The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1877-04-19

THE ST. LOUIS FIRE.
Additional Particulars Concerning
the Awful Occurrence.


have been withdrawn from the ruins OF
the Southern Hotel and preparations are
being made to put men at work at varl-
GUS points and make thorough search
for bodies. 1t isapprehended that sever
al of the female domestlcs ofthe house
are buried beneath the debris, as num-
Der of them have not reported to the
proprietors and no account has been re-
ceived ofthem.
It now seems quite probable that d.
]. Clark, wife and child were among the
killed.
Mrs. Scott, who was reported dead
yesterday, was still alive at a late hour
last night, but there are no hopes of her
recovery.
Kate Claxton lost everything she pos
sessed, and is suffering from nervous pros
tration. Her escape from the building
was attended with great difficulty and
much suffering from smoke and fright.
Miss Fannie Mcclellan is in very
critical condition. She jumped from the
fourth story to the one-story saloon ad-
Joining the hotel and sustained severe
contusions to the brain and spinal cord,
She has badly cut face and head, two
penetrating wounds in the groin, a fraC-
tured rib and several minor hurts.
From sixty to one hundred men have
been put to work on the ruins by order
of Mayor 0verstoltz, and this force will
be increased to one hundred and fifty or
two hundred. The search is now pro-
crossing just underneath the rotunda,
which was rallying point for great
nun ber ofthe terror stricken inmates of
the hotel, and it is expected that some
bodies will be found there.
Several interior walls which were unsafe
have been pulled down, and all will be
leyeled, so that the men can work all
over the ruins without danger.
Mr., Morrow, agent of New York
jewelry house, lost a sample trunk con-
tanning $4,000 worth ofjewelry. This
morning the contents of the trunk were
unearthed, and between $400 and $500
worth of contents recovered, in dam
aged condition. The remainder of the
iewelry was melted and is valueless ex-
cept as old metal.
Some manuscripts and papers belong
ing to Kate Claxton were also found.
The body of child, supposed to be a
little girl, was found in the ruins this
evening Just under the Walnut street en-
trace to the hotel. 1t lay on small
mattress, and evidently fell from one Of
the upper stories 1t was disfgured be-
yond recognition.
The funeral services of Henry Hazen,
one of the Southern Hotel victims, was
held to-day, Rev. DR.. Schuylers, of Christ
Church, officiating. The remains were
forwarded to New Castle, Pa, his former
home.
Thrilling Escapes and Sad Failures.
(Cincinnati Enquirer Special Mean
time sheets and blankets began to float
from the windows on the various sides of
the building, many of them tied together
but none of them making rope of sutfi-
cient length to reach safe landing,
though two men and one woman in the
sixth story descended these perilous
strands, and succeeded in swinging them
selves into the fifth story windows, thus
increasing their chances of rescue. One
of the first men to mount the ladder
on the Walnut street side was George
Frank Courley, Grand Secretary OF the
Masonic Fraternity in Missouri, To reach
the ladder he had to descend knotted
rope ofblankets. From the sixth to the
fifth story; he had not passed more than
a halt dozen rounds when his head fell to
one side, his body reeled and fell, the
skull being crushed by striking the cor
nice, and both legs being broken, produc-
ing instant death. One man, whose name
is unknown, appeared at window.
Throwing the end of q sheet on the out
side, he began to make preparations to
descend, and, though the crowd called
out to him to remain, still he persisted in |
swinging loose. Sliding down to the end
oEa sheet he found himself just above |
the fifth story, and nothing below but the |
stone pavement, one hundred and twenty |
feet. Realizing his terrible position he |
endeavored to climb back, but the effort |
to raise himself was vain, and, after des' |
perate struggle OF three minutes, he |
shrieked, let 60 and fell, with every bone |
crushed. Another man. appeared at an |
adjoining window, in his night attire, and |
frantically called out, "What shall l doP" !
The flames were leaping al about him,
and seemed ready to enVelop and con-
sumo him, stump! jumpW answered |
back dozen throats. The man looked |
down at the pavement as if hesitating |
what to do; but the scorching flames were
closing in on him fast, and he bounded |
from the window, turning over twice and |
whirling to the stones below, striking |
upon his shoulder and head. He was i'm
mediately picked up and carried into an
adjoining saloon, and lived long enough |
to say that his name was ]. 3. Stevens,
when he Immediately expired.
ShrIeks and Cries for Help
were heard from the upper stories, and |
whenever the smoke cleared away, and |
the blaze threw lurid glare around the |
eastern wall, there we're displayed from |
the upper stories white sheets as 80 many
flags of distress The schricks in the up
per windows still continued and sheets
were huttered about from two of the
windows on the very top hoor,and one
from the hall window on the fifth floor.
These people kept calling wildly for help.
They asked. for Gods sake, that some
thing be done for them and the people
below kept shouting to them to have
patience, and aid would come in time
Some ofthose who had made their escape
stood upon the street and cried out that
something be done for friends whom they
supposed to be still in the building. One
man went up and down in front Of the
building and crying, "Oh, my God Oh,
Jerry /" and upon being questioned as to
whether there we're any Of his friends
still in the building he pointed up to the
fifth story window, at which two or three
forms were discernible through thesmoke
and mist, and said, "There he is; thereis
Jerry" and before any further inforna-
ton could be had he was lost in the