Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-27
Burning Of the West Street House
at Seattle.
TERRIBLE EARLY MORNING TRAGEDY
UnaccountabIe Delay in Getting
Up Steam.
VERY B ABLY RNED

SEATTLE, Wash, October IA fire
which resulted certainly in twelve deaths
and the injury of three more broke out
in the West Street House, at Columbia and
West street. about ! o'clock this morning.
and at this hour q a.m) all the dead are
burned beyond recognition, and the coroner
decides to allow the dead to remain where
they are, in hopes that the proprietor could
identify the bodies by the location of the
remains. the hotel register being saved.
The flames broke out so suddenly and so
fiercely that the occupants were taken by
surprise, and there was wild panic, men
and women jumping from the windows in
all manner of attire.
A sharp explosion was heard in the
kitchen, in the rear Of the second story, by
s. F. Butler, son of the proprietor, and
Immediately the flames began to spread
rapidly through the dry inner timber of the
corrugated iron building which is one of a
range of two-story structures owned by
]. NJ. Coleman on the east side of West
street. Butler raised a cry of fire, which
aroused the guests. with whom the house
was crowded and a rush for life followed.
1t was not any too soon, for the flames
were rushing through the long narrow halls
like invading soldiers attacking a city.
In the meantime Officer F. Z. Bryant had
discovered the flames and turned in an
alarm. which brought the fire department to
the scene.
Tan he turned his attention to saving the
people who appeared at every window, with
the flames fast creeping upon them from be-
hind He found Mrs. Susie Allen and her
two-year-old child at a window on the West
street side. the woman crying for some one
to save the child.
Drop the child" shouted the officer.
She did so, and he caught 1t safely in his
arms. Depositing 1t on the ground. he
snatched a plank and set 1t against a win
dow. The woman slid down & and suffered
no further injury than few scratches.
in bed when the fire was discovered, and es-
capped in scanty attire. His son, s. Il. But
Ter, was night clerk.
Caused by n Lamp.
He says the fire undoubtedly originated
from a kerosene lamp in the kitchen, which
was located on the upper floor near the rear
wall. The flames made such a rapid pro-
gress that before the inmates could pc ssibly
be aroused the fire was upon them. Then
the people began to drop from the windows
on both sides of the building, the flames
closely following them. w. c. r.. Lewis.
who was in room A at the corner, dropped
twenty feet to the ground and escaped uD-
hurt. Joseph A. May, who was In room "a,
tied the sheets together and used them as
rope to slide ol c. b. Glass Jumped out OF
a window, but not until his hair was burn
ed. He struck on his back on the ground.
He was picked UP ana carried TO the pas
senger station, and, with two others, was
taken to a hospital.
Caught by the Flames.
One poor fellow, whose identity is not
known, was caught in the rush of the con-
fiagration near the top of the West street
stairway and sank down overcome with
smoke and flames. The hrenen fought to
keep the fire away from his body, but were
driven back, and when last seen the vic->
TINS right arm had been burned to a black
ened cinder. Two streams OF water wero
kept trained upon this place and the water
fell in torrents on the stairway and was
hot enough almost to scald.
1t was only after the fire department had
gotten well to work that the full horror Of
the affair began to show itself, and by that
time the building was a mere shell. There
was some unaccountable delay in getting
the water on owing to the slowness of the
fire boat getting up steam. When at last
the pressure did come the building was a
raging furnace and all that could be done
was to confine the flames to the block
where they started.
The first dead man was taken out from a
room over the Hill Syrup Company's store,
and was found with one leg In his trousers
and his shoes half laced. The body was
discovered with his head covered with bed
clothes, under the bed, having apparently
hidden from the flames, so badly burned as
to be unrecognizable, as were all the other
bodies.