Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1893-01-21
DEATH BY FIRE.

a Duluth (AIinn.) Hotel Burned-Two Per- |
sons Known to Have Pcrished, and 1t Is
Thought Others Have Met the Same
Eate.
DULUTH, Jan. 14-The Hotel st.
Louis burned Thursday, and at least
two lives were lost. How many more
Is not known, but it is thought not less
than five persons must have perished
In the flames. The thermometer was
10 below zero. The fire started from :
1ealsy gas meter in the basement
The structure was built in 1883 and
was dry ss tinder. The fire caught
near the elevator shaft, and in an in
stant the flames were through
the roof In sixty minutes from
the time the fire broke out
not bit of thu builuing was
ieft standing. The hotel and contents
were completely destroyed. The walls
all fell inward, thus proving not dam
gerous to the firemen. The worst was
feared at the start and West Superior
was called upon for aid. An engine
and hose company soon arrived from
that place.
The hotel was very popular and was
filled with guests. AS soon as fire was
discovered the brother of Proprietor
Michaud and the clerk rushed through
the house, bursting in doors and
awakening guests who were asleep.
Two of the latter perished in the
flames. They were brakeman Charles
Preston and Baggageman Bau-
dry, both employed on the night
passenger train of the Duluth,
South Shore & Atlantic railroad, rum
ming between Duluth and Marquette
They ate breakfast and retired to-
gethcr. Rumors of the loss of the rail-
road men in the flames were heard all
day, but not until 1880 Friday, when
the men should have reported for duty
on the outgoing train, was the horrible
truth realized.
Others must have perished it is
thought. Many got out of the building
on various fire escapes with which the
building was provided. Others were
taken out by the iremcn down
their ladders. 1t is reasona-
bly, certain that some women
persisted on the third floor, also
some barge men. Fred Bennett, who
roomed in the hotel, stumbled over n
PROSTATE body which he was unable
to save. His singed hair and eye
brows and Redeemed face tell of
the severity of his experience. One
of the scrub women is missing and
she is thought to have perished. The
elevator boy, answering TO the name
of Louis, was also reported missing,
but it is believed that he is not burned.
The night clerk reports having aroused
several people, but one large man he
was unable to awaken, although he
pounded and kicked him.
One of the most pathetic incidents of
the conflagration was the death of a
mobile dog belonging to the little son of
the proprietor. After the fire broke
out and when the halls were dense
with smoke the dog ran to the room
where the boy was playing and began
to bark furously. The boy thus
warned opened the door and ran out
and was carried from the burning
building, but the dog was overcome by
the smoke and died in the hallway.
One of the ladies rooming ut the ho-
tel was making her escape through a
hall, carrying her seals1in cloak in one
hand and her purse containing $50 in the
other. In her flight through the dark
hall she stumbled over little child
that had been lost in the excitement,
and, dropping her valuables, carried
the youngster in safety to the street.
1t will be impossible to begin the
search for the bodies for several hours,
probably not till Saturday afternoon.
The hotel building belonged to the
Boston Realty company, a corporation
organized under the laws of the state
of Maine. 1t was valued at $50, 900 and
insured for $4,000.
The st. Louis was five stories high
on Superior street and six stories on
Michigan. 1t had frontage of loo
feet on either street. The corner
store front was occupied by the
American Express company and
freight and ticket Office of the
Chicago, st. Paul, Minneapolis &
Omaha railroad. Their loss is total
The Pioneer Fuel company's office wa:
in the store under the hotel also sew
-eral others with desk room. The losse: