The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1877-04-19
ANOTHER CALAMITY.
.:.rnlng Of the Southern Hotel 4

da and spread itself over the sixth
'oor, and under tho roof. This foo
was occupit i entirely by employees O
the hotel, the LARGEST part Of whom
were women. The fire spread rapidly
filling every room and hall with flame
and smoke, and the scene was of tn,
most terrible description.
Frantic men, women and children
ran through the halls, shrieking in tn,
most heart-rending manner, in thei]
wild and desperate efforts to escape
The smoke was so dense in some of tn,
halls that the gas jets were extinguish
ed, which rendered egress, even tt
those mo st familiar with the building
d matter OF great difficulty. The firt
department was promptly on the spot
and hundreds of people congregated al
the scene, ready and willing to render
any aid necessary. The density of tn;
smoke in the halls drove many of thu
guests and boarders back to thei1
rooms and they rushed to the window:
as a means of escape. Ladders were
raised as soon as possible and Wome1
and chi!dren,With nothing on but theil
uight clothes, were thus taken from
the burning building.
Some tainted from fright, while
others surk exhausted to the ground
from nervous prostration. The lad
ders were generally too short to reach
to the fifth and sixth stories, but by
hoisting some on The first story balcony
on the east side and second story bal
cony on the mol Ch side of the building
these tlOtis were reached and all those
at the windows rescued. The Skinner
Gre escape was also brought promptly
into ser> ICE, and was the means OF
saving many lives. While this work
W9s going on some frightful scenes
occurred.
One man, who had been occupying 4
window on the Walnut street front OF
the hotel, became desperate at the
seeming delay in etfecting his escape
With nervous hands he tore sheets
from his bed into strips, tied them to.
gecher, fastening this improv ised rope
to the window-sill, and disregardine
the fact that it did not reach more
than twenty feey, he lev himself down,
hand over hand. Men below saw his
position and turned away their haeds
10 avoid witnessing the sickening
event that was '-'evitable. Finally he
reached the end OF the strip and then,
for the first tine, he seemed to realize
his position. He stopped, threw his
head back, revealing CHASTITY face,
and swung slowly to and fro, swayed
by the breeze which the roaring flames
above created.
His limbs swung around cOnvulsive.
ly as though to catch upon something,
and then he let 60 and groans went up
from hundreds as he whirled round.
and finally fell upon the tagging, with
Il thickening thud. lie was carried
Il saloon across the street and died
Il few minutes. Two other u
jumped from fourth story windows,
one Of who seemed not to be danger
)i'sly hurt, while the other expired in
.ew moments. A woman in the
1 street front became panic.
zen and jumped out. She alight.
Oh her feet and was carried to the
i. James Hotel, still alive. Her hus.
e5frd, who had been standing by h.
side, then tore up their bedding 2.
let down the strip so made out of !:
" ndow. TO this the firemen attach.
a rope which the man hauled up
king it fast to the window sill and
s.ately descended by it.
Ia man named j. E. Wilson jumped
From fourth story window and was
killed. Andrew Ensman and Mrs.
Scott met their death in the same
way.
MIR. Peter Blow, son of the former
Minister to Brazil, was sleeping in his
room on the sixth floor, aud succeed
ed, after strenuous exertionss in es.
c. 'ing with his life aud broken arm.
building is six stories i'm height,
and MIR. Blow thinks that the majority
of inmates of the two upper stories of
the building perished. Two men, un.
recognized, We killed Jumping IRON
the third story window, aud a third
one was badly m2 2ugl. /. Five women
were rescued frt Il the sixth story Oil
the FIJI th street side by heroic efforts
of the firemen, who, after ascending
he patent ladder, succeeded in get
ng rope to the half suffocated crea.
lures.
Miss Kate Claxton the actress who
was acting when the Brooklyn theater
burned and also at the Newark theatre
which subsequently burned, and at
Washington when a false alarm of fire
made a theater panic, was stopping at
this hotel, and had another narrow es-
cape. Miss frankie Mcclellan, the
actress. was severely injured.
There wee eighty females employ
ed in the hotel all of whom lodged on
the sixth floor. AS the rc,f fell in
within an hour after the fire broke
out the loss of life chiefly of those on
the sixth floor was reported to be very
great but later reports reduce the
number positively known to Le decd
to eleven.
VIM. Felix Munster, said to be 3
member of the English House of Com
mors, wno was married few months
ago, was residing with his wife at the
hotel, became separated, and under
the impression that she was killed hi
became intensely excited and evident
ly lost his mental balance. About {
O'Clock in the morning he went to tn,
room o. friend corner Fourth an(
Olive streets, and shot himself. Th,
Coroner held an inquesy, bu3 could no
decide whether death w..s c9u:ed b,
suicide or accident. There are variou!
reports regarding the ma::.er-one t.
the effect that he knew bis wife Wa!
saved, ard thath he killed himself Will,
laboring under mental de1argement.
The building was insured for 5000,
600 and the furniture for $l42, 900