Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1883-01-16

Another Holocaust Added to the HOrri-
BILE Chapter Not Yet Closed
The Furious Flames Attack the Planters
House in st. Louis.
Four Men Burned 70 th--The HorE
Of Destruction Continues
Elsewhere.

st. Louis, January lit was just
ten minutes past four O'Clock tn Is
morning, when the fireman in the en-
engine room Of the Planters House
discovered live Goals dropping
on the paved alley just outside the
window. Going out he found the al
ley 50 densely filed with smoke that
IL was impossible to distinguish the
locality which caused it, The Goals,
however, evidently came from the
storeroom of the hotel, which is part
of frame structure extending out
across the alley of the second floor of
an abutment on the large furniture
warerooms of the auction house OF the
block of Tyler & Go. The fireman ran
into the end of the alley, where gates
enclosed il, making with the frame
structure long narrow room in which
the smoke had accumulated. He sue
ceeded in getting the gates open, thus
creating "A current which carried away
some Of the smoke, and then returned
to try TO eXtinguish the fire, He found,
however, that ii had = strong hold in
the store room and kitchen, which Is
Immediately under the boiler where he
was at work. He gave an alarm, and
in three minutes the hotel was bed
lam. Nearly 800 people filed with the
horrible recollection of the Milwaukee
holocaust were running hither and
thither through the main corridor
and down the several stairways
into the Office and street. The hotel
employees acted with good nerve and
promptness, rapping long and loud on
every door in the house, and five min
utes later. making a second trip TO in
sure that everybody was up and adj
vised of the danger. Very few waited
to dress. The smoke frsm the rear Of
/ the building where the fire was located
/ had already invaded the corridors and
/ was making It's way slowly into the
/ rooms. stopping only TO grab il few
articles of clothing, men, women and
( children fled in dismay and would not
( halt even in the commodious main Of
I flee where there was some
comfort and very little smoke.
AZ the engines, the first of which ar
rived within fifty seconds of the
/ sounding of the alarm, dashed up TO
/ the hotel, there were men in naught
| but their undcrclothes, women with
but night dress on and possibly a
shawl or CLOAK over their shoulders.
/ and little children hastily bundled
in blankets or other wraps.
few wore shoes aud IA great many
were in their bare feet The lights OF
the HcpUbHc0B and Gi9bc- DcHtOcrat
offices and Of Il gambling house, all of
which were within distance of n
block, led the half crazed people TO a
temporary refuge of warmth, whence
carriages IN few moments conveyed
them TO other hotels. Some of the
scenes incident to this hegira We're
quite thrilling. their effect, being in
tcnsilied by the rattle, clang and
shriek9 of the engines and shouts of
the trcmen. Soon the main body OF
the hotel wasreared Of guests and the
building was in possession of the fire
men who within twenty minutes, as Il
result of a second alarm, had thirteen
engines at work. Meanwhile events
in the rear of the building were of far
more ugly character. The hotel.
which is six stories in height, fronts
on the west side of Fourth street,
from Chestnut to Pine, while the
wings run back on both Chestnut and
Pine streets TO n depth of half block.
Thus the main building forms three
sides of a rectangle The fourth side
is formed by tour-story building forty
years Old, midway of which on the
ground floor is the boiler room above
referred to and kitchen on the floor
above it, The two upper floors were
occupied by the help of the house.
sGnlc seNcntN-liVe in number. Along
side the boiler room narrow stair
way rises and winds TO the roof.
and the fire, which started very close
10 the stairway, was carried up TO the
roof bN "A draft i'm tln atoirvfoN anJ