The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-04-10
THROUGH THE FLAMES.

THRILLING INCIDENTS OF THE FIRE AT MIL
LERsTOwN, PA-HOTEL GUESTS AROUSED
FROM SLEEP TO BE ROASTED OR SUI
FOCATED.
PITTsBURG, Pa, April 2.-Advices from the
scene of the great fire at MillerstOwn state
that no other bodies have yet been discover
ed; so the seven already found probably
constitute the number lost. A letter says
that the bar-keeper of the Central Hotel,
who was sitting up with a sick friend, was
the first to discover the fire. He Immediate
ly rushed through the halls to arouse the
guests. There were, including servants, a
hundred souls in the house, and directly the
corridors became the scene of the widest
dismay. Fortunately there were no lady
guests registered, or the story of horror and
death might have been UNNECESSARILY more
painful to detail. The flames drifted up the
wooden walls, and quicker than it takes to
tell it, spread over the eltire southern side.
and were curling in a thousand tongues
from cornice and gable. Men rushed almost
naked into the hail. some not even taking
their clothing in their arms, and, anxious
only to escape with their lives, tore up and
down the corridors madly seeking some out
let from the pursuing flames.
The widest horror preva led. Shrek rose
upon shrek, in heart-rending accents, all
the more impressive, because they came
from strong men graphing with death, with
the odds so terribly against all mere human
power. Many on the lower hall had found
their waya4sst of the building, and the pro-
prietor of the house, who was sick, had been
borne out. For an instant it was hoped
that all would escape, but again that hope
was dashed by the beseeching cries for help
from those who had fingered to dress, or, in
the excitement of the dreadful moment, were
unable to undo the fastenings of their doors.
To add to the horror of the situation, it
was discovered that the flames had crept
through the southern sleeping rooms, and,
following the draft along the corridor, had
cut off the servants escape from the attic.
Between prayers and shrieks and groans,
the scene was now too much for human
hearts. Knowing their utter inability to
render aid, many turned away from the sick
ening scene they found it as difficult to en-
dure as to relieve
Some of the girls had courage and pres
ence of mind to turn their dIapery over
their heads for protection, and rush through
the sheet of flame, and thus some escaped.
Others rushed back to the north side and
cast themselves from the windows upon the
roof of the adjoining building, whence they
were rescued. Others sank bewildered in
the suffocating smoke, and like some of the
guests on the floor below, yielded without
to the terrible death before them.
The climax of horror had not been reached
till Nelly mccarthy, one of the diningroom
girls, appeared at the southern attic window,
and proposed to cast herself to the ground,
40 feet below. A warning cry rose from the
crowd below. Death was behind her, and
with wild cry of despair she cast herself
and fell, pitiful mass of broken
bones, on the pavement.
Capt. divers remains, after the fire, were
recognized by watch chain .clinging to the
charred flesh.
The loss by the fire is estimated at $780,
600, Mr. Book, of the Central Hotel, being
the heaviest loser. 1t is estimated that fully
100 families have been rendered homeless by
the confagration.