St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-22
BURNEDTODEATH
The Village of Tower, Minn.,
Visited by a Horrible
Calamity.
Seven Persons Known to Have
Perished in a Boarding.
House Fire.
Several Others Missing, and 1t
Is Feared They Have Also
PeriShed.
A Scene of Terror and Suffer-
ing Which Can Hardly Be
Realized.
The Intense Cold Adding Much
to the Horror Of the
Situation.
A Great Fish Story From
Bonaparte, Io.--North-
west News.
Special 10 the Globe.


out this morning in the Barnaby board
ing house and saloon, on the main street
OF the town, and before the inmates of
the place could be awakened the entire
structure was in sheet of flames.
Seven men are known to have been
burned to death, while as many more
are missing. The bodies taken out were
burned to a crisp and entirely unrecog-
nizable, and yet it is known that the
following lives were lost:
ROBERT WHITFORD,
". II. BARNS,
DAN O'CONNELL,
MIKE QCEMP.
The fire broke out about 2:30 a. H.,
when the whole town was asleep, es-
pecially were the inmates of the doomed
house in sound Slumber, and when the
alarm was given and fully understood,
the scene therein was indescribably ter
rife. Men fought with each other in
the narrow passageway like wild beasts,
IN their endeavOr to reach an exit first,
the consequence being that most of
those engaged in the struggle. perished.
One escaped and tells the story of the
panic. y friend and roommate of one
the b0ardcrs, who was laid up with
rheumatism, tried to get his partner out
Of doors. He got him as far as the
front door, and finding it locked, kicked
it open. turning around he could not
face the flames and was compelled to
let his companion perish, while he
himself
ONLY ESCAPED WITH HIS LIFE.
A young lady who was sick also IN
the doomed building, was rescued by
her male attendant Two other build
ings We're burned, one at each side of
the one in which the fire originated.
The losses are about as follows: Nels
Barnaby, $500; Scott x Powers, 81 500;
Joseph FOrtin, s1,1OO. The fire burned
very slowly and if there had been any
wind the whole town would have been
laid in ashes. Scarcely a pump in town
could give water and scarcely any as
sistance was offered. The fire took its
sway and was only choked by want of
material to feed on.
SEVEN BODIES WE'RE RECOVERED
from the ruins to-day. The saloon of
Scott Il Powers was the first building
ever built in Tower and was well built.
The others were mere shells. Most of
the dead were wOOdmen, but Bob Whit
ford was the original pre-emptor of the
town site of the place in 1880. Tower has
a fire department, but in The bitter cold
little could be done to save the building
or the lives of the occupants. 1t
was one of the most intensely and bit
terly cold nights ever known in this Vi
cinity, the thermometer registering Sc
deg. below zero. The fire department
and many citizens who braved the icy
air to render assistance suffered Sc
vercly from the cold.
THE CAUSE OF THE FIRE
is not definitely known, and AS the in
mates were all asleep, it was well under
way before it was discovered. Part of
the occupants of the building awakened
by the shouts and the cracking of the
flames. leaped from their beds and
rushed scantily clad into an atmosphere
that chilled and frOZe almost instantly.
They were well cared for by the citi-
Zens. The buildings were dry and
burned with the most terrible rapidity,
the flames licking up the wooden
structures in an incredible short space
of time. The scene which was beheld
by the shivering and Mortified specta-
tors was truly pitiful one, and the
screams of the escaping guests pierced
the night air, while thrift of horror
that went through the crowd, wnen it
was known how many were hemmed in
the circle of flames, to meet a horrible
death.
The scene of the ruins was terrible
one. AS the flames died away the
trunks of the dead could be seen by on
lockers, all presenting horrible sight.
These bodies were taken out as soon as
possible, and at last accounts search for
others was being prosecuted. The bod
les recovered are destroyed to such an
extent as to be unrecOgnizable.