Los Angeles herald., 1892-02-08
ORIGIN OF THE FIRE.
A MIRACULOUS ESCAPE. .

The guest who probably had the most
narrow, and at the same time the most
miraculous, escape was M. L. Harman,
travelling salesman for st. Louis
wholesale grocery house. He registered
at the hotel Saturday night with his
wife. 81 had a room on the sixth floor"
said Harman, 'and was aroused from
sleep by loud cracking noise and the
sound Of a whistle, which think was
from one of the engines on the elevated
road. Iopened my door, and found the
stairway leading to the lower floors in
blaze. then went to window and
opened it, and there seemed to be as
much smoke on the outside as in the
hallway, for the room was soon filed.
Both my wife and would have been
suffocated in the room had we not taken
two towels which were soaked with
water. These we used to. keep the
them over our mouths and nostrils. /
tried to find a fresascape near the win
| dow, but there was none, and thought
at one time we should never get out of
the room alive. 1t was certain death to
jump six stories, and it was
that or burn to death. 1 said
to my wife, Matte, am 60
ing to shoot you and kill myself.
I concluded it would be better to die
that way than be burned to death, and
as always sleep with revolver under
my pillow, hurried to the bed to get it.
By this time the flames were coming up
through the cracks in the floor and
through the cracks of the door. Just as
l was about to shoot my wife, the floor
fell with crash, and we went down
probably two stories. The flooring
stepped opposite window, and my wife
jumped out and landed on portico be-
meath. A rope was hanging out of this
window, and with this assistance man
aged to get down another story, but
there / slipped and fell to the portico,
beside my wife. picked her up, but
was unable to carry her, and was almost
suffocated, and the fall had injured me.
I was endeavoring to reach a ladder,
when two fremen took her from me.
How reached the street I do not
know"
Harman is confined to bed at the
Gedney house; his hands and chest are
severely burned, and his hair and eye
brows are singed. He was told today
that his wife was being cared for at one
of the hospitals, and that she is not ia
tally injured. 1t is believed, however,
she is one Of the dead.
THE PARACHUTE ACT.
There was not even rope fire escape
in the room on the second floor which
Felix Kraemer, salesman for Steinway
q Sons OF New York, occupied, and had
it not been for Kraemer's experience at
hotel fires, and an umbrella, he would
probably be numbered among the vic
tins. ''Had not had strong UNI
brella, should either have been burned
or killed by jumping" said Mr.. Krae-
mer. II have been burned out at ho-
tells three times now. Alta fire at War
rensburg, Mo-, guest escaped by using
an open umbrella to ease his flight from
an upper story window. l never forgot
it, and since have always been provided
with strong umbrella for an emergency.
As soon as reached window opened
my strong umbrella quickly, and put a
shawl strap over it 20 as to prevent it
from turning inside out. Then | made
leap. did not go sailing gracefully
out into the air and land lightly on the
ground beneath, but | landed without
any broken limbs and am ali right now.
The umbrella partially turned inside
OuU Juob UCiulO SOo w 1iO Siouht, CIV
/ got something OF jar; but ! should
think myself lucky if 1 had escaped
with broken leg, for 1 never before saw
a fire burn so fercely as the one which
consumed the hotel. | ran into the
Office as soon as reached the ground.
MANY MUST HAVE PERIsHED.
81 was the first person to get out of
the hotel, and / cannot imagine how
any guests got out alive. ! saw Meares
and the night clerk in the Office. For
Gods sake,' / cried, why don't you
turn in a fire alarm?' | went to the
Gedney house, registered, secured
suit of clothes which did not fit me,
and returned to the fire. Even at that
time the fire department had not ar
rived, and men, women and children
were at the windows, screaming for
some one to save them. / saw two
or three people jump from windows. 1t
[coNTMUED ON EIGHTH PAaE.]