Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1892-02-12
FURIOUS O % AND q AIl1... !.
FIRE DESTROYS THE HolEL ROYAL
At NEW Yof ..:4:.-s

~ - liys 81
Many Uatoreunatsss Ps Hindevs
Filled with Peopl. Pit.a Nv Appeal
ing for Help. while "a .Flreusp
and Police Bravslv Risk snd Li.sb
: to Re.eue -NAmbeye Ilv.s1q.t.
Placed at Betw..n T~..s sna rh,ltst
7 NEW Yonk Feb. Ia .ster parel-.
leling in horror and probat exceeding
in loss of life the terrible ecurrenoe in
Park Place, the rememb brt a. of which.
is fresh in the public mind occurred In
this city early Sunday The Hotals
Royal at Fourtieth. strese and Sixth:
avenue was. burned ia "a The sfou1d md
q large number s.. psople. sArss shurneds
to death, many asuff ocated ~ smoke.
and others CRUSHED thu
ruins. Il is known at were 1sb6s
guests at the time the broke ont.
There was also sszl u fst pployss
Of the honss. these hays haea:
found dead, six;are in the hospitals and
sixty-three have been reported alive,
either by themselves or friends. Z
It was few minutes after : a. u.
when the flames were first discovered.
They Never Had Dettsr Fuel. /.
The building was composed Of several
old structures, all amalgamated into
the Hotel Royal years ago. So far as'
can be learned the flames kindled in the
shaft of the elevator Of the basement at
about tho middle of the building: ia
janitor was at work in the basement 1t
the time and was suddenly frightened
by the flashing of flames. He rushed
to the street and notified the policeman
on the Sixth avenue corner who sent in
an alarm while the janitor rushed back
into the building to arouse the sleeping
guests.
In fifteen minutes the whole of the
elk story structure was ablaze. Flames
shot out at every window in the front
of the house and people in the street
could sec persons rushing frantically to
and fro on every floor 5of the burning
building. One, two, three alarms were
sent out in rapid succession, and the
streets and avenues were soon filed with
fire engines and trucks. Other alarms
brought ambulances from every hospi-
tai in the city. People leaped out of
the windows to the sidewalks and were
gathered up unconscious, burned,
manned and mangled, by the fireman
and carried to places of safety. The
most heoric Efforts of the fireman were
impotent against the devouring element
and the whole middle portion of the city
was brilliantly
IDumin ated by the Tremendous Fire.
The windows were filed with the peo-
pie in their night clothing, making pit
eous and heartrending appeals to the
people below for help while behind them
was a great sea Of flames. Indeed,
these unfortunate beings seemed to be
actually in the fire.
The fire had spent it's fury at 5:15, for
there was practically nothing combusti-
bic left in the shell. Then the scene
surveyed bH the fTeman, rblfce una the
crowd Of citizens was one of complete
and sorrowful wreck. Ambulances
had carried away the injured and those
who had escaped unhurt had gone to
the hotels or to the homes Of friends.
All that remained was smoking,
blackened mound of debris, that rose to
q height of twenty-five feet. And un-
der the debris what would the men, set
to work Immediately to clear away the
wreck,
What Would They Find There9
This question stayed with the crowd
and all day long there had been a
throng of people In Bryant Park opposite
the ruins and around all the approaches
to the demolished hotel, watching while
one hundred able Eremen labored in the
smoking heap, anxious, yet fearful Of
what each upturned heap might bring
forth. It was at II o'clock that the
first body was found. It was a
horrible sight to behold, burned, black
ened and bruised. It wasshurried away
to the morgue, where after much diff
Guilty it was Unidentified as the body Of
Harry G. Levy, member. of tho firm
of Strauss g. Freeman, 7O7 Broadway.
i've others were found during the day,
none Of whom hav0 vet ham identified.