Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-06-09

day, or two hundred and fifty dollars Der
month. being the price of an ordinary room
With board. This insured select clientage
Half Of this was clear profit. and as the
house was almost always well filled l
found that we could depend upon an annual
proht, after providing for the interest on
the bonds OF not less than fifty thousand
dollars, without counting the returns from
the privileges OF cigar and news stands
and the receipts from thc-risers.
on the other hand. the guest enjoyed all
the comforts of the best hotel life, in a eli
mate which was delightfully."- cool. even in
the heat OF summer. Being at an altitude
OF I'VE thousand feet, the temperature was
commonly fifteen degrees lower than in the
city, and the air was always clear and pure
being constantly renewed by the winds
| Rarely were we enveloped in clouds These
with rains and mists. were commonly be-
neath US, and while the earth was da rlx :
I ened by clouds and drenched in rain. We
could look down and watch the play of sun
hSht on their white billowy expanse: and
when the storm was over and the clouds
were breaking up and drifting and melting
| away the cloud effects were magnificent.
The husbands and fathers of families
were even more blessed. They We're ena-
pied TO devote the entire day to business
and then in i've minutes to effect an entire
chanSe CT climate and surroundings In the
morning they rose refreshed BY a uuiet
sleep in the cool atmosphere and ready for
anotner day OF struggle in the hot city
30 came TO look on myself as something
OF pubic benefactor. The hotel was i'm
mensely popular; it was full all the time
ana rooms were engaged ahead for the en-
t rIe season was making plans for extend
ing our operations to several other cities
when a catastrophe occurred The hotel
Disappeared
II was on the evening of the Fourth of
July. AS usual the burning of gunpowder
during the day had brought on a shower
In the evening. This was exceptionally
! heavy, and had been ushered in by a ire
nendous squaii. ! had intended to spend
i lnff L..&
me TO change my mind, and l had been at
the club, and about midnight was making
my way through the wet streets to the
hotel. when l heard newsboys calling "Ex-
IRA tribune, Full account of the loss of
Airy Castle. 1t is needless to say that
was interested at once. From the paper
learned that the opening gusts of the
storm had broken away the anchorage Of
my hotel. breaking some of the cables. null
ing others out of the rock and In one case
where neither cable nor ANCHORAGE Womb
give way. literally lifting a block of lime
stone from its bed. and carrying ii of.
The freed cables before being lifted clear
of the tall buildings, played considerable
havoc with plate glass windows and CHM
neys, while the block of limestone had cut
swarth for a square or more leveling a
number Of frame dwellings in its path and
badly frightening their occupants
1 passed very bad night. Early in the
morning l looked upward for Airy Castle.
1t was gone. / visited the anchorages The
Tribune's account was correct and the
damage done by the freed cables had not
been overestimated. i returned to my room
at the hotel and thought the matter out
The more / considered 1t the worse things
appeared. In the first place. my prcperty
was gone, and since it had been DESTROYED
by ''act of Cod l could collect no insur-
ance. With 1t had gone 1877 of the best
people of Chicago, and their relatives were
| sure to sue me for damages. Then the
cables had done at least 100000 worth of
| destruction in their escape and that the
W0fllh m
/ rake matters even worse, this had occur
| red on Saturday night, and as the receipts
would not have been deposited until Mon
/ day. nearly a weeks earnings had gone
| in the general smash.
| To this / may add incidentally that my
/ wife and two children also disappeared in
the catastrophe.
] My anticipations proved true / was soon
/ up to my neck in suits for damages and
/ owing to n strong popular feeling against
me- the decisions all went one way and
that was not my way. Still, since this was
chartered company, with limited liability
1 lost nothing except my interest in ft-my
popularlty-and my reputation as a success
/ full promoter.
/ Nothing was heard from the hotel or its
/ contents. read the papers assiduously for
! days and weeks. but my eyes were never
! gladdened by news of the lost / offered re-
wards Tor discovery of Hotel, lost stray
/ ed or stolen with no results beyond ridt-
[ cule and replies from cranks
| gave II up. and charged up the account
] to profit and loss. Among nv fads
/ is Meteors. know something of the SUBJ
/ Ject. ana When, q week or so after the dis
! appearance of the hotel, learned of a we'll
/ authenticated case of a meteor of strait
/ he'd limestone, / was interested at once. for
I rleteOTs Of stratifed rock are extremely
/ rare. A farmer III Georgia had seen it fall,
/ lad gone at once to the spot and had Sc
/ cured IL. Tracing 1t up I found it in the
possession of my old friend Rowell of
/ Washington, d. c., who was evidently
satisfied of the truth of the C.aorpia Co,
| er's story. saw the alleged meteor, and
I recognized II at once from Its shape since
| II fitted the cavity left at the anchorage of
No. cable. Moreover. there was the hole