Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-03-28

SERvANTs-A WOMAN HANGS TO WIN
DOw-TRAME FOR HALF An HOUR-TwO
LIVES LOST.
The Montreal papers come filled with de-
tails Of the terrible scenes connected with
the partial destruction of the St. James
Hotel, in that city, by fire, on Monday
night. The hotel was a iiye-story structure,
and it was with extreme difficulty that the
tiremen were able to drag their hose up the
stairs to the fourth story, where the flames
first ragged. Meanwhile the servants of the
hotel on the upper floor, blinded by smoke
and bewilieTcd with terror. rushed lrantic-
ally for the stairs. bat in many instances
were unable to find them, and driven back
by the flames, betook themselves To the roof
or windows The Witness says.
The fire was first discovered at one % clock
a. H., skipping from the rear of the laundry
and forcing itself towards the front of the
building where several servants slept in the
upper attic. At this time they were max
ing their escape from the windows. q large
volume of smoke coming ont with them.
Two of the girls who came out Of the attic
windows on to the roof were in the act of
jumping off, but Mr.. Perry, who happened
to be on the spot before the alarm was
given, appealed to them to remain quiet.
until the Brigade arrived with the ladders,
but the latter did not come. while the un-
fortunates remained screaming for help.
In a few moments more people bad arrived,
some OF whom, seeing the perilOu- position
of these girls went over to Shaw new
buildings, near the ruins Of -. Patrick
Hall, and returned with a ladder and saved
the women. By this time the fire had got in
to the hotel. Having rescued these unior-
I tunates Mr.. Perry and a member ot the Fire
Brigade turned their attention To parties
who were calling for assistance from the
/ t0pmost story of the building. One of them
a woman, had got outside. and was holding
on by her hands 10 the sash her feet rested
on the moulding of the window below. The
black smoke emanatiug from the win
dows beneath euyelOpeI the helpless sufferer
in its folds and paralyzed her energies
The woman could be seen moving her hands
al intervals. but time flew, and still the
ladders Of the Fire Department were not
available. Bedding and all sorts ofnaterial
were flung from the lower windows on TO
the pavement, and piled up By the >pecta-
tors, 50 if the ladders did not come in time
the woman w0uld not have her brains
dashed out By the fall. Mr. BertGm had
in the mean time, secured the ladders. but
it took at least ten minutes to place them
against the walls, when, to the horror of
al. they were found 10 be thirty feet too
short. Mr.. Beckham, Of Point 81. Charles
station, assisted by John Nolan, grasped
thirty-foot ladder. and. raising it aloft.
Beckham, with his back to the wall, he.d
it firmly in an upright position, Nlr. Perry
grasped the butt and Steadled It on the
other ladder in the manner of q splice
while Nolan managed to bring 1t 50 that it
would reach the woman : feet ; he immedi
ately assembled and encouraged the woman
20 place her feet on the rounds and descend
While this scene was being enacted there
was hreathless silence among the specta-
tors. The moment it was seen that the
woman was on the ladder the feelings Of
tie populace found vent in loud cheers.
The moment she got to the bottom Of the
ladder she tainted and was conveyed to the
st. Lawrence hall. From the time she first
got out of the window until she was rescued
was at least thrty-iiye minutes.
The attention Of the firemen was now
turned to another person in danger, at the
western end of the building, were McCul-
lOch and some Of his associates, In the most
. heroic manner. We're rescuing the inmates
by means of such ladders a. they could pro-
cure. This person was on the roof, and, by
exertiOns ON the part of the firemen, was
also saved.
After the fire wa~ well slblued, the fire.
men proceeded To look for possible victims
in the attics, and cropping their way through
the steam and smoke. they came across 4
woman, lying perfectly nude, in the mid
die of bedroom. She was not burned.
but had evidently been suiIocated. Mr.
Acton, the manager of the hotel, says She
had come upon the roof with the two girls
who were rescued, but, losing her presence
of mind, returned 10 the stairs and sought
TO find her way down. She had eTidently
got lost. and wandered into bedroom,
and fell a victim 10 the smoke and flame.
Her name was Mary Brennan. She bore a
good character, and was a hard-working
laundress. At 8, a. m, the Salvage corps
conveyed her body to the General Hospital,
where it lies in the dead-h0use.
When the b1arlerS who rOOmed in the
upper flats We're first aroused from their
slumbers, the halls were filled with smoke,
not light being visible bat the glare of
, the fire in the distance. They Immediately
! turned to the windows for escape, and those
E whose presence of mind bad not deserted
them began tying their bed clothes together.
and thus formed ropes OF blankets, but "a
f far as we can learn. only one, 4 Mr..
E Belcher. made his exit thereby, for. as the
firemen forced their way up, they assisted
4, the inmates to find the way down.
: Mr. Acton states that at the time of the
> alarm he was in bed or the fourth fiat,
and. springing up, ran into the hall. The
smoke was then very dense. and he saw I'M
mediately that affairs were serious. lie pro-
ceeded to arouse the inmates, and was As
sisted by Others. But the excitement was
50 great and the smoke 50 binding that
8 even the older boarders got 50 confused as
; to be unable to find their way down. PeO-
i pie ran about helpleSsly, and he is only sur
= prised there was no greater loss Of life. One
lady who, with her child, occupied room
n No. so, on the fifth fiat, was awakened at
the last moment and escaped in her night
clothes to the fourth story, Where she was
; saved at one Of the windows.
j. E. Thomas of the Ontario Bank, Mont
y real, and native Of Niagara, was boarder
! at the hotel lie was asleep in bed until
' the fire had made great progress. Upon
y awakening, he hastily dOnned the first
clothes that came to hand, and ran to the
stairway, but the smoke drove him back
and he entered another room, where he
e found a woman answering 70 the description
d of the dead Mary Brennan. Knowing now
y that his only chance of escape was by the
It window. he rushed to and smashed il, and
IS bv some means managed to get to the win
! dow below this is his last recollection. lie
y is suffering from broken ribs and other in
It iuries caused by his fall from the fourth story
o window. This is the second time he has
y been burned out in a hotel, st. James,
Ottawa, being his last. He has lost every
thing. The next sufferer visited was Mr..
Harry Belcher, commercial traveller for
k Messrs. Nield d Co., Lemoine street, ma
o tive of Southampton, Ontario. His ap-
pearance was pitiable in the extreme, the
b ewes blackened and swollen and the skin
seorched From Mr.. Nield and the suffer-
a er's brother, whe were at the bedside, were
h CLEANED the facts that at the moment he
n woke to the discovery of the fire, he attempt
4 ed to escape by the stairway; being bafied
= in this. he rushed for the roof, and again
n being bafled, he entered chamber and
Y made last desperate attempt at escapelDy
% tying together six sheets and commenced
his perilous descent from the fourth story ,out
when suspended in mid air the sheets oroke
their connections and he fell to the earth.
n The unfortunate gentleman lies IN very
q nrecarious condition he tells hls brother
: that he thinks his back is broken, and that
y he does not for moment think oil IVlnS
He had the name of the handsome travel
IS err in commercial circles
5. Samuel George Hlditch was next seen,
Is but. as be Law delirious, all that could be
% cleaned was that he was IN the employ OF
i Messrs. Evans, Mercer 4 Co., Montreal, and
is tha, his thigh was broken; he looked
CHASTITY white as he lay bound down in bed
to prevent his injuring himselffurther. He