St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-08-15
A HOTEL HOLOCAUST.
SENATE HOTEL IN CHICAGO GOES %
IN FLAMES.
SEVEN PEOPLE LOSE LIVES
Fifteen People Very Badly In.
jured-Among the Number the
C0ons Family, of GO0dhue
County, Minnesota-S Story OF
the Fire Told by Mr.. Coons-
Some Terrible Experiences.


the Fire Told by Mr.. Coons-
Some Terrible Experiences.
CHICAGO, Aug. IA hotel fire, re-
sulting in the death of number of the
guests, occurred this morning. The fire
was in the Senate hotel, three-st0rv
structure on Madison street. near Fifth
avenue. One man jumped from win-
dow In the top story and was killed.
About half dozen others were suffH-
Gated and burned to death. The fir
body to be recovered was that of Harry
Godfrey. the seven-year-old son of ).
Godfrey, of Buchanan, Mich. Loss on
the building and contents is practically
total, but, as the structure was old and
the furnishing cheap, the amount will
not exceed few thousand dollars.
A restaurant occupied the ground
floor and the Senate hotel the two up
per ones, 1t contained thlrty-siX rooms,
and held thirty guests when the fire
broke out, shortly after 6 a. IN. The
rooms were separated by fiimsy woode"
partitions. and proved tirst-class food
for fire. The blaze started IN the Of
flee on the second floor, and spread
rapidly through that and the upper
| rooms. Before the guests could be
warned the flames had cut off the es-
cape of number from the StairwayS,
and they were caught like rats iii :,
trap. j. Goeche is landlord of the
Senate, and j. AhrenS manager,
AS fast as the dead were taken
From the Ruins
they were taken to the morgue. -Four
| bodies were soon recovered. They we've
| those of the Godfrey boy and two men
| and woman. The scene during the
| fire was an exciting one. Mrs. Ahrens
| and her daughter Annie. who slept in
| the front part Of the third floor, disc0v-
cred the fire first. a moment later
they and the other occupants were fly
ing about seeking an avenue OF escape.
| Annie and her mother CROPPED their way
| through the sitting smoke TO the WIN,
| dow and stood out on the sill. The
| crowd below yelled to them not to Jump
| With desperation the woman chung to;
the framework, keeping as far out as
| possible. while the smoke and flames
| burst through the windows around
them. Although badly burned, they re-
tanned their position until the arrival of
a hook anu ladder company. A ladder
was raised and they were rescued.
! A man whose identity is unknown
next reached the window. The flames
were already scOrching his almost nude
body, and he jumped to the stone pave
ment. lie was picked up in an uncon-
| scIous condition. 1t was at this JUNG
! ture the tiremen arrived. Ladders were
raised, and the work Of rescuing the I'LL
periled inmates Systematically began.
For some, hemmed in by flames, oyer
[ powered by smoke and with all ~.
ESress Shut on,
the rescue was too late, however. The
fremen found dead bodies rather than
| living ones.
The fire is said to have started from
an overturned stair lamp.
| In all seven people were killed, the
complete list of the dead being as fol-
| lows:
Harry Godfrey, seven years of age,
| son of j. Godfrey, a hardware merchan
of Little Rock, Ark, burned. Edward
| Short, of Chicago. gambler, burned and
| jumped from rear window. Mrs. Fanny
| Reed, twenty-Seven years old, widow,
and recently from New York. Philip
| Cronberg, aged twenty-one, of Little
Rock, died at the county hospital this
afternoon. William Uliary, aged seven
teen years. of Buchanan. Mich. nephew
of Jay Godfrey, died in the afternoon.
Unknown man, about thirty-f 1--WE years
old may be G. A. Taylor, of hot
Springs. Ark. Unknown man, about
twenty-three years OF age.
Injured: Jay Godfrey. hardware
merchant, Little Rock, Ark, burned
about head and shoulders, removed to
| Mercy hospital; will recover. Mrs.
Godfrey, wife of above, slight burns ON
| shoulders. wounds dressed in drug
store. Grace Godfrey, aged thir-
teen. extensive burns, probably will
die; taken 10 hospital. F. A. Coons, Lake
City, MIMI, cut oY glass about head, ia
ken to Mercy hospital. Will recover. Mrs.
f. A. CoonS, burns and cuts about
hospital: will die. Flora Coons. aged
fifteen years. found almost sutfocated,
removed to Mercy hospital; recovery
doubtful. S. l.. Morton, Syracuse, Il,
y, cut about shoulders, removed TO
Mercy hospital; will recover. Matte
Ahrens, ChicogO, aged eighteen years.
arms burned; will recover. F. Myer, of
| Chicago. a spectator, head cut by falling
glass. l.. NJ. Rogers, of Chicago. burns
on body and arms, taken to Unity hos
pital; serious. o. Palmer, Chicago.
decorator at worlds fair, cut on head
and arms; will recover. Mrs. f. a.
Coons, of Lake City, whose injuries
were at first reported as fatal, will re-
cover. She and her eleVen-year- clt
daughter Anna are at Mercy hospital
and are suffering only slight injuries. ;
CoOms, Story.
f. A. COons, a prosperous farmer Of
Goodhue county, MIMI, who was stop :
ping at the Senate hotel, and who's,
wife and eleven-year-old daughter weTs
| slightly injured, gave the following ac-
count of the contiagraJion: i
II had been lodging at the Senate for
about week with my wife and two
daughters sixteen years old, and
Anna. eleven years old. My wife and
OCCUPIED room 5, OIL the second floor
and my two daughters room 4. adjuins
ing, both rooms being on the front. 4
About half-past this morning my
wife and l were about TO rise, when we
heard a cOmmotIon in the Office and the
cry of 'Firen Immediately Thought OF
my daughters. and rushed into the hall
in my night robe to rescue them,
Strangely enough, ] had not noticed
any smell of smoke, but on opening ms
door l found the corridor so full o.
smoke that | could not see, and was
nearly Suffocated. [ ran on to the door
of No. 4,where found my elder daugh-
ter, Flora, coming out i'll her nIgbs
dress, and crying to me to save Anna
her sister.
Several times tried to get throug h
the door and find my little girl. but a
strong draft blowing up the stairs from
below filled the hall and room with the
most sitting, strangling smoke, and [
was unable to see or breathe. At last l
gave it up in despair and returned to
my own room, weak and almost suffQ-
Gated. My throat felt
Like Fire Itself. i
And got these burns''-pointiug 10
several scars on his nose and forehead.
I'm the room were my wife and daugh-
ter Flora, both badly frightened and
screaming, but neither injured as yet.
knew that we were saTe In the room
for while at ieast, and waited for tie
hreeimen 10 run up ladder and take US
| out. Presently man on the opposite