The Osceola times., 1877-04-21
HORRORS OF THE FLAMES.
The southern Hotel NJ ~. Louis wrapped
In EIame. nj the Dead Of Night

The most frightful calamity that has
ever befallen st. Louis took place at a
very early hour on the llth, involving
| the destruction of the Southern hotel
by fire, and the loss of large number Of
lives. The exact number cannot now
be given, but it is feared some
FORTY OR FIFTY PHRIsHED
either by being burned directly or first
shothered by the smoke, and then con
sumed. From the best information at
hand, il seems that the fire caught in
the store room in the basement, and was
first seen coming through the ground
floor just north of the office, and in ten
minutes it had ascended the elevators
and rotunda, and spread itself over the
sixth floor, under the roof. This floor
was occupied entirely by the employees
of the hotel, the largest part Of whom
were women. The fire spread rapidly,
filling every room and hall with the
flames and smoke, and the scene was of
the most terrible description. Frantic
men, women and children ran through
the halls, shrieking ia the most heart
rending 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 rem
dere1 egress, even TO those most familiar
with the building, matter of grett
difficulty.
The fire department was on the spot
promptly, and hundreds of people con
grcgated at the scene, ready and willing
to render
ANY AID NECESSARY.
The density of the smoke in the halls
drove many guests and bearders back
into their rooms, and they rushed to the
windows az a means of escape. Ladders
were raised as soon "a possible, and wo-
men and children, with nothing but
their night clothes on, were thus taken
from the burning building. Some
tainted from fright and Others sunk ex-
hausted to the ground from nervous
prostration. The ladders generally were
too short to reach to the fifth and sixth
stories, but by hoisting some of them on
the one story balcony on the east side, and
on the two-story balcony on the north
side Of the building, these floors were
reached and all those at the windows
rescued. The Skinner fire escape was
also brought promptly into service,
and was the means of saving many
lives While this work was going on
some
FRIGHTFuL SCENES OCCURRED.
One man who had been occupying a
window on Walnut street front of the
hotel became desperate at the seeming
delay in eiiecting his escape. With
nervous hands he tore the sheets from
the bed into strips, and tied them to-
gether. Fastening this improvised rope
TO the window sill and disregarding the
fact that it did not reach more than
twenty feet, lie let himself down hand
over hand The men below who saw his
position turned away their heads to avoid
witnessing the sickening event that was
inevitable. Finally he reached the end
of the sheet, and then for the first time
realized his position. He stopped, threw
his head back revealing a CHASTITY face,
and swung slowly to and fro, swayed by
the breeze which the roaring flames
above created. His limbs swung around
convulsively az if to catch upon some
thing; then he let go, and groans went
up from hundreds as he whirled round
and round and finally struck on the stone
tagging with a sickenng thud. He
was carried to a saloon across the street
and died in few minutes. Two other
men
JUMPED FROM THE FourH STORY
windows, one of whom seemed not to be
dangerously hurt, while the other ex-
pired in few moments.
A woman in the fifth story window on
the Fifth street front 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 bv her side, then
tore up the be lding and let the strip 40
made out of the window. To this the
fremen attached a rope which the man
hauled up, and making it fast to the
window sill safely descended. A man
named j. +. Wilson jumped from a
fourth story window and was killed.
Andrew Ensman and Mrs. Scott met
their death in the same way. The NOR
tality among
THE FEMALE HELP
of the hotel is feared to be great. There
were some two hundred of them, all of
whom were lodged in the upper story.
The panic among them was perfectly ter
rible and number of them jumped
from the upper windows on the Elm
street or rear side of the house. Among
those known to have been killed in this
manner were the following: Bridget
Mead, Mary Carey, Bridget White, Ellen
Kelly and several Others, who were car.
ried away by friends and whose names
are not yet ascertained.
Miss Kate Claxton the actress, had
another narrow escape and is unharmed.