Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-02-08
AWAKENED TO DIE
Terrible Scenes at the Hotel
 Royal Fire.
NO ONE KNOWS HOW MANY DEAD
Seven Blackened Bodies Removed
 One Identified.
THE STORY OF AN AWFUL NIGHT
Orazsd With Fear Guests Hurl Them
 selves from Windows.

De1VeS TOm W1uOOWS' Eye-wItnosses Tell of the Awful Rapidity With Which the Fire Consumed the HOuse-NIiraculOus Escapes from Death in a Most Horrible FOrm-Heroic Acts of a Fireman-He Makes a Bridge of His Body and Several People Cross 1t in Safety-NO One Knows How the Blaxe Originated - A Place Where Regis tering Under Fictitious Names Was Common-GrOtesquS Crowds Assigned to Rooms at the Gedney-Men, wom en and Children, Nearly Naked and Suffer- ing from Cold, Seek Shelter. HlNEw YORK, Feb. 8.-The destruction of the Hotel Royal by the fire yes- terday paralelled the disaster in Park place some time ago. One hundred fire men are still at work examining the debris.
 Where the hotel stood is to-day a mass of debris that lies in jagged pile not more than four feet above the pavement. That is all that is left to represent five stories of a human habitation-of hotel that housed from 300 to 400 nightly.
 Under that ragged mass lies the crushed, burned. mangled bodies of scores of men and women. When these bodies may see the light of identification is matter of conjecture.
 The number of dead can only be guessed at. There were no rooms and suites in the house, and every room was taken at o'clock yesterday morning A large majority of the rooms had two occupants. This would indicate that there were more than three hundred people in the ill-fated hotel. Less than one hundred have been accounted for. Every one known to have escaped was either injured or suffered SO much from | shock that a removal to a neighboring hotel or hospital was necessary. Story of the Fire. The fire broke out few minutes after 8. a. m. and never had fire better food. | The building was composed of several very old buildings, amalgamated into the Hotel Royal some years ago.
 The flame kindled at the front of the | elevator shaft, in the basement, at about the middle depth of the building. The janitor was at work in the base ment at the time, and he was suddenly startled by the flashing up of flames. He rushed to the street and notified tn @ policeman on the Sixth avenue corner, who sent in an alarm while the janitor rushed back into the building to arouse the sleeping guests.
 | The blaze had already shot up the elevator shaft, finding kindling as inflam- mable as finder in the framework.
 The Instrument of Death. death in scores of great fires-had drawn the flames up, and by the time the alarm was turned in the fire was breaking from the roof, the building was doomed and , its occupants in the hands of Providence. l While the elevator shaft was an ele- ment of destruction, it was also an instrument of salvation. The flames shot up this great aue with roar like that of a cyclone, and this great noise aroused many to a realization of their danger, and warned them to escape from | horrible heath. Those aroused by this great roar of the flames shouted the warning to their fellow guests.
 Then came 8 scene of terror and horror probably never eQualed in the city of New York. At almost every window on | the Fortieth street and Sixth avenue 
 figures of men and women, their faces blanched and distorted with terror, and their voices raised in heartrending chorus of supplication to God and man to save them.
 Story of an Eyewitness.
 The most intelligent description of the holocaust was given by James T. Powers, who is stopping at the Gedney House. | EtT hou hnan frvinoy fn clnnT 1' caid Mir Powers, "but l can't do it: No sooner do close my eyes than the whole thing comes back to me like 8 horrible night mare.
 My God! It was terrible! Those poor men and poor women! I can hear them shriek even now.
 "I was standing on the corner, just outside the hotel, smoking a cigar and talking to friend.
 II happened to glance through Fortieth street over to Sixth avenue, when 1 saw little bit of flame break out of the roof of the Hotel Royal.
 "Hellor' says 1, T guess the roofs on hren and I went over leisurely to see what it amounted to.
 q had gone but few yards when the whole roof seemed ablaze in an instant.
 'I ran over and looked through the office windows, anc saw one big sheet o1 flame that appeared to run from the lground floor straight up the air shaft to the roof, Illuminating every floor like a furnace.
 Piteously Crying to Be Saved.
 'TnstantIy every window seemed filled with men, women and children crying out piteously for those below to save them.
 Take us down!
 " For Gods sake, save us!'
 Don't let us burn to deathr
 ''My God! It was terrible! I can set them and hear them now. Oh, what ( terrible old fire trap it must have been.
 The few men who were on the scene acted like madmen. I suppose I mus have done so myself, butt shouted to the men on the sidewalk to keep quiet and not urge the people to jump.
 ''As soon as l got there, 1 grabbed z man and told him, for his life, to run tE