Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1877-04-12
The Southern Hotel
Burned.
ABOUT Fifty LIVES LOST.
DESPERATE EFFORTS FOR LIFE
MADE BY THE VICTIMS.
Incidents of the Disaster-No Eastern
People Among the Los..

ST. LOUIS. April IL. The Sou L,rn lI.,u IN
this city was destroyed by fire at two O'Clock this
morning.
About fifty lives were lost, as near as can be as
certsned up to this time. The fire is very nearly
extngusbed The hotel was full of guests. All
the stores in the vicinity filed with the dead
and wounded. A large number jumped from the
fourth. fifth and sixth stories, and were crushed
to death.
Before the engines arrived, the entire upper
stories were crowded with shriekiug men and wo-
men, whom it seemed impossible to save. A few
were rescued by ladders placed on Fourth street
portico but on the other three sides, where the
building was bounded by Fifth, Walnut and Elm
streets, the longest ladders fefar short of reach
ing the windows.
Peter Blow, son of the former minister to Bra
zl, was sleeping on the sixth floor, and succeeded
in escaping after strenuous exertons.
The building was six stories high, and Blow
thinks the majority Of the inmates Of the upper
two stories persisted
Five women were rescued from the sixth story
on Fourth street side by heroic tiremen.
The flames started in the basement, and in ten
minutes assembled the elevators to the sixth story
spreading rapidly over that floor occupied only by
employees, most of whom were women. The
smoke was dense that gislights were extn-
guisbed, and even those most acquainted with
the means Of egress found it impossible TO effect
an escape.
The fire department was on the spot promptly.
The density of the smoke ia the halls drove many
of the guests back into their rooms, and they
rushed to the windows as q means of escape.
Ladders were raised as soon as possible, and
the women and children, who were IN their night
clothes, were thus taken from the burning build
ing. Some tainted from fright and others sank
exhausted to the ground from nervous prostra-
ton. Ladders ghnerally were too short to reach
the fifth and sixth stories but by BOOSTING some of
them on the one story balcony on the north side
and two story balcony on the north side, these
floors were reached and all those at the windows
rescued. A fire escape was the means of saving
many lives. While this work was going on, some
frghtful scenes occurred.
One man lowered himself from an upper story
by his sheets which he tore into strips, unmind-
full of the fact that the improvised rope did not
reach over twenty feet. When he reached the
end of it be was forced to let 60 and fell upon
the pavement with sickening thud. He died
soon after.
Two men jumped from the fourth story window
one Of whom seemed not dangerously hurt, viii lie
the other expired in few moments.
woman in the fifth story window on Fifth
street front, jumped out. She alighted on her
feet and was carried to the ST. James Hotel, still
alive. Her husband who had been standing BY
her side then tore up the bedding and let slip so
made out of the window, ann to this the fremen
attached rope which the man hauled up, made
fast 20 the window sill and then safely descended
by it.
A man named j. Z. Wilson jumped from the
fourth story window and was killed.
Andrew Ensman aud Mrs Scott met their death
in the same way.
The mortality among the female help Of the
hotel it is feared will be great. There were some
two hundred of them. All lodged in the upper
Story of the building. The panic among them
was perfectly terrible.
Miss Kate Claxton. the actress had another mar.
row escape and is unframed.
At 2.l5 or about half an hour after the fire was
the entire roof was ablaze, an the
flames rapidly descending to the lower stories.
Half an hour later the floors and interior walls be-
gan to fall the roof fell in and now nothing is
left of the hotel except the Walnut street front.
and parts of the Fourth and Fifth street faces.
Loss on building and contents will be from
$50 900 to 81 900 900.
The insurance on the hotel is $4,000.
Boston, April IL. The names of no eastern
people appear among the lost at the ST. Louis fire.
A New York despatch from 81. Louis avs that
the report that Kate Claxtpn jumped from win
dow is erroneous. She had presence Of mind to
wrap her face and head with wetted towels, and
walked and rolled down the stairs. Except few
bruises she is unhurt.
ST. LOUIS, April IL. The engines are still
playing on the fire, and force is rganized to
search for dead bodies. Several bodies have al
ready been taken from the debris in more or less
burned state but the names are not yet ascertain
ed, also several bodies at the morgue awaiting
Identification
Mrs. Moran, servant wass killed by jumping
from the window.
George Frank Gontey, Grand Secretary Of the
Grand Lodge of Free Masons of Missouri, is
supposed to have persisted.
Six other persons, names unknown, were killed
either by jumping from the windows or sntfocat-
ed bp the smoke and dragged out of the burned
building.
o'clock. Sidmore Hayden, superintendent Of
the American Express stable is among those who
persisted.
Henry Hagen, deputy auditor of the Missouri
Pacific railroad, is among the victims.
An Englishman named Adams, said to be a
OF education, has been identified at
the morgue.
o'clock. The report that number of dead
bodies were taken from the ruins this morning
proves to have been false. The fire department
has not yet succeeded in cooling off the debris
So efficiently to enable the search to be made.
Mr.. Adams referred to in the previous despatch.
was Rev. A. r. Adams, incumbent of a parish in
England He was on his way fiom
Florida TO California. His remains await the Or
der of his friends.
Bette Allen, actress from the east, and NJ iss
Clifton of the Olympic company of this city,
whose guest she was, among the saved.
ii I. or II. NJ. Clark, railroad CONDUCTOR, said
to he formerly from Toledo, together with his
wife and child were among the killed
Milton Noble, the actor. and Miss frankie Me-
Cen, actress, were saved, but the latter was
seriously injured. The former was mainly in
strumental in saving the lives of ladies who were
on the same floor of the hotel as himself.
Great crowds OF people have thronged the vi
cinity of the fire all day, some of them looking
for absent friends but the great mass of them i'm
cited by curiosity.
There is strong guard of police surrounding
the ruins, and no one permitted within the lines
excepting reporters and those directly interested
in the calamity.
The names of all those known to be dead have
not vet been ascertained.
OF the insurance $500 900 is on the building
and Sl42 900 on the furniture.
DIR. Auler intends to make very searching in
quiry into the cause of the fire and all the facts
with it, but will not begin an investi-
CATION for day or two.