The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-12-31


Albany, n. Y, Dee. s0.-Tfle Delavan
house, the Mecca of politicians and the
centre of all big state political events
for forty years past. was DESTROYED by
fire tonight.
1t was $780, when the political head
quarters of both Mr.. Fish and Mr..
Maltby were filed with politicians and
newspaper men, that cries of fire"
from different parts of the house caused
CONSERVATION among the guests.
The outburst of flames before an.
alarm could be given, was appalling
Up the elevator shaft shot a solid
column of flames which spread quickly
to each of the five floors. Fortunately
the guest list was not very large and
the majority of those registered were
politicians and were down on the second
floor. There was a rush for the stairs
in the front and the servants stairs in
the back, where. the flames had not yet
reached, and in few minutes there
was a tuTnbling mass of humanity
coming down these two means of
egress. Those on the two upper floors
could not avail themselves OF these
exits, for the flames were rushing along
the corridors and people in the street
who had not yet seen tie names heard
crash of glass and saw figures come
tumbling out of the windows. Within
ten minutes after the first note of
alarm at least twelve persons were
dangling on the insufficient rope fire
escapes or hanging to the window sills
Dives to Death.
The department arrived quickly, but
it took some time to get ladders UP and
| in the meantime some of the people had
+; dropped to the street. On the right
| side of the building there appeared at
| the window surrounded by smoke a
man and woman. The man had hold
| of the woman trying to persuade her to
wait for help, but she broke away and
| sprang out. She struck a balcony and
| rebounded to the street. The man
waited for a ladder and was taken
down in safety. His name is H A
/ Foakes, and he represents a cash
| register company in Dayton, Ohio. The
woman was his wife and she will pro
badly die.
In ex-Speaker Maltby's room, which
| was to the rear of the elevator shaft,
where the fire first appeared, there
was the greatest excitement. About
twenty politicians were there, includ-
| ing Congressman Weaver and Curtis,
| Senator Kilburn and Mr.. Maltby. A
rush was made for the stairs, and
when the party landed in the street
the only injured one was found to be
Assembiyman ROBBINS, whose hair and
face was badly burned.
] Although five stories high, there was
no outside fire escapes and the only
means left for the people in the cut off
rooms was to use the rope fire escapes.
B. F. Holman, of Brooklyn, was in the
| third story. He opened his room door
Los nn
A burst of flame made him look to the
window as a means of escape. He had
! but two Alternatives fiery DEATH or
a jump. He choose the latter. When
picked up from the sidewalk he was
| dying. His wife, who was in the room
with him, tried a rope fire escape but
it either broke or else she failed to
Her right limb was broken, her left
ankle dislocated and she was badly
burned about the face and head
Edward Walsh, reporter, was
caught in the hall and badly burned.
Simply u Crater.
In less than fifteen minutes after the
fire alarm was turned in the entire
I'building was wrapped in flames, re-
Isembling a huge crater, and all hopes
of saving the famous structure were
given up. The hotel takes in the en-
| TIRE DOCK, ABOUT 11u ny sou IeeC, ana
this was in another fifteen minutes a
seething cauldron, only bound by the
four walls.
At 1880 the east wall fell in and
! some of the firemen narrowly escaped
being buried. At 1870 the Broadway
wall fell out and one fireman was
buried in the debris. He was taken
out and is not thought to be danger
ously hurt.
It is rumored at this late hour THAI
there are bodies in the ruins and that
quite a number of people did not es-
Icape. The clerk says tonight that he
is positive that all the guests escaped,
but does not feel so sure about the
help, of which there was great num-
Der. There is no way tonight of find
ing out positively whether these ru-
mors are true or not and it will take
a day or two to so determine.
Beyond Belief.
Mr. Maltby said after the fire:
eft is inconceivable how the flames
lobtained such Roadway. The halls
were a mass of fire before we received
a word of warning"
Of the 100 or more guests, not one
lsaved more than the clothes they
wore.
One of the incidents of the fire was
York. She was in the fourth story
window on the Steuben street side
when a ladder was raised. A messen-
ger boy rushed up and broke the win
dow, thus freeing her.
Mr.. and Mrs. Bradley Martin, Brad
ley Martin, jr.. and Mrs. F. T. Martin
were guests at the hotel having come
here to bury the formers son. They
were on the second floor a good way
from where the fire started, and es-
capped. Mr.. Martin, when he reached
the sidewalk, offered anybody $500 who
would get his Wife's jewelry. Nobody
accepted and it was destroyed There
was a satchel filled with jewels valued
at $1,000.
An Old Landmark.
The Delavan house was fifty years
old and one of the most famous hotels
in the country. 1t Is part of the es.
tate of Edward C. Delavan Hurley
& Moore, the proprietors. paid $40, 0Ol
a year rental and lately had made vasl
improvements in expectation of a bis
winter season. The total loss is esti
mated at 100000, with an insurance OF
$500, GOO.
On the ground floor of the Broadway
side of the hotel block two firms haG
i stores. One was that Of Heiser, Muhl
i fielder g. Co., dealers in knit goods an6
4 the other that Of Polby & Co., dealers
4 in cloths Both stocks were ruined
The loss to each will amount to $25,0 900
nearly covered by insurance.
| The wires of the Electric Light com