The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1883-01-23
Another Hotel Falls a Victim
to the Fire Fiend, and
More Lives are Lost.
The Awful Horror Of MilWau-
kee Re-Enacted, Though
on q Smaller Scale.
Three Employees Burned to Death
The Guests all Escape, with
but Scant Clothing.

inc 0f0W1u III TIC engine IOou VI tuc
Planters house discovered live Goals drop
ping on the paved alley outside the win
dow. Going out he found it densely filled
With smoke 1t was impossible to distin-
euish the locality of the fire which caused
it. The Goals, however, evidently came
from the store-room Of the hotel, which is
. part of frame structure extending out
across the alley at the second floor, and
abutting on the large furniture ware rooms
Of the auction house of Block, Tyler 4
Co. The fireman ran to the end of the
alley. where high gates enclose it, making
with the frame structure a long narrow
room. in which the smoke had accumu,
lated.
He succeeded tn getting the gates oper,
thus creating a current, which carried of
some of the smoke, and then returned to
try to extinguish the fire. He found, how
ever, that it had strong hold in the store
room and in the kitchen, which is imlnedi-
ately over the room where he sas at work.
He gave an alarm, and in three minutes
the hotel was a bedlam Nearly three
hundred people. filled with the horrible
recvllecfiens of the Milwaukee holocaust,
were dashing hither and thither through
the main corridor, and down the several
stairways into the Office and street.
WARNING THE GUESTS.
The hotel employees acted with good
sense and promptness, rappine loud on
every door in the house. and five minutes
later making second trip to insure that
everybody was up and devised of danger.
Very few waited to dress, as smoke from
the rear building, where the fire was 10
Gated, had already invaded the corridors,
and was making its way slowly into the
rooms. Stopping only to grab a few ar
ticles of clothing, men, women and chill
dren fed in dismay, and would not halt
even in the commodious main Office. where
there was light, comfort and little smoke.
As the engines, the first of which arriv-
ed within fifty seconds of
the sounding Of the alarm.
dashed up to the hotel, the stream of fugi-
tives began to pour from its doors. There
were men in nOught but their underclothes
women with but night dress. and possibly
a shawl or cloak over their shoulders, and
little children hrstily bundled in blankets
or other wraps. Few wore shoes, and a
great many were in their bare feet. The
lights of the Republican and Globe Demo
crat offices and of a gambling hall. all Of
which were within the distance of block,
led the hslf-crazed people to the Temporal
~ refuge of warmth, whence carriages in a
few moments removed them to other hotels.
THRILLING SCENES.
Some of the scenes incident to the hegira
were quite thrilling, their effect intensified
BY the rattle. clang and shrek of engines
and the shouts Of the fremen. Soon the
main body of the hotel was cleared of
guests, and the fine building was in the
possession of the fremen, who, within
twenty minutes, as a result of second
alarm, had thirteen engines at work.
In the meantime things in the rear of
the building were of far uglier character.
The hotel, which is six stories in height,
fronts on the west side of Fourth street
from Chestnut to Pine, while wing runs
back on both Chestnut and Pine streels to
the depth of half block. Thus the main
building forms three sides of a rectapgle.
The fourth side is formed by a four-story
building fortv years old. midway OF which.
on the ground floor, is the boiler room
above referred to, and the kitchen on the
floor above it. The two upper floors are
occupied by the help OF the house, some
twenty five in number. Alongside the
boiler room a narrow stairway rises ami
winds TO the roofs. The fire. which started
very close TO this stairway, was carried mp
to the ROOF by the draft in the stairway,
and thus not only cut of escape BY that
means but also formed barrier which
prevented the. men sleeping in the south
h alf of the building from reaching another
q
unfortunates, almost smothered by the
smoke, were compelled to climb out on the
roof of the frame structure. which abutted
over the alley, and thence either to Jump
or lower themselves by means of pulley
riggeh there for hosting supplies.
One poor fellow was seen 10 shoot down
the stairway before the fire reached the
third floor, and an hour later his crispet
corpse was found in the kitchen, near the
foot of the stairs. Another employe who, al
though answering TO call, seems to ha e
been too much stupefied by the smoke to
get up, for two hours afterward mis- dead
body was found on the smoking mattress of
bis bed. The female help ali escaped by
the stairway at the north end, save one.
who broke her ankle in jumping to the
roof of a shed.
THE DEPARTMENTS WORK
The firemen made grand fight, and
nozzles were carried through the walls of
smoke, right 10 where the flames were
raging. Notwithstanding the ,pfiamable
nature OF the building, thew succeeded in
preventing the fire from extending beyond
a distance of twenty feet from the point of
its origin, but in that space it burned clear
through to the roof, destroying about ten
rooms. The balance of the rear building
was made uninhabitable, but the hotel
proper did net suffer to the extent of a
dollar. The fire, however, crossed the
alley to the furniture warerooms, where
the firemen had another fierce, but short
fight The damage to the hotel property is