |.
flames in their passage did little or no dam |
age until they reached the corridor at the |
top, the draught through the narrow pas
sageway carrying the flames quicker and
making them more destructive as they
went on.
They spread over the entire extent of
the west wing, and the woodwork of the
rooms where the servants slept immediate
" caught and soon the entire wing was
mass of lurid fame The flames spread
so rapidly that the servants asleep in the
rooms at the top of the staircase were over
taken before assistance could reach them,
/ and were completely shut off from the
main building. The fremen, who had in
| the meantime arrived, were too late for as
sistance, as by this time the apartments of
/ the poor creatures were envelOped in
| flames Shortly after |, when it was found
that number of persons were missing, a
police officer and a chief of the fire depart
ment effected an entrance by means of an
iron ladder, to the room where the people
were supposed TO be- They there found
the charred and burned bodies of thirteen
persons. The bedding and furniture were
strewn about, and the rooms covered with
human remains
The bodies of the victims lay at different
places, from which they had tried 10 find
means of egress. Some had endeayored
to escape through the windows, and others
had fallen at the head of the staircase
The bodies of two wome nwere half con
cealed under the bed in the outer room,
where they had evidently tried to shelter
themselves from the binding, suffo-
eating smoke and scathing flames When
the fremen and police got into the wing,
the floors of this room were sound, but
the roof timbers were burned and had
; fallen upon the floors in a confused mass
upon the bodies The water thrown from
the hose was several inches deep upon the
; floor, and was filtering through the heavy
beams of the roof which had fallen upon
the burned bodies, severing the limbs and
: mutilating the remains horribly.
In another room were nine bodies, max
ing twenty-five in all, recovered up to 3
e O'Clock this morning, which number is be-
leved to be all that were lost.
Thr alarm was first given by one Of the
Il L I Il IS
|. through the hall ways, awakening the
I guests of whom there were about five hun
q dred in the hotel. Many guests went to
Q the office and enquired as to the excitement,
but were informed by the clerks that it was
: only little fire in the laundry. This at
tempt to keep the fire quiet so as to avoid
v panic helped to bring about terrible re
suits When the guests became c0gnizant
e of their danger, great confusion ensued
Y the people moving about in apparent dis
+ traction, their baggage filling the hal
& ways The smoke was suffocating and the
j water drenched the floors. 1t was nearly
}. twelve clock before any one gave tn,
# alarm and a passing policeman then hear
o ing of the fire inside, caused FIRE engine
! to come to the spot
x The fire by this time had made consid
4 cradle headway The ladies were in
e wild state of excitement, and the carpet
Is were still covered with water. A servan
,r girl was found on the third floor writhiny
!, in the agonies of pain and frightfull
" burned The shrieks of the servants il
n the upper stories were heartrending.
The Herald editorially says: Tt is state
that gross carelessness was apparent i
Is the condition of the warming apparatus
G and that there was too much anxiety t
keep the fire a secret and too little effort
IL save the unfortunate girls. The whole sub
s. iect will no doubt be thoroughly invest
c, gated.
nj The loss is estimated at from $4,000
to $I5O,0OO There are various statement
= as to the origin of the fire. Some seyent
II or eighty servants altogetherwere sleepin
r on the upper floor.
er LATER.-There was great confusion q
es the Fifth Avenue Hotel to-day. One of tn
pr0prietors denies that there was any della
II in giving an alarm The wall of the laundr
Is. was completely burned. Icicles hang frol
Il the ceiling.
! The damages cannot be estimated ye
Accounts of the number burned are col
hicting 1t is learned at the hotel thi
only eleven persons were burned and thes
all female servants.
. Large crowds of rich and poor gathere
IN this morning to ascertain the names of tn
- persons taken from the Fifth Avenr
Hotel ruins Eleven bodies are already
" the morgue, and only two have so far bee
nd recognized the others being burned almo
-er to a crisp These two are Mary Mccall
IN and Mary Clancy, both servants. MAJ
Heaney, one of the servants, is at Bellvr
sa' Hospital When the alarm of fire W;
he given she knocked at nearly all the doc
of of the other servants. She then tried
- get down stairs, but the smoke and fam
= drove her back, when, with Mary TurI
ne and Bridget Curtis, she broke open Il
ms skylight and got on the roof, remainil
ln, there till the fremen rescued them; 81
no will survive. The bodies at the morgl
have the appearance Of having suffer
IA great agony.
NEW YORK, Dec. ia Columt
w, South Carolina dispatch states that Sen
re- tor elect Patterson s arrest is based on t
oIv affidavits of eleven members of the Leg
!. lature He was taken before justice
IN trial but crowd of his friends caused
'ri- disturbance and Patterson escaped.
nn- was again arrested and committed to j
.et for twelve hours for contempt, but was
"A leased on a writ of hdbdes corpus.
MONTGOMERY, Ala Dec. 11,-About
& o'clock to-day, while the Capitol Legis
ture was in session the Sheriff appear
- in the Senate and said he had wars
. from Governor Lewis to take possession
,,;s the Capitol, whereupon the Senate ord
NAS ed the Sergeant to arrest
Sheriff for contempt and hold him in Gus
AM dy for forty-eight hours, dating from no
lock The Sheriff did not resist the arrest,
VIII explained he was merely acting under
socs socs ders, and on apologizing to the Sena
!, A. was released For few minutes the
cifa1uanf was irfnx,oa and the Eade