The daily gazette., 1877-04-12
THE ST. LOUIS FIRE,

l1I ~ H HOOlO Il llGlIt
Additional Detaisl--PeriIous Es-
capes--sxciting Scenes--Guests
Leaping form Windews-Suffoca-
tion Of Servants, &C.
ST LoUls, Mo-, April 1.-THE
Southern HoJel on Walnut street, in
this city, one of the .fihest hotels In
the country, took fire about half past
one O'Clock this morning, aud was de
stroyed. Forty or fifty lives, it is sup
posed, were lost, perhaps more, chief
y in the upper stories, the structure
| being six stories high. The loss on the
I building and contents is estimated at
from $3.50, 900 to 81 900, 900. Itappears
that the fire caught in the storeroom
in the basement, and was first seen
coming through the ground floor just
north of office, and in ten minutes it
had ascenoed the elevators and rotun-
ds, and spread itself over the sixth
floor and under the roof. This floor
| was occupied entirely by employees
of the hotel, the most of whom were
women. The fire spread rapidly, fills
and smoke. and the scene was OF the
most terrible description. Frantic men
women and children ran through the
halls shriekiag in the most beartrend-
ing manner in their wild and desper>
ate efforts to escape. The smoke was
so dense in some of the halls that the
gas jets were extinguished, which
rendered egress even to those most
familiar with the building matter of
great difficulty. ..I
MORTALITY AMONG FEMALE SERVANTS
Tie mortality among the female
help of the hotel is feared to be great.
There were some two hundred of them
all of whom we're lodged in the upper
story of the building. The panic amsng
them was perfectly terrible, and a
number of them jamped from the up
per windows on the Elm street rear
side of the hotel. Among those known
to have been killed in this manner
were Bridget Mead, Mary Carey, Brid-
get W hite, Ellen Riley and several
others, who were carried away by
friends.
QUICK WORK.
At quarter past two, or about
half hour after the fire was discover
ed the entire roof was ablaze and the
flames were rapidly descending to the
lower stories. A half hour later the
floors and interior walls began to fall.
The roof fell in, and now nothing is
left of one of the finest hotels in the
country except the Walnut street front
front aud parts of the Fourth and
Fifth street faces. The loss on the
building and contents will be from
$75U, 900 to $1,000,000. The insurance
is unknown as yet.
Narrop Escape Of Kate Clarton.
A report was circulated during the
day that Kate Claxton. the actress,
Jumped from window of the hotel
and broke both of her legs. This prov
cd to be erroneous. She had sufficient
presence of mind to wrap her face and
head with wetted towels and walked
and and rolled down stairs. Except
having few bruises she is safe. = Miss
Claxton states that she lost everything
Her engagement began at st. Louis
Monday evening in "The Two Or
phans,"
Miss Claxton, it will be remembered
was one of the performers in the
"Two Orphans" at the Brooklyn Thea
| tire on the occasion of the awful fire
on the evening of the 9th of December
| last. Miss Claxton was one of the four
persons who were on the stage at the
| time the fire broke out the others be-
ing Mrs. Farren, Mr.. Studley and Mr..
Murdoch.
AMONG THE KILLED.
Among the bodies at the morgue was
that of Rev. A r. Adams, incumbent
of parish in Berkshire, England. He
was on his way from Florida to Cali
fornia. I'll. M. Clark, railroad conduc-
tor, said to be formerly from Toledo,
together with his wife and child, are
among the killed. Mrs. Moran, SER
want. was killed by jumping from a
window. George Frank Gouley, grand
secretary of the Grand Lodge OF Free
Masons of Missouri, is supposed to
have perished in the flames. Mr..
Gouley was a native of Wilmington,
DEL, but has been living in st, Louis
since the war, where he edited the
Freemason until about two years ago.
He was about 40 years of age. Mr..
Gouley was son of the late DR.. Louis
Gouley, who resided in Baltimore
some years ago. Six persons whose
names are unknown were killed either
by jumping from windows or were
suffocated by smoke and dragged out
of the burning. Stidmore Hayden,
superintendent of the American Ex
press stables. is among the killed, also
Henry Aazen, deputy auditor of the
Missouri Pacific Railroad Company.
INSANITY AND SUICIDE.
! Wm. Felix Munster, said to be