The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-25
FOUR DIE IN DENVER'S FALL.
THE FLOOR OF THE HOTEL RO-
TUNDA FALLS IN.

Several Firemen ON It Fighting the
Flames when the Crash Came.
-Four subsequently Found Man
Rled and Partly Burned in the Gel
lRr-WiId Scramble of the Guests
10 EscRpe-rhe Loss between S4O,-
600 aud $4,000.
Denver, Col, March 2i-An but one
member Of Hose Company No lost
their lives last night in the fire which de-
stroyed the st. James hotel. The hose
company, excepting the captain, was COM
posed OF colored men. The dead men are:
Harold w. Hartwell. captain; f. S. Braw-
ley, lieutenant; Richard cambridge and
Stephen Martin.
The blaze was discovered at 1880 O'Clock
by the clerk. Every room in the house
was occupied, and steps we're taken at
once to warn the guests Of their danger.
All the guests escaped without injury.
The unfortunate firemen. with four
others, were cropping about in the blind
ing smoke In the rotunda Of the hotel when
the tile and cement floor gave way. precip-
itating them into the basement where the
four unfortunates were mangled and suf-
focated. The other four hremen managed
to climb out. though badly bruised and
lacerated and nearly overcome by the
dense smoke.
1t was more than an hour after the ac-
cident that the body of Capt. Hartwell
was found and fully two hours later be-
fore the others were removed
~
ment in baggage room adjoining the
boilers and dynamo. had slowly eaten away
the supports OF the floor, but no one was
apprehensive Of danger and so dense was
the smoke that no one missed the men.
1t was only when the firemen reached the
basement from another entrance In search
Of the origin of the fire that Hartwell's s
body was found.
When the firemen reached the scene in
answer to the alarm, smoke was pouring
from every opening in the hotel and flames
were shooting up the elevator shaft. Al
ready the guests. who had been instantly
warned by the hotel employees. were fee
ing for their lives by tho stalrways. We
randas and fire escapes. Many were only
half clad, and carried their garments in
their arms. Much excitement attended the
| emptying Of the rooms, but no great diff
Guilty was met with In getting the guests
safely to the street. The work was about
accomplished by the time the firemen ar
rived. Only four people used the fire es-
capes. which run into the alley at the rear
| Of the block.
After seeing all the guests safe on the
! street the hotel people set about saving
property, but they had not made much
progress in Vhis direction when half
| a dozen streams Of water drove them
from the hotel The fire did not reach
above the second story 1t burned away
the supports under the first floor, but by
that time the flames were under control,
and the firemen pushed their way into the
rotunda, where the smoke was dense. The
floor sagged under them, and confusion
prevailed. A hurried count Of the hremen
who escaped satisfied them that all were
safe. They had noticed the presence Of
Hose Company No. in the rotunda, how
ever. and when the discovery was made
all were dead.
Nearly the entire basement and the
partitions of the first floor of the great
building were burned out On the upper
floors water and smoke did the most
damage
The property loss will amount TO between
$4,000 and $4,000 Manager Clarke esti-
mates the damage to his furniture and
stock at $4,000. He had an insurance of
$1,000 TIE building was insured for
$4,000.
Night Engineer Morrow, when asked
about the cause Of the fire, said: II was
at work at the dynamo when a bell boy
came from the Office and asked me where
the fire was. l had not noticed anything
wrong, but started for the office and
seeing the smoke rushed Back 10 the
baggage room, where the unclaimed bag
gage Of delinquent guests was stored and
| kicked in the door. Smoke poured out
and choked me so that hurried out. My
room was on the third floor and a.
tempted TO get my trunk and save 1t. but
the smoke was so bad that / abandoned
the idea The baggage room IS located
directly under the rotunda of the hotel
The walls were of stone but the front was
I built up Of pine flooring"