The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1877-04-12
Frightful Fatal Fire in St.
Louis.
The Southern Hotel De-
stroyed.
Fifty People Perish in the
Flames.
Dreadful Details of the Calamity
THE TALE OF HORROR.

G1G AEkS vi G1SENENSkN.
st. Louis, April 1.-THE most fright
full calamity that has ever befallen st.
Louis, took place at a very early hour
this morning, involving the destruction
Of the Southern Hotel by fire, and the
loss of of large number of lives. The
exact number cannot now be given, but
it is feared some
FORTY OR FIFTY PERIsHED,
either by being burned directly, or first
smothered by smoke and then con-
sumed. The fire caught in the store
rooms in the basement, and was first
seen coming through the grand floor
just north Of the Office, and in ten min
utes it had
AsCENDED THE ELEVATORS
and rotunda, and spread itself oyer the
sixth floor, under the roof. This floor
was occupied entirely by employees Of
the hotel, the largest part of whom were
women. The fire spread rapidly, fill
ing every room and hall with flames
and smoke, and the scene was Of the
most terrible description. Frantic
men, women and children ran through
the halls shrieking in most
HEARTRENDINe MANNER
in their wild and desperate efforts to es-
cape. The smoke was so dense in some
of the halls that the gas jets were ex-
tinguished, which rendered egress to
those not familiar with the building
matter of great difficulty. The density
Of the smoke in the halls drove many
guests and boarders back into their
rooms, and they rushed to the windows
as means Of escape. Ladders were
raised as soon as possible, and
women and children with nothing on
but night clothes, were taken from the
burning building. Some
TAINTED FROM FRIGHT,
others sunk exhausted to the ground,
from nervous prostration. The ladders
were generally too short to reach the
fifth and sixth stories, but by hoisting
some 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
windows rescued. The Skinner fire
escape was brought into service and
was the means of saving many lives.
While this work was going on some
FR1eHTFuL SCENES
occurred. One man, who had been oc-
cupying a window on the street front of
the hotel, became desperate at the
seeming delay in effecting his escape.
With nervous hands he tore the sheets
from his bed into strips, tied them to-
gether, and fastening this improvised
rope to the window sill, and disregard
ing 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 witnessing the sickening event
that was inevitable. Finally he reach
ed the end Of the sheet and then, for
the first time, he seemed to realize his
position. He stopped, threw his head
back, revealing a ghastly face, 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
around something. Then he let 60,
and groans went up from hundreds as
he whirled round and round and finally
fell on the stone tagging. He died in a
few moments. Two other men
JUMPED FROM THE FOURTH STORY
WINDOW.
one Of whom seemed not to be danger
ously hurt, while the other expired in a
few moments. A woman in the fifth
story became panic-stricken and 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 the strip SO made out of
the window. To this the firemen at
tached q rope, which the man hauled
up, making it fast to the window sill,
and he safely descended by it. A man
named j. E. Wilson jumped from a
fourth-story window and was killed.
Andrew Eusman and Mrs. Scott met
their death in the same way.
THE MORTALITY
among the female help of the hotel is
feared to be great. There were some
eighty Of them, all Of whom were
lodged In the upper story Of the build
ing. The panic among them was per-
fectly terrible, and number of them
jumped from upper windows, Among
those known to be killed in this manner
were Bridget Mead, Mary Carey,
Bridget White, Ellen Reilly, and sever
al others who were carried away by
friends, and whose names are not yet
ascertained.
KATE CLAYTON, THE ACTRESS,
had another narrow escape, and is un-
harmed. Among those known to have
been saved are K. Kretz, Texas, Mrs.
A. Mccoy, Altoona, Penn, Mrs. Gott,
Syracuse, N. T., W. B. Coggswel and
family and E. j. Kimball, Lamotte,
NO., and DIR. Gerlach, German consul,