The farmers' union. (Memphis, Mo.) 1891-1895, 1892-02-18
MANY FOUND DEATH.
VICTIMS OF THE HOTEL ROYAL
FIRE NOT COUNTED.

VICTIMS OF THE HOTEL ROYAL
FIRE NOT COUNTED.
Some Figures Are l0O-Lowest Estimates
Are Thirty Beneath the Ruins-Boslies
Being Hunted-Thcrc Were $50 or l4O
Guests In the Ho.el.
Thrilling Stories Of Escapc.
fire began in the Hotel Royal, in
New York, at the northeast corner Of
Fortieth street and Sixth avenue, at 4
O'Clock the other morning, and caused
the loss of many lives. 1t swept
through the building like lightning.
The guests had no warning Of their dan
ger until awakened by the cracking of
the flames and by the suffocating smoke
They rushed to the halls and were
driven back by the fire that even then
was buring through the walls and doors
of their rooms. They ran to the win
dOws. There was but enc stationary
fire escape. Not all the rooms were
furnished with the rope escapes
that the law requires. Because Of
almost criminal slowness in sending out
the al q IN there were no firemen with
ladders to aid the frightened people when
they came to the windows. Numbers
leaped out. Five were killed instantly
outside the walls. Dozens were hurt.
There were 165 or 175 persons in the
hotel when the fire started Not all
their names are known, because thief
ST. le the register when the fire first
broke cut. But even the register would
not tell the s.ory, for many of the tram
Sent guests at the hotel were Of the kind
who register under aliases.
hn icf -
will it he for some time. The walls fell
in, and the todies Of thosa Turned arc
under the debris. 1t nay lc that the
dead will not number more than twenty.
They may number twice as many. The
list of missing teiegraphcd numbers
forty. A large proportion Of these per-
sons are lro"abiy safe, though they may
never lie publicly accounted for. With
five corpses in the morguc, eighteen per-
sons recorded as injured. forty as miss
ing or s,uircd for, and fifty-two rs
known to be safe, there are fifty persons
still Of whom nothing las been heard OF
one way or another, if there We're l65
persons i'm the house. II is probable
| that nearly all of the Sc fifty escaped.
The flames seemed to break out of the
whole roof at once and III ir glare lighted
the street like day. There were one or
two frantic persons at every window in
| the house. They held out their hanis
appealingiy. They h aned out and over
the siils, clutching at the air. Here and
there was a cool ,ne, prot ably dozen
in the lot. They knew enough to use
the rope fire-6ecapes that were in the
rOcms an1 clambered ut and slid down
them. Here and there Il man or woman
leap Il upon window sill and stood Q
moment and then sprans wildly off.
Two men dived head first from the third
floor on the fortieth street side. One fell
| fat on the pavement and was pick. d up
| with every bone in his body apparently
| broken. The other struck side wise on
his head and that was smashed and
| crushed shalelesS. Two women leap:d
from one window on the third floor on the
I'same side. They had stood n moment
claspcd in each others arms. They
| jumped Still clasped together. They
| fell apart, one dead. one unconscious on
the pavement. From the same window
ieaped two men. One shriekcd wildly
| as he cut through the air. He did not
move after he fell, and he was dragged
| away dead. His companion landed on
his feet and sank down and fell over.
| He writhed about on the pavement just
a moment. Then he lcaped to his feet
| and dashed off across Eortieth street.
| He was not seen again. Probably his
| name or his alias is in the list OF
missing.
The fate Of those who fell could be
| seen ky those who clung to their places
| in the windows, and made some of them
| hesitate to follow. Some who leaped
escaped unhurt. Some of them turned
ard shouted to the others 10 hold their
| places and not to jump. The excited
crowd in the streets shouted Jump
and Hold on" in turn.
| The ladders reached only to the third
| floor at first. One that touched the
fourth floor was put up finally, and men
and women were carried down that.
But there was no help for the unfortun-
ates on the fifth floor. Little could be
| seen of them from the street.
| The smoke that came from the lower
floor seemed TO rise to the top and hang
there like great cloud. Gee sionally
gust of wind would clear it away for
a moment, and forms could be seen
hanging from the windows. The people
there screamed to the firemen, but their
cries were not heard. In the excitement
on the other floors every one seemed to
forget that there was a floor not reached
by the ladders. Orcc, when the smoke
| cleared away. a woman was seen to dive
headforemost out of a window on the top
floor. Her companion, Il man seized her
skirts. They held a moment, and then
slipped from her. She fell ON the
balcony. Tie man climbed out Of the
window, hung from the sill, and then
dropped. 4 rope escape was hanging
from the window under him, and he man.
aged TO seize that and checked the force
of his fall. He landed on the balcony
beside the woman's body. Picking hcl
up, he climbed on the ladder and was
coming down with it. A policeman took
the body from him. He leaped then
himself from the ladder and dashed
across the street. He was W. L. Har-
mon. He was nearly suffocatcd, Tut was
otherwise unhurt. This couple were thu
last that got out Of the building. There
were no more faces at I'll, wiaGows. In
deed, it was not possible that any one
could be in the building ant. be alive
The whole house was mass of flames
The building was a fre-trap, Chic
Bonner sa'd. The lightning rap:d.t,
with which the flames ate up the inte
rior, and the readiness with which tn,
walls fell Gown go to prove the state
ment. The New York Building Burea,
was stricken dumb by the disaster.
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Masculini.icx.
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