St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-02-08


discovered the flames, they had now
spread till the stairways were a
roaring, seething mass. Stopping
not to count the cost. Mr.. Mears
wrapped his coat closely about him,
swung over the biistering balustrade,
and dropped to the floor below. whence
he CROPPED his way to the Office floor and
out upon the street. Then in his half
daZed condition he realized that his
wife was still in the room and rushed
fraltIcally up and down the street. No
one was in sight. Overhead the flames
were leaping from the elevator cupola
In great sheets. Then hook and ladder
truck dashed up. Engine bells changed
and
Score Of Steel-ShOd EfOofs
sent reverberating echoes through the
deserted streets. OF a sudden the air
was filled with shouts of distress. The
inmates of the great hosiery had awak-
ened to sense of their danger Heads
appeared at every windew, quickly fol-
lowed by putfs of smoke and tongues of
flames. Among the babel of voices Mr..
Near detected familiar cry. He ap-
pealed to the foreman of the ladder
truck, and in an instant the tip of
a thlrty-foot ladder rested upon win
dow ledge. Pushing aside the firemen
the landlord scaled the ladder himself.
lie found he HAD mistaken the window,
but he saved life. for he took down a
half-SenSeless. white-robed figure, and
then turned the ladder twice over till it
stood beneath his wife's window This
time slender young man. stranger,
was too quick for him, beating him to
the window by half the length of the
ladder, and Mr.. Mears had barely
reached the Gaping of the front en-
trance when the self-constltuted life
saver had his wife in his arms and was
making his way painfully to the ground.
Half way down either the young man
missed his footing or his strength gave
out, for he dropped his burden, which
fell to the pavement and lay motionless
while firemen
Lifted the Unconscious Form
and bore it across the street. Half
crazed, the husband says he does not
know whether he fell or whether he
clambered down the ladder. But he
started to find his wife. when big po-
liceman with heavy black beard, whose
| name he says he would give consider
able sum to ascertain, stopped him and
demanded to know his business. Pm
the proprietor of the hotel" he replied,
''and | am looking for my .Wife." At
this. he says the officer shouted to fell
low policeman, saying: "Here's the
owner of that building; don't you think
hQ, no n;
instead Of his wife?" AT this they
laug he'd, and, despite his urgent entreat-
les. he was not permitted to follow Mrs.
Mears. and it was not till an
hour and fifty minutes later that he
learned her fate. Then, through the
kindness of Capt. Reilly, of the Thr-
teeth street station, he ascertained that
she had been removed to Bellevue hos
pital. MIR. Mears said the spectacle for
twenty minutes after he reached the
street was beyond his powers of por-
trayai. Men and women at the upper
windows. clad only in robes de mutt,
shrieked and gestlculated frantlcally,
and were only prevented from Jumping
by the fir emen, who shouted encourage
ment to them. But the flames waXed
II
plunged from the fourth-story and
struck the pavement. head foremost,
with a Stckening Crash.
while blood and brains splashed upon
the clothing of the by-standers. An
other and another shot downward until
three unacceptable bodies lay bleed
ing and motionless. Mr.. Mears said he
/ could stand no more, and got away from
/ the horrible spot as quickly as possible.
/ He was not badly injured. aside from a
severity burn on the back of his right
hand; but the hair was burned from the
back of his head, showing his close
proximity to the flames. Mrs Mears'
Injuries, though painful. were not
thought to be critical. The origin of
I the fire is unknown. 1t started in the
basement near the elevator shaft, which
was located in the middle of the
building. The flames were seen
first pouring out of the Gu
pola on the roof, directly over
the elevator shaft, by an engineer on a
Sixth avenue elevated railroad train,
who stopped his train directly in front
of the hotel and blew the locomotives
| whistle loud and continuously This
unusual sound awoke many of the
sleeping people in the hotel and brought
policemen to the scene, who at once
sent out fire al arm from nearby sig.
nal box. Meanwhile the employees of
the hotel on night duty sought to arouse
the guests by their cries of ''fire." So
rapidly, however, did the flames in
crease that it seemed an age before the
firemen arrived. although the first ap-
paratus ratified up to the scene within a
few minutes after the alarm was sent
in. The desperate character of the fire
became at once apparent to the fire
chief in charge, who promptly rang
Three More Alarms
in quick succession. When the flames
were finally gotten under control there
was general inquiry as to who had
taken lodgings at the hotel and who
had gotten out in safety. Neither the
propretorS nor alta ches could give the
names of but few of their personal ac-
quaintances. Then call was naturally
made for the hotel register. 1t could
not be found, although it was not ap-
parent that it had been DESTROYED.
search was Instituted, and an enter
prising newspaper man was found MAX |
ing off with it, thinking thereby, doubt
aess, to secure "beat' on his contem-
,poraries by printing the exclusive list
of names. But he was despoiled of his |
prize and may have to answer |
to q charge of larceny in |
the bargain. Throughout the day |
the streets near the ruins where |
had been the Hotel Royal were crowded |
with people, who stood for hours at a |
time, apparently unmindful of snow or |
mud. They surged past the fire lines
time after time, and retired only after
the most vigorous exertions on the part |
of the police. The pressure was greatly
relieved by the fact that thousands of |
L.,