Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-02-18
Over Fifty People Buried in the Ruins.
A Bursting Boiler Probably The Cause,
STANLEY AGAIN REPORTED DEAD
The Talk of the Day in London.
BURIED IN BURNING RUINS.
A Hartford Hotel Wrecked by Expio-
sion. killing md Iniurino MANY


and Allen streets, fell down this morning a few
moments before o'clock, burying in the de-
brls at least fifty people. The cause of the ac-
| cldent is not at present known, but it is sup
posed to have resulted from the explosion
Of the boilers in tine basement. and from the
havoc created in adjoining buildings the ex-
pioslon theory seems the most probable.
Every window in the Earl house. across Allen
tieet was broken. and the walls were smashed
| IN many places The noise of the fall aroused
the whole city. and in "A very few minutes a
large crowd surrounded the scene. 1t was
sight of horror. and one that will never be for
gotten by the spectators. Flames completely
enyeloped the ruins and the
sHRIEKs OF THE WOUNDED AND DYING
rose high above the hoarse notes of the fire.
men and police who had been summoned by an
alarm from the fire department The following
is partial list of those who occupied rooms i'm
the hotel and who are believed to be i'm the
| ruins: Louis ii. Bronson and wife, of Hartford;
VI. Galody, editor of the German Herald this
city: Andrew L. Whiting and wife, this city;
Dwight II. Buell., jeweler this city: Wellington
hetchum. proprietor of the hotel and his wife
and son. Eddie; George Engler. drug clerk. of
Hartford; George ). hetchum. brother of the
proprietor of the hotel; Rev. DIR. Perrin and
wife, secretary of the Congregational Tract
society; W. HllOtson, commercial traveller; Mr.
| Stlffles. safe agent.
Nothing had been seen or heard of anv of
| the above. and they are all believed 10 be
| buried in the ruins. Nearly all the help en-
| ployed in the hotel were saved. They occupied
| the sleeping apartments in the annex which
was only partially wrecked by the explosion.
Some forced their way ont themselves; others
were helped out. The entire main section of
| the hotel is gone, only pile of brick and tim
bers remaining.
THE SCENES ABOUT THE RUINS
were horrible. In the center of the spot where
the building stood were man. his wife and
little girl. No help could get TO Them and they
| finally fell back in the flames and perished in
plain sight of the spectators. The child cried
! for help, but the man and woman uttered no
word, but embraced in each Others arms they
met death brayely
The shrieks of another woman caused the
| blood OF the spectators TO turn cold. She was
| lying with her body half across a beam with
look OF agony on her face. Finally the support
fell and she dropped out of sight.
VIM. Seymour and Wm. Skinner were en-
| ployed IN the boiler room. Neither could be
| found this morning, and they probably per-
| ished.
PANIC IN ANOTHER HOTEL.
The shock of the explosion blew out every
| window in the south side of the Earl house,
just north of the Park Central hotel Women
with their faces blanched in terror and strong
| men pale with fright rushed headlong into the
street in their night clothes
Chas. NJ. Webster, insurance agent of this
city, is missing. Mr.. Pond. of Indiana the
democratic speaker. was a guest at the hotel
and Is supposed TO be among the killed. Amos
Rlsley and Alexander Thayer were in charge
| of the boiler. 1t was reported first that they
were both killed, but there are parties who say
| they have seen both men since the disaster
The Park Central hotel was a fiye-story
| structure about 80 feet front and 100 feet deep
The first to arrive on the scene after the explo-
sion found the building a heap of ruins from
which issued smoke and steam in dense clouds
and the spectators were appalled, by the shrieks
| and groans of many human beings who were
imprisoned in the mass of timber and masonry
from which flames were already bursting A
general alarm summoned the entire fire depart
ment, and an immense crowd, attracted by the
explosion and fire alarm. soon packed the
streets. The flames prevented any attempt at
resculng any one. and the ruins were flooded
with water before any work could be prose-
cuted. few dead or dying persons were
taken from the edge of the debris however
within an hour of the explosion.
THE FORCE OF THE EXPLOSION
threw bed with sleeping woman upon it far
into the street, while one of the heavy doors
landed block away. BY a. IN. the flames
were so far suodued that the rescuers were en-
abled to get at some of the victims Some
were pinned beneath heavy timbers upon which
of rescue extremely hazardous. A report that
members of the ''Hoodmau Blind" theatrical
company were in the ruined hotel was found
to be incorrect. Mr.. f. p. Monroe, the busi-
ness manager, says some of the company ap-
piled to the hotel last night for accomrioda-
tions, but could not get them and went to an
other hotel. The fact that they were refused
accommodation does not indicate that the
hotel was crowded, but simply that they,
desiring rooms for 3 or 50 could not be fur
nished on account of previous engagements of
apartments by legislators.
DEAD BODIES TAKEN OUT.
The dead body of Dwight Buell., jeweler, was
taken out about 10 o'clock. The bodies of Louis
II. Bronson, stove-dealer, wife and child were
discovered at about the same time. Harry s.
Stiffie, commercial traveller, of Philadelphia,
who roomed on the third foor was taken out
severely bruised, but remarked that he was
''all right" The house had accommodations
for about 100 guests and was favorite over
Sunday stopping place for commercial travel
ers. An intending guest who applied for a
room late Saturday evening was informed that
they were full, so 1t seems probable that at
least
EIGHTY PERSONS WERE IN THE HOUSE
at the time of the explosion, of which perhaps
twenty escaped. These were mostly employees
who occupied wing of the hotel which has
not yet fallen. Among those known to be bur-
led in the ruins are the Rev. Dr. l.. Perrin and
wife, of New Britain; Andrew +. Within, sec
retary of the Hartford life insurance company.
and wife; Wellington Ketchum, proprietor of
the hotel, wife and son.
About six persons have been sent to the hos
pital Owing TO the destruction of the register
of the hotel the names of many guests cannot
be ascertained.
CAUSE OF THE CATASTROPHE.
The catastrophe is generally supposed to
have been caused by an explosion of the boiler,
although some doubt has been expressed on
this point, as the building had been supposed
to be unsafe. 1t was built on made" ground
The railroads have furnished their forces of
iaborers with jacks, &C., and the work of
searching for bodies is now going forward sys-
tematicaiiy.
THE MILITIA CALLED TO TIE RESCUE.
At 10 a. m. the military call was sounded on
the fire-bell, calling out the military companies
to assist IN preserving order and assist in the
work of rescue.
A PROMINENT INDIANA MAN IN THE RUINS.
Mr.. Pendleton, of Indiana, who was solicit
ing subscriptions to complete a monument to
Thomas A. Hendricks, is among the missing.
Mr.. James, an agent Of the White Star line,
was taken out at noon alive, and not seeming
to be very badly injured, although not able to
stand. He said that Landlord Ketchum and
wife were uuder vhere he laid and vwere still