Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1892-02-11
Men and Women Clad Only in Night Robes
Shrieked FranticaHy
TO BE SAVED FROM TORTURE,
But the Walls FAN, and the Seething,
Cracking, whitening Flames Shot
Out Their Tongues of Fire in
Glee-Hotel Royal Fire
An Appalling Disaster.

l We'll Known LANDMARK, WHICH mas STOOD IOl
more than a quarter of century At the
| Fortieth street, was burned to the ground
and large number of people were burned,
| suffocated and crushed in the ruins. At the
| time of the disaster there were nearly one
hundred and fifty guests In the hotel. The
| hotel employees, IN toto, number ffty-hve.
| OF this nun Der of people FIVE have thus far
been found dead, six are in the hospital and
sixty-three have been reported alive.
ONE HUNDRED ARE STILL MISSING.
The number dead will probably exceed
thirty.
The scenes were heartrending, and ap-
| palled even the fremen and policemen used
| to terrible scenes.
| Soon after the fire broke out ambulances
| arrived from the various hospitals. Many
| physicians, whose residences were in the
| nelghborhood, were quickly on the scene
| and did all they could to relieve the in
| iured.
Nearly every one of the 1874 rooms, which
| the hotel has on Its five floors. was occupied
by guests; many of them were transient.
| In fact all the rooms save four had been
| taken at l o'clock this morning, when
Richard Mears, the proprietor, went to
| bed.
The flames burst forth from some IN
| known origin near the elevator shaft about
8 o'clock and the entire building was in
Stantly enVeloped IN HameS-
The dead, missing and injured reported
are as follows:
Unknown woman, forty years old, tract
ured skull, slightly burned, supposed to
have jumped from window and killed her
self
Unknown woman about twenty-eight,
good looking, light complexion, wore an
abundance of jewelry, burned and suffo-
Gated
Unknown man about thirty-ti years old,
dark brown hair, jumped from window,
head smashed in pieces. The man had a
smooth face, was about five feet nine inches
in height, weighed about $50 pounds, wore
linen night-shirt and trousers.
Unknown man, good looking, about
forty-three years DID, had on striped silk
undershirt, light brown stripes, evidently
Hebrew
Henry c. Levy, of the firm of Levy,
Strauss & Freeman, 707 Broadway, whole
sale clothiers. Identified by his brother.
INJURED.
Clarence W. Klein, thirty-nine years old,
single, q lawyer at Hazelton, Pa. Suffo-
aated and burned. Injuries not fatal.
Taken TO Bellevue hospital.
Walter L. Yates, sixty years old, a
clothier of Philadelphia. condition serious,
burns and Commissions. Bellevue hospital.
Mrs. Isabelle Mears, wife of the pro-
prietor, injuries not serious viii recover.
Bellevue hospital
Herbert Harding, engineer of the hotel,
fatally burned in trying to rescue a woman
Several ribs were broken. Taken to the
hospital
MISSING.
William e. Armstrong, Thomas E. Ken
nedy, Charles E. Close.
RESCUED.
W. G. Buchanan, C. s. Sonby, Rupert
Lamont, G. Kramer, E. B. Reynolds and
wife, c. Cockbarn, e. C. Allen, go. Zepler,
c. White, G. Harding, w. H. Scott and
wife, Langden Smith, G. S. MCGEE, James
e. Corey, Mrs. j. Titus, Mrs. S. Knapp,
Chicago. All these escaped from the burn
ing building and were taken to the Gedney
house.
P. Taylor, H P. Tompkins, W. C.
'Pearce were rescued and taken to the
Hotel Metropole.
MRS. MEARs DISCOVERED IT.
At o'clock Isabelle Mears, wife of Mr..
Richard Mears, the proprietor of the hotel,
awakened her husband, telling him the
house was on fire Mears sprang out of
his coat and again ran into the hallway. He
fought his way straight to the street
When Mears reached safety in the street
he realized that his wife was not with him.
At that moment the hook and ladder arrived.
y ladder was quickly placed in position. The
In 1t was an unknown woman, who quickly
stepped out on the ladder and was carried
down in safety. Then the ladder was
placed against the window OF Mrs. Mear's
room She was very nervous, and in max
ing the descent slipped and fell to tho side
walk She was picked up with a sprained
ankle and had several body bruises.
The scenes at the fire before the
fire companies arrived were heartrending.
One man whose name is not known sprang
from the third story window and was
dashed to death on the ground below on
the Sixth avenue side OF the building.
A moment later another man leaped from
the window on the F'ortieth street side and
was instantly killed. Shortly afterward two
women jumped from windows on the Sixth
avenue side and were dead when picked up.
The bodies unidentified were removed to
the morCue. Several others drepped from
the windows or slid down the 'ropes, with |
which every room in the hotel was pro-
vided and escaped with severe burns,
while many more were injured in the same |
way in making their escape by the fire |
escape
ali this time the fire was raging fercely.
The structure burned like kindling. The |
work OF rescuing the guests went on and |
many were taken from the windows by the |
fremen and policemen.
Walter H Phelps and wife got down |
ladder safely.
Mrs. Samuel Knlh also.
Frederick Uhlmann, d dealer in hops, es-
capped with only an overcoat to cover his 1
nakedness. Uhlmann lost everything in |
his room, including $500 in cash. several |
checks, notes and other valuable business /
documents.
Mrs. s. Knight, West Fortieth street, |
made temporary hospital of her fat and |
had no less than nine homeless people there
al one time. Among those who accepted |
her hospitality was young man named |
Levy, who slid down a rope, tearing the |
flesh to the bone These escapes occurred |
before the walls Of the building fell When |
the walls fell people were seen at several /
windows on the top floor
CRYING FOR HELP,
RNtaf fell back and were soon burned in the
News Of the disaster spread through the
length and breadth Of the city, and the
friends OF those who lived in the hotel
hurried TO the spot in fear and trembling.
After the IRE was sufficiently cooled to
permit Of partial examination of the ruins