The morning call., 1894-04-30
ONE WALL LEFT STANDING.
Four People Known to Have
Perished in the Flames.
1T WAS AN HISTORIC BUILDING.
The Famous Hostlery Had Been the
Center of Southern Politics
for Many Years.

New ORLEANS, April ga few min-
utes before IL o'clock last night a fire
broke out in the kitchen Of the st. Charles
Hotel. A large audience was leaving the
st. Charles Theater at the time and in a
few minutes the widest excitement pre-
vailed in the street.
At first the fire was raging In the interior
of the court. but the flames made a COM
paratively small showing from the start,
as the fire brigade responded promptly,
and hopes were entertained for some time
that anything like serious disaster would
be prevented. But those within the walls
realized that the whole building was
doomed. Guests and employees of the hotel
were soon hurryng out of the building,
half clad and with such few personal
effects as could be snatched in their buried
exit from their sleeping-rooms.
AS nearly as could be ascertained four
lives have been sacrificed. One man
leaped from the fourth story and was al
most instantly killed. while four men and
one woman was seen to leap from the iron
staircase leading from the rear of the
building and were lost to view into the
court, which looked to be almost a solid
mass of flames. One of these men sue
ceeded in reaching the street. but nothing
has been seen of the others 1t is also re-
ported that child was missing, but this
lacks confirmation.
The scene inside the hotel at this time
was one Of terror and confusion. Terror
stricken. half-clsd guests were flying from
the flames which were roaring behind
them. Some were dragging their trunks
with them and offered extravagant prices
for help to convey their valuables to
place Of safety.
Meanwhile the fire continued to ad-
vance toward the front of the building,
which was still intact. st. Charles street
looked dark and somber. though the
upper stories of the buildings opposite
the hotel were lit up with the reflection of
the flames
| The hopelessness of the situation as far
as saving the hotel was concerned became
evident almost as soon as the fire broke
out. At the center OF the vast pile of ma
sonry which forms the hotel and occupies
| ever half of the square in which it is
situated, was a kind of cylinder amphi-
theater, built for the purpose of giving air
to the rooms which did not face on the
street Having got a fair start over the
engines, the fire spread with lightning
rapidty.
The flames made their way into the
rooms and then finding such infammable
material as bedding and light furniture.
increased the wild riot of its advance.
Room after room, being deserted by its
terror-stricken occupants, fell prey to
the fire and added TO the magnificent pyro-
technic display which thousands from all
parts of the city had gathered in vast
crowd to witness.
About A. NJ. a portion Of the wall on
Gravier street, as we'll as section on
Common street. fell in, and a small por-
tion of the Gravier-street fell outward,
wrecking about fifty telegraph wires. By
A. NJ. the last of the interior Of the build
ing had tumbled in, leaving only the st.
Charles-street walls intact. On Gravier
street the flames were eating their way
into three buildings which inrervened be-
tween the wall of the hotel and The old
Union Bank at the corner. These build
ings on Gravier street we're occupied by
number of firms engaged in the insurance
and machinery agency business.
The loss is estimated at from 100000 to
100000. Besides the st. Charles Hotel,
there are other losses. The first outside.
building to be ignited was 169 Gravier
street, the ground floor being occupied by
the New Orleans Electric Company, and
the upper floors as boarding-house. The
bui lding was Quilted in short time. Ssv-
eral ladies were rescued from the third
story by the police. No. III Gravier street
was also badly damaged. and 15S and 100
Common street were almost destroyed.
and Nos. 1852 and 164 considerably dam
aged. Nearly all the buildings in the rear
of the hotel in the same square and 'front.'
ing on Carondelet street were moro or less
damaged by fire and water.
The ground floor of the hotel building
was occupied by various places of busi-
ness. almost the entire contents of which
were destroyed. as but little Of conse-
quence was removed. Among the losers
are Alexander Levy. tailor, the Turf Ex-
change, the ticket and freight Office of the
Texas Pacific, damaged to the extent of
$4,000; harber-shop; Rosenfielder &
Herrick, shoes; j. G. Smith. Shirts Tepe-
lie, tailor; A. Bonne, shoes; the ticket
office of the Louisville & Nashville. the
Piedmont Railroad Office, and w. II.
Brown, COAL
Beneath the staircase was the handsome
barroom owned by the widow OF Leon
Lamont. To-day gang Of workmen were
set to work removing the debris and In
search of the bodies of the missing en-
ployes. The man who was killed by leap
ing from the building was John Reilly. a
baker.
The ST. Charles Hotel was first built in
1888, the work of construction having been
commenced in 1885. The cost of the build
ing was $780, and the ground cost
500, 600. The dining-room was one of the
finest finished apartments in America, the
ceiling being composed of the beautiful
elliptic domes for chandeliers. The ceiling
and walls were handsomely frescoed by
Canova. nephew of the great Italian
sculptor, and the building contained some
handsome statuary. This building was de-
stroyed by fire in 1851. The building of
the new hotel was at once commenced, and
the building then completed was again de-
stroyed last night 1t attracted attention
throughout the world from the fact that
it was the finest hotel in the world and the
first great hotel of the United States.
The building was of the same style and