Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-12-06
A FAMOUS HOTEL BURNED.
Destruction of the Monongahela House
at Pittsburg.

Probably no lives were lost in the burning
of the Monongahela house at Pittsburg yester-
day.
There were upward OF 200 guests in the
house, more than half Of whom were in their
rooms when the cries were made. A number
of people were just preparing for dinner and
some were not completely dressed Hastily
DOMINIC whatever lay close at hand in the way
of wearing apparel every one got out in safety.
Those unable to walk were carried out by the
firemen and employees of the hotel Among
the latter were several ladies who were sick or
were overcome by fright The chambermaids
and other employees were forced to take to the
fire escape.
Among the firms having Offices in the build
ing were the ii. h. Porter locomotive company.
Atlantic dynamite company, &. +. kirkendau
Il Co., druggists, and Charles A. Wolf Co.,
cigar dealers. Their stocks and goods were
badly damaged by water. The dynamite com
pany had lot of cartridges stored in the office,
but they were all removed safely.
The hotel was erected after the great fire OF
1854 TO replace the one destroyed at that time.
1t was owned by Florence s. Miller. Charles j.
Clark. and the Crosson heirs They valued the
building and lot at S5OO,OOO. Ii was recently
refitted at a cost of $4,000 The insurance 10
Sl97. 500. of which Sl60. 600 is on the building
and S37 500 on the stock. The fire originated
in the cellar. The battery or boilers is directly
under the freight elevators, and the rubbish
underneath it caught fire from the boilers, and
the blaze went directly up the elevator shaft to
the seventh floor. The only accidents reported
were the injury of two firemen, W. II. Dlebold
and George Lank, who were hit by falling de-
bris.
For years past the Monongahela house has
been the prominent hotel of Pittsburg. Many
of the nations prominent men and guests were
there entertained. Gen. Lafayette when he
visited the country was banqueted at the Mo-
nongahela. Gen. Grant, Abraham Lincoln and
many of the celebrities of the half century past
were guests of this celebrated hosiery. twill
be rebuilt at once.
Among the remarkable escapes were those OF
ID. G. Mason of New York, n. Underwood Of
Milwaukee and W. s. Hughes of Philadelphia
Mason was asleep and when awakened 1T was
turned to his room and making a rope of the
bedclothes he let himself down from the fourth
floor to the roof Of an adjoining building, from
which he was taken down IN safety on a ladder.
n. Underwood of Milwaukee was the last man
to get out of the hotel He threw out a fire
escape and slid down and escaped with slight
bruises. w. s. Hughes, who was formerly clerk
at the Continental hotel Philadelphia, now
travelling for the Marcaux wine company, dis
tingushed himself by bursting open over one
hundred doors and giving the alarm TO the 90
cupants of the house. lie was among the first
to discover the fire. David Kaiser of the firm
of Lewis Kaiser Luthey, New York, hastily
packed up 100000 worth of diamonds and
made his escape just in time. j. i. Carneghan,
a well-known New York mining man, jumped
a distance of 20 feet from his room window to
the roof of an adjoining building and thus es-
capped. He was hemmed In by the flames.