Omaha daily bee., 1883-01-15
The Newhall Holocaust.
Special Dispatch TO THB BEE.

MILWAUKEE, January 15.-The call
N volunteers at the exhumation If
bodies in the Newhall house ruins to.
day, turned out to be a fzzle, only
two citizens responding. The regular
paid force is hard at work, despite a
cutting northwesterly wind and ex.
tremely cold weather. Two bodies,
charred beyond recognition, were
taken out to-day, making Is bodies in
addition to the % identified, or Al In
all known to be dead. Mrs. Bridget
Bridgmans, the oldest employe tf the
hotel, is reported missing to day,
making AZ bodies yet supposed
to be in the ruins. She is known to
have started out on the morning If
the fire %arousing the servants and has
not been heard Of sinos. She was
feom this city. Five bodies were
buried to-day, among them T. B.
Elliott, prominent lawyer, who
came to the hotel on the $3.50 train
the morning of the fire. Half an
hour later he jumped from the fourth
story window, broke both legs, In
jured his spine and died Friday. He
was a prominent Mason and state re-
preventative of the grand lodge. TIE
funeral ceremonies were imposing.
The mayor received Jay Gould's
check for $500 for relief Of the suffer-
era, and the Western Union telegraph
company's check for 500. Local
charity responded literally 80 that the
action of the three members of the
council stands isolated.
To-day excavations from the Broad.
way front will reach the court In the
rear of the eff 20 and will be started
near the west wall under the servants
quarters, where most of the bod.
les are supposed to be. A vacant
store has been fitted as q temporary
morgue for the charred remains. To.
day the Lincoln guard of militia was
called out for duty at the ruins to
ward off crowds of people, but only q
few of the latter congregated at the
scene, extremely cold weather pre-
waiting. ~E1gs wore funeral 'sG-Tiess
at all prominent churches to-day be-
fore crowded audiences.
The servants quarters In the New
hall were on the fifth floor and ranged
along the alley side CT the building
from a point about twenty feet north
of Michigan street, to a point about
twenty feet on the north end Of the
building. The rooms were built along
the hall which ran north and south
and at each end was totally separated
from the guests apartments by heavy
doors. The girls themselves say that
the first they knew of the fire was
when Linehap, the engineer, ran up
and yelled to them to wake up and
run out and follow him and not
wait to dress, He says the hall
was swarmsd fall If maids and he
thought they were coming, consequent.
ly made his way down, only to find
that but d was behind him. 1t ap-
pears that the rushing air the moment
Linohan and one girl got through the
spreading doors closed them with a
bang and that they never opened
again. This also prevented the heat
and smoke from entering their head
quarters; so those who did not escape
met death with a i'll realization Of
what was upon them and were not half
dead from sutfJcation.
Mary Nc Cauley, who lies at tie
Axtell house In a bad condi.
ton, and was carried out in q faint by
Fireman Strauss, says she "was
awakened by shouts and screams of
others and ran into the hall. 1t was
full of girls rushing madly up and
down, crying and screaming. /
rushed to the end Of the hall, peered
through the door and saw every
thing was smoke ard fire out
side. 1 then ran back, and
passirg q room where seven girls had
taken refuge joined them and we all
knelt down in prayer. One of the
girls had a crucifx, and a fat woman
prayed out loud. Just az we had
given up all hope the window crashed
In our room and I tainted. 1t so
happened the iremen with the ladder
had found the room, out of thirty
Others, and We with few others were
saved. l knew nothing after fainting
till / woke up here"