St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-04-13
Terrible Calamity at st. Louis
Hotel Burnt and SO Lives Lost.

ST. LOUIS, April ii $40 A. NJ. The
Southern Hotel in this city was de-
stroyed by fire at two o'clock this
morning. About fifty lives were lost,
as near as can be ascertained up to this
time. The fire is very nearly eXtin-
guished.
The hotel was full of guests. All the
stores in the vicinity are filled with the
dead and wounded. A large number
jumped from the fourth. fifth and sixth
stories, and we're mashed to death.
The ladders generally were too short
to reach to the fifth and sixth stories,
but by resting some of them on the one
story balcony on the east side and the
two story balcony on the north side of
the building, these floors were reached
and all those at the windows rescued.
A fire escape was the means of saving
many lives.
FRIGHTFUL INCIDENT.
While this was going on some fright
full scenes occurred. One man who had
been occupying window on the Wal
nut street front of the hotel became
desperate at the seeming delay in eff
fecting his escape. and with nervous
hands he tore the sheets from his bed
into strips and tied them together.
Fastening this improvised rope to the
window sill and disregarding the fact
that it did not reach more than twenty
feet, he let himself down hand over
hand. Men below who saw his position
turned away their heads to avoid wit
Messing the sickening event that was
inevitable. Finally he reached the end
of the sheet and then for the first time
he seemed to realize his position. He
stopped, threw his head back, revealing
CHASTITY cOuntenance, and swung
slowly to and fro, swayed by the breeze
which the roaring flames above created.
His limbs swung around convulsively
as though to catch upon something,
then he let go, and groans went up
from hundreds us he whirled round and
round, and finally struck on the stone
tagging with a sickening thud. He
was carried to a saloon across the street
and died i'll few moments.
Two other men jumped from the
fourth story window, one of whom
seemed not to be dangerously hurt,
while the other expired in few mo-
ments. A woman in fifth story win
dow on the Fifth street front became
panic stricken and jumped out. She J
on her feet and was carried to f,
the St. James Hotel. She is still alive. !
Her husband, who had been standing by |
her side, then tore up the bedding and |
let the strip so made, out of the win
dow. To this the firemen attached
rope which the man hauled up making
it fast to the window sill and safely |
descended by it. A man named j. E. |
Wilson jumped from the fourth story |
window and WAS killed. Andrew Eus- |
man and Mrs. Scott met their death in
the same way.
TERRIBLE PANIC AMONG THE FEMALE |
SERVANTS.
The mortality among the female help !
Of the hotel it is feared will be great |
There were some 200 of them, all of
whom were lodged in the upper story |
Of the building. The panic among them
was perfectly terrible, aud IA number
Jumped from the upper windows on Elm |
street, or the rear side of the house |
Four are known to have been killed in |
his manner, and several others were
carried away by friends.
The hotel is said to have been the |
argest i'll the United States, with the
of the Palace Hotel in San |
Francisco. 1t contained between 600 |
md 700 rooms, and had lately been |
thoroughly renovated.