The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1875-01-29
DEATH IN Til FLAMES.
Dsssraesion Of n sars-s..ato Hotel by
tfre-->eversi Persons Roasted Alive.

The sacramento tCxl.) Union OF the lltl
CONTAINS the following particulars Of th'
burning OF the Western Hotel In that city
by which several persons lost their lives
The whole upper portion Of the hous'
was thoroughly painted and finished will
china gloss, which the fire ran along "a
rapidly as a man would walk, owing TO III
great infiammabiiity, and the smoke giveI
OH was a heavy and thick as might be- ex
pected from the burning of a vast quantity
OF varnish. Dol IL was found that Ga,
engines were powerless TO stop the spread
ing OF the devouring element. and sud
denly, and almost rs ifof one accord. score.
OF men and women in the crowds tina
lined the streets bethought them thal
probably many of the occupants of ia,
upper portion Of the building had
FAILED TO MAKE THEIR ESCAPE
The firemen redoubled their exertions,
being ably directed by the Chief Engineer
and his assistant. The absence of ladders
OF s~eryiceable length was much felt, but
after soine valuable time had been lost two
long ones from Krobs' paint-shop were
procured, and did good service. just be-
fore they arrived "A man was seen to look
out of a rear window in the third-story OF
the doomed building, and the men i'm the
alley called TO him To lie flat upon the floor
and wait for the ladder. but he disappeared
so quickly that he probably heard none OF
the advice given. Another man ran out
upon the rear balcony OF the second story.
and was advised TO jump down. but has
tened back into the builsing. Neither ol
them was seen again. As soon as the lad
der was placed against the rear of the
building, Assistant Engineer Sullivan as
cended TO look for the men that had been
seen. Smashing a window with his hat.
he jumped into the bull ling and disap-
peared, while the smoke poured out iuri-
ousiy from the opening he had made. a
few seconds later he rcappeared, nearly
sufiocated. and IL was evident that he had
failed in the object of his search.
mi OF THE VICTIMS FOUND.
Gradually the firemen succeeded in driv-
ing the fire from the front and lower pOr-
tons OF the building. and bursting in 4
door in the upper story that opened from
a long hall. running the whole length of
the house. ont upon the front balcony they
found the body of a man lying just hack
% il, the face badly blistercd. hair burned
off. the hands and feet roasted till the
bones p~rotruded. Ropes were procured.
the body lowered 10 the ground and pre-
sentiy conveyed To the office OF the Coro-
ner. As the remains were being lowered
from the balcony, a murmurof horror rose
from the assembled multitude. IL snb-e-
quently was found thar the body was that
OF simeon Il. COnklin,a ~welLknown prins-
er. for many years employed in the Union
office. From the description given, il is
evident that he l. the man that ran out
upon the balcony. and then returned To
rh. hnilIinU Tho INN nil afe.t. .a. -.
tnre him i'm his flight from that end of the
building. or the second floor, to the front
of the third floor. where, Just as he had
reached the door. the opening Of which
would have given him life. his strength
failed and Inc fell. a wound was found on
his forehead. and a report spread that the
man had
BLOWN HIS BRAINS OFT
To put an end to his misery but such was
not the case, the hurt having probably
been occasiohed by his striking against
something in his rush for life. Soon af-
terward there came a rumor Of other
having been taken from the rear Of
the building, but the report was incorrect.
positive fact that u life had been lost
served, however. 10 I'LL the minds Of all
with most painful a~pprehensions, as ii was
known that the hctel had been nearly full
Of guests. among them being many ladies.
Two OF the latter Were very i'll, and rumor
had IL that they had not been rescued. but
we are happy To be able to state that they
were removed from the building before the
reached their rooms. Ii was also
by the printers that another popu-
lar member Of the craft. Job Court, who
was known TO have been i'm the hotel. had
not been seen TO leave it. and fears were
expressed that he had been lost. The ex-
element of the assembled multitude be-
intense. IL seemed an age before the
gave evidence Of succumbing. and
then its fury ceased only because il
had exhausted the material upon which ii
fed. At halfpast 4, however, the firemen
that they were
MASTERS or TIVE SITUATION,
and proprietors of adjoining stores. who
feared that the ~conflagration might
to their premises. become less anx-
ious. About 6 o'clock the engines ceased
working and hydrant streams were en-
ployed. Between Z and ) O'Clock Officers
and Harry Luft, while searching
in the upper story, found lying on a pile
Of pulu. which had evidently been a bed in
one Of the rooms. a horribly distigurpd
The surroundings indicated that
the deceased had been sufIocated in bed.
The arms IA legs were nearly burned of,
As was also the head in fact, little was
except the trunk OF the body. The
appeared 10 be those OF a small
and physicians who have seen them
Judge from the bones that the deceased
was a boy about 10 years of age. Yester-
Law forenoon Officer Dun.evy and two or
three other men searched the ruins of the
building, and about noon found in a hall
the upper story. about fifteen or twenty
from the rear OF the building,
ANOTHER BODY,
had been 80 covered with debris