The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1877-04-19
4 LIE ssOn From the Fire

! Z rom the blDtt-IJeliipufui..
Alter long waiting for Lesson from the
fire, ST. Louis got its lesson yesterday when
it awoke TO /; nd its large't hotel blackened
shell OF walls enclosing the horrible debris Of
its human holocaust. The hotel was one Of
the strongest and best-built houses of the
city. 1t wss provided with every facility for
instantly summoning assistance from with.
out and within;and et,when the fire was dis
covered it was too late to save the million
OF dollars invested in the building, and toe
late to save the still nore precious lives
which have gone as a needle, sacrifice.
The thick walls, the fire indicator, the
water-Pipes and taps, the efficient night ser
vice and all the other appliances were neu.
tralized by the fatal fire flue of iirder which
led from the basement to the roof, and
which sucked up the volume OF fame and
smoke that cut off escape from 20 many IN
fortuna;es. The staircasei OF the hotel and
its corridors We're so ample and roomy that
fire confined to enc staircase might have
done comparatively little damage, but the
elevator well, flue some eight feet square,
was as ierie,t device as could have been
invented for blowing fl ime into fury, for
setting fire simultaneously to elch story,
and for belching forth cloud of smoke
that no one could see through or live in.
Had the shaft Of the elevator been closed
at each story with even wooden door, IA
is done in several elevators in this CITY, the
draft would not have sucked the flames up
ward with such terrible ard r. sistle-s rapid
ity; the fire would not have grown beyond
control before the engin,s could reach it.
and even If the great, costly building bad
finally gone, il would not have done so BE-
fore all the human lives exposed had been
saved. The elevator, as ordinarily con-
.tructed, is an invitation to any fire to
make total wreck. and after the expert
ence Of Tuesday night, confirming so many
previous experiences no building can be
considered reasonably safe which had an
elevator Of this unprotected tyre.
IL the fire was poorly guarded against by
the interior arrangement of a we'll built
hotel, il was still more poorly guarded
against BY the appliances of our much
uIC SPattufcHt p" me Tic VIII
dows of successive stories Of the monster
building were crowded with terror stricken
men and women, and while the sh iieks and
appeals pierced the ears of the thousand.
# impoten, spectators, the Skinner elevator.
which behaves 30 we'll on dress parade, ard
which has been cracked up as fulfilling
every requisite, was backing and banking
through the street, while the hook and
ladder companies we're of less use vet.
When the emergency came for which these
appliances were designed they failed to
meet il. and failure at such time is sim
ply crime. Fortunately. the greater num-
Der of the inmates we're warned in time to
escape BY the stairs, but the narrow escape
shows Just how much is needed in the way
Of more numerous and efficient appliances
for escape. As for the streams which were
poured into the flames. they might o. we'll
have been poured down a valcano. No fire
engines in the world could have stayed The |
fire, but the appli.Lces for life-saving were |
lamenisbly deficient; 20 deficient that we
NAV be vers thankful thst more lives were
not lost, and that our lesson has COS; US so |
much less than it might have cos. us.