The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1892-02-11

notes and other valuable bushes:
documents.
Mrs. 5. Knight, West Forfeit
street, made temporary hospital d"
her fiat and had no lesg than nine
( homeless people there at one time
Among those who accepted her bospi
tality was young man named Levy
who slid Down a rope, tearing the
flesh to the bone. These escapes oc
cured before the walls of the building
fell. When the walls fell people were
= seen at several windows OH the tOl
floor crying for help, but fell back anC
were soon burned. The news OF tht
disaster spread through the length
and breadth of the city and friends o
. those who LIVED in the hotel hurriet
to the spot in fear and trembling.
After the fire had sufficiently cooled
to permit partial examination of the
ruins a search was made for the dead
The search was at once rewarded by
|. finding charred body almost burned
to crisp. 1T was unrecognizab bic, but
identified as that of Henry J. Levy
from ring on one of the fingers. The
walls are in a dangerous condition,
and it was deemed necessary to pull
them down before continuing the
search for the dead. A force M 100
men will be put to work early tomor-
row morning clearing away the debris.
The loss on the hotel and furniture is
estimated at $250,000. The building
was owned by Herman Israel, furBi-
ture dealer on the BOwery.
Richard Mears, landlord and prin-
! pinal nrOnpintnr of tho hOtAl N'aa in
the office during the latter part of
Saturday evening. He went to the
! clerks desk about 1890 o'clock and
ascertained that all but four Of the
40 rooms and suites in the house had
been taken. He estimated that there
were about $50 to 140 people in the
house all Iold at that hour. He learn
ed Later that the other four rooms
were taken before a. m. Mears said
the spectacle twenty minutes af-
ter he reached the street was
beyond his powers of portrayal.
Men and women at the upper win
dows, clad only in their night clothes
shrieked and gesticulated frantically
and were only prevented from jump
ing by the fremen who shouted en-
cou fagement to them. But the flames
waxed fierceI. Presently a human
form plunged from the fourth story
and struck the pavement head-fore-
most with sickening crash, while
blood and brains splashed upon the
clothing Of the bystanders. Another
and another shot down until three
unrecognizable bodies lay bleeding
and motionless. Mears says he could
stand no more and got away from the
horrible spot as quick as possible.
Not all the persons who engaged
rooms at the hotel last night regis
tered, nor did all who registered put
down their true names, for reasons
best known to themselves. A few of
the names are:
f Y Leonard and Mrs Leonard,
Philadelphia; II d LOutin, city; E f
LOantake, RupertOut; w Trafford and |
wife, New Rocnelle, f A Clark and
wife, Boston; G. Price and wife,
city; l. G and Mrs Taylor,
Newark, N j; + Lester and wife, Bos-
ton; e Smith and wife, Springfield,
Mass; John Parkerson and wife, Great.
neck, L I; Mr. Mckee and wife, New
Haven; G M White and wife, Nyack;
N Y; Fl o Warren and wife, city;
Thos Gould and wife, city; Mr. White
and wife, Chicago; Mr. Falkensi, wife
and daughter, Conn.
Those known to be dead whose bod
les were recovered were not all iden.
tilted, in fact, only one was identified
with any degree of positiveness. This
was II. c. Levy Of the firm of Levy,
Strauss 81 Freeman, clothiers, Broad
way. The bodies of the other four are
Of two men and two women, it is
feared the search of the vast smoking
pile of debris in the cellar of the hotel
will reveal many CHASTITY finds. 1t
was reported at q late hour that no
less than 100 people are still unac,
counted for.
The origin of the fire is unknown.
II started in the basement near the
elevator shaft, which is located in the
middle of the building. The flames
were seen pouring out of the cupOla of
tho roof, directly over the elevator
shaft, by the engineer on q Sixth
avenue elevated railroad train, who
stopped his train directly in front OF
the hotel and blew his whistle long
and continuously. The sound awOke
many Of the sleeping people in the
hotel, and brought the policemen 10
The scene, who at once sent out fire
alarm from q near by signal box.
the employees of the hotel
IN night duty sought to arouse the
guests by cries "FireW So rapidly,
however, did the flames increase it
seemed an age before the firemen
although the fire apparatus
'attled up to the scene within few
after the alarm was sent in.
The desperate character Of the fire be-
came at once apparent to the fire
chief in charge, who promptly rung in
,hree more alarms in quick success
sion. After the fire was under
control, but before the search for the
possible victims begun it was neces.
sary for the firemen to throw down
the walls yet standing. These were
so weak close approach to them was
a matter Of grave danger. This work
was at once begun and after its com.
pletion the search for the dead bodies
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Lowest price in any quantity. For
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