Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1877-04-11
TERRIBLE EnEef...

have been lost, but this is thought lo DC IN eA-
agyeratinn, although the house was full OF
guests \ great many PERSONS Jumped from
the fourth, fifth ami sixth stories and were
killed. Kate CIaxton, the actress, jumped from
the third story window and had both legs
broken. E7crsthiug is in grea; confusion yet,
aud nothing deGote can hr o6,aiaed.
The above hiss just been received hg the
New York Associated Press. Particulars wall
follow soon.
New YORK, April ll.---Auother dispatch
from ST. Louis says: 1t is now rumoFet that
fifty lives were LOST by the Southern liotel IRE.
ST. LOUIS, April ll-l:4j 2. MA ire has
lust broken out in the upper Stories Of thc
Southern Hotel, and the indications are that
the whole structure will be destroyed. The
guests are all being removed safely.
ST. LOUIS, April IL a. n.-Ihe S0uthera
Hotel in this city was destroyed by fire al two
o'clock this morning. About fifty lives We're
lost az near as can be ascertalncd up 10 this
time.
CINcISNAT1, o., April ia special dis
patch from ST. Louis says: At l:2j this novu.
ing the Southern Hotel, the Gucs. cditice Of
the kind in the city, was discovered TO hc Gu
fire. The salvage corps had responded to the
alarm before it was sounded on the city bells.
Before the engines arrived the entire upper
stories were in flames. Ut o'clock the scenes
in the Immediate vicinity OF the hotel were in
describable, the excitement being Of the most
intense character. The windows IN the upper
stories were crowded with shrieklug men aud
women whom it seemed impossible to save. \
few were rescued by ladders placed on the Fourth
street portico, bu. on the other three sides OF
| the building, bounded by Fifth, Walnut and
Elm streets, the longest ladders fell far short OF
| reaching the windows. Mr. Peter Blow, son
! of the former Minister to Brazil was sleeping
| in his room on the 9Th floor, aud succeeded
after strenuous cxertions in escaping with his
| life and broken arm. The building was six
stories in height and Mr. Blow thinks that the
majority Of inmates OF the two upper stories Of
the building must have persisted. Two men
unrecognized were killed by jumping from the
third story windows, and third Gua was badly
manged. Five women were rescued from tic
| 9Th story on the Fourth street side by the he
role efforts OF the french, who after ASCENDING
the patent ladders, succeeded III getting Il rope
to the half sutfocatcd creatures. The ire Is
said to have riginated 10 the store rooms.
ST. LOUIS, April 1.-THE exact number OF
lives lost cannot now be given but It Is feared
| that some forty or fifty persons persisted either
By being directly or first smothcred by sll0La
and then consumed. From The best inEolma.
ton at hand it seems the fire caught in The
| store room in the basement and was first
coming through the ground floor Just north Of
the Office, aud 10 ten minutes 1t had assembled
the elevators and rotuada and spread ITSELF over
the sixth floor under the roof. This tloor MAS
occupied entirely by employees OF the hotel,
the most OF whom were women The fire
spread rapidly filling every room aui hall with
| a., onI
most terrible description. Frantic men, woman
and children ran through the halls shriaking III
| the most heart rending manner ia their wild
and desperate Efforts to escape. 'lhe smoke
was So dense III some Of the halls that The gas
| lets we're eEtinguishcd which rendered cgrcs4
even to those most familiar with the building
q matter OF great difficulty.
The fire department was on the spot prompt
ly, and hundreds Of people congregated at the
| scene, ready and wiling to render any aid ne
cessaTy. The density of the smoke in tGa halls
drove many guests aud boarder5 haal: into their
rooms, and they rushed to the HiadoWa as
meacs of escape. Ladders were raised as so7n
as possible, and women and chdra1, with
nothing but their night clothes Oh, we're thus
taken from the burning huildiDg. Same tainted
| from fright and Others sunk exhausted to the
ground from nervous rrostratlnn The ladders
generally were too short to reach 10 the fifth
and siEth stories: hut ~ k1islin:, some {;
| them % the cue s!orY baaoby On the cast side
| aud the two story balcony On the forth side III
| the building these floors were reached, and all
| those at The windows rescued. The Skinner
| fire escape WAS also brought promptly into Ser
vice, anl was the means Of saving many lives.
While this work was going Oh snma ffighttnl
scenes occurred One man, who had been DC.
cupying a window 90 the Walnut street front
of the hotel, became desperate ST thu: seeming.
delay in ciectiug his escape. With nervous
hands ne tore the sheets from his bed into
strips, tied thrm together, fastening lhla Ni.
pr0vi5tl rope to the window sill, aud d!arr
garling the fact that it did not reach more
than twenty feet, he let himself down hand
over hand. Men below who saw his rosiilOn
turned away their faces 10 avoid witnessing the
sickening event that was inevitable flua!iy
he reached the end Of the rope, and then Ter
the first time he seemed to realize his position
He stopped, threw his head lack, revealing
ghasty face, and swung slowly 10 and fro,
sWaycd by the breeze which the roaring flames
above created. His limbs swung around con-
Vulsively as though to catch upon sOnathing;
then he let 90, and groans went ur from hun
dreds as he Thrled round and round, and
finally struck on the stone tagging with sick
enlng thud. lie was carried TO saloon across
the street, and died in few moments Two
other men jumped from the fourth story win
dows one oil whom seemed not to be danger
ously hurt, while the other expired in few
moments. A woman OF Gtth story wjOdow
on Fifth street front became panic stricken and
Jumped out. She alichtcd on her feet, and
was carried to the St. James Hotel still alive
Her husband, who had been Standing by hc7
side, then tore up the bedding, and lei :hc
strip so made out of the window. 70 this the
fremep attached rope, which the man hauled
up, making it fast to the window sill and safely
descended BY it. A man named j. L. Wilson
jumped from the fourth story window and was
killed. Andrew Eusman and Mrs. Scott met
their deaths 10 the same way. The mortality
among the female help of the hotel is feared to
be great. There we're some two hundred Of
them, all Of whom were lodged ia the upper
story of the building. The panic among them
was perfectly terrible, and number OF them
jumped from the upper windows on the Elm