St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-10-28

they lay until daylight, in the hope the
proprietor might identify them by 10
eating the rooms on the register. for
every body except two was charred
beyond possibility of recognition. One
poor fellow had been caught in the
rush of the conflagratiOn near the top
OF the west stairway, and sank down
overcome with the smoke and flames.
The firenen fought to keep the fire
away from the body, but were driven
back. In one of the Railways a body,
charred, blackened and without a vestige
of clothing, was found. A little further
on in the same passageway was another
body, evidently that of a woman. face
upward and hands stretched. as If fight
ing for her life and appealing for as
slstance which never came. There was
little left of the woman's form, for part
of the body was charred and the burned
bones lay around it. In another hall or
passageway was a body. 1t was evil
IDENTIFY that of an aged woman. Her
body was fearfully cOntOrted and her
face was upward. and the form pre-
sented was more of one who had died
in the most violent agony. The burned
arms and hands were uplifted, and in
one blackened hand was handful of
hair, as if she, in her agony, had
clutched it in despair when the ire was
upon her.
The Saddest Sight
of all was found in an inside room off
the passageway which led to West
street. There, calmly lying on charred
and blackened bed, was evidently an
entire family. The father lay on one
side. the wife next to him; and little
burned and blackened arm, the flesh
falling in shire dS from it, the mall fin
gers ciutched showed that little child
was among the victims. In an adjoin.
Ing room was still more horrible sight.
In cerner of small inside room two
charred and naked skeletons met the
gaze of the lockers. The clothing was
burned from each, and the first, that of
man with blackened stumpS of arms,
seemed to be fighting an impending
danger. Immediately beyond him, also
boldly upright and clutching her waist,
was the skeleton of a woman. Startled,
they had risen from their couch, the
smoke and flames had rushed in upon
them and before they had realized their
awful danger they were overcome and
met the most horrible of deaths.
In portion of the hotel where the
flames did not destroy the wood work
the bodies of two more were found.
One man was completely dressed, and
the other was in his night clothes. They
were sutfocated by smoke.
In one of the other rooms, at the end
of a narrow hall, under broken win
dow, where one man was found dead, is
white spot ON the wall untouched and
untarnished by smoke. kept thus by the
upraised arm of this victim, where an
arm rested against the wall. where. in
last struggle, he reached upward for
help in his awful agony. In the corner
of room whore the upper parts of the
walls are burned away is an unburned
spot upon the floor and on both the
corner walls. In that place against the
wall sat wife dead, her arms around
her dead husband. who sat before her
Oh the floor, his eyes burned out and
her hands burned off. In another room
Is long burned spot the shape Of a
man. where one was found dressed and
bodies were
Taken to the Morgue
this morning in boxes or canvass sacks.
Most of the bodies were wrapped in
tanned and dirty bedclothing from the
motel. Inc WrapplngS held the bodies
and trunk from falling asunder.
AS the rIgor of death had long before
set in it was almost impossible to
straighten out the distorted limbs of
some of the dead.
One corpse, that of man whose head
was burned entirely off, was bowed up
as If tied In knot. He had died on
his hands and knees with his face
buried in the bedclothes. The bodies
of two little girls were naked and dis
torted into shapes hardly human.
Their little hands and feet were entirely
consumed, and only the ends of charred
bones Oh legs and arms remained. The
arrangements of the halls of the hotel
made such a labarynth that in the day
time one unfamiliar with the place
would have had difficulty in finding his
way about without several attempts,
and as the halls were filled with smoke
there was little chance for any of them
to make their way out before suffocat-
ing. Some of the dodgers were asleep,
and were overtaken in bed, while others
rushed into the halls, and were suf-
located and burned.