The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-02-08
The bodies of
All Are at the Morgue.

Are at btiO 4tkOEs5ue.
The six injured include Walter L.
Yrtes, so years old, elothier, of Philadel-
nbia condition serious, and Herbert
Harding. engineer of Hotel Royal, fatal
ly burned trying to rescue a.s woman. All
are at tbe hospitel. The missing so far
| as known, are:
WILLIAM E. ARMsIhoNu.
THOMAS KENNEDY.
CHARLES CLOSE.
Richard Meares, proprietor of the ho-
tel saws that at 3.05 a. M his wife awak-
ened him telling him the house was on
fire She heard the cracking of flames
and saw smoke coming through the GREY
ices Of their bed room door. Mr.. Meares
retired AT one o'clock and was aroused
with difficulty. He sprang out of bed
and ran into the hallway. Volumes of
smoke filed the halls and the flames
were making their way rapidly up the
elevator shaft. Their apartments were
on the third floor, forty feet from the
stairway. Mr. Meares ran back to his
room and shouted to his wife: Nov
follow met He snatched lup his coat
and again ran into the hallway. He
fought his way to the staircase, suppos-
ing his wife was close hehlnd him. The
passageway was filed with dense
Smoke which Almost Strangled Him,
but throwing his coat
over his head, he groped his way to the ban
nisters, on which he placed his left hand.
The flames shooting up from below, his
hand on the railing was burned and his
hair was singed. To run down stairs for
two flights meant death. Swinging him
self over the rail, Mr.. Meares dropped 20
feet to the ground floor, landing on his
feet without injury and made his way to
the street. MI Meares was among the
first to leave the building. This was be-
fore the first fire engine had arrived
In few minutes, lire was shooting
from all the windows Of the upper floors.
Mr. Meares soon realized that he had not
been followed out by his wife. At that
moment a hook and ladder company ar
rived and Mr.. Meares implored the men
to save his WIFE As ladder was finally
placed in position at a window he said
was in his wife's room. This proved not
to be Mrs Meares's room. but an un-
known woman stepped out,upon the lad
der and was carried down in safety. Then
the ladder was placed against the window
of Mrs. Mearess room. Mrs. Meares ap-
peared at the window. She was very
nervous and in making the descent, she
Fell to the Sidewalk
and was injured. One man jumped from
third story window on the Sixth Ave
nue. side and was killed. A moment
later, another man leaped from window
on the 10th street side and was instantly
killed. Shortly afterwards two women
II 4l,oy ON, Tho Siyt1
Avenue side.
Sergeant Ward and patrolman Phillips
went into room on the fourth floor front
and rescued Walter FL. Phelps and his
wife. They also saved Mrs. Samuel
Knaff, who was about to leap from Win
dow. Frederick Uhlman dealer in hops,
who had been a guest at Hotel Royal for
years, had a room on the second
floor. He ESCAPED down stairs
to the street with difficulty,
only an overcoat to cover his nakedness.
Mi. Uhlmann lost everything in his
room, including 1000 in cash, several
checks, notes and other valuable bust
ness documents, His mother and broth
er, who lived with him at the hotel, left
town Saturday.
Fl, c.. Thompkins, of this city, escaped
down a rope. Flames from the second
floor burned his hands slightly and
scorched his hair.
Mrs. F. Knapp of Chicago had room
on the fifth floor. She wrapped a wet
towel around her head
To Prevent Being Snffocated.
and went to window and waited until
rescued by policeman.
Mrs. Kueper and daughter, of Flem-
mington, N. j., occupied a room on the
third floor. They were taken down
ladder by a fireman. They lost all their
clothing save the night dresses they had
on. Mrs. Kueper suffered from the
shock and Miss Kueper's long black hair
was singed by the flames which burst
over her head as she stepped on the ladder.
One of the most thrilling escapes was
that of j. Noonan of Jersey City. MI.
Noonan just returned from. his wedding
trip and had come to this city to celebrate
his marriage with some friends. After
a night of it, he was taken to the hotel
and put to bed by his companions on the
fourth floor. When Noonan was awak-
ened he looked out of the window No
ladder was near him so he, with the con
fidence of an athlete, swung himself from
the window sill to the window below and
from one window to another he descend
ed until he reached the ground.
A young man named Levy slid down a
rope,
Tearing the Flesh to the Bone.
When the walls of the hotel fell, people
at several windows on the top floor were
crying for help and fell back and were
buried in the ruins. News of the disas-
ter spread throughout the city and anxi-
Gus friends of those who lived in the
hotel hurried to the spot.
Hotel Royal was built more than 25
years ago. Mr. Meares leased it IS years
ago The house was the home of many
people in the theatrical profession, and
was patronized chiefly by transients for
a night. Many families, however, made
it their permanent residence. The res
taurant was liberally patronized by peo-
pie who kept late hours. About 10
months ago, Mr. Meares took Charles
Phelps into business with him. Hinman
Israel. furniture dealer here, owned
the building, which was valued from
S150,ooO to 100000, and was we'll in
sured. Mr.. Meares says his own loss
is $4,000 to $50, 600; fully insured A
large force will be put to work in the
morning clearing away the debris. When