Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1895-08-30
HOTEL BLOWN OP..
Fifteen Persons Perish in the
Gumry House at Denver
EXPLOSION And THEN FIRE.
Mo Warning of the Catastrop"e-
The Disaster Believed to Be Due
to the Bursting of Boilers

The Disaster Believed TO Do D
+o tho Bursting of Boilers
probablv the m ost lar-reaching acc'
dent ever sitn ssed In Denver, Col, occurieu
.horlly after midnight There was terrino
axnlosion in the Gumry Hotel on Lawrence
street. between Seven eenih ana E'sn'oen'-
,reets caused. 1t is believed, by the pursuing
If hoilars IN the basement. The rear pot'ion
Of the hotel was completely demoii'neo anu
the number of dead and missing Is esima'eI
a. The exact number Of victims VIII NV
be known, however, until the deO'is '""'
have been cleared away, aud this TASK o""
not be- accomplished for several days
To adl to thu horror OF the situation 'he
ruins of the big building took fire ana many
nnfortunates who were not killed outrign'py
the crasu "-re slowly burned De" ,',,oI ~ .
screams and pleaoi4o- that -1ey O0 A'''oN
s,ye them from torture by fire were p''eou'
In the extreme, but the byslanue's "''0
powerless 10 render them any aid.
There is no doubt the disaster was causeu
bv q hoiler @ xploson. Frank Loescner, 'ne
engineer. It is said, was intoxicated anu
ter turning large quantity oil c'lu "S'e-
into the hot tollers, left the building Ien
minutes bsiore the explo lon occufte''
pol ce are looking for him.
r E. Irwin, the night clerk, says Loeso"''
who WAS only seventeen years old, was urunA
when he went on duty and that he was in Ine
habit of neglec.ing his duty. Irwin was
pinned beneath soma heavy timpers al us
desk by the explosion and was rescued oya
fireman.
The whole rear half OF the hotel was pio"n
70 atoms and the front portions are mersy
shattered and burned fragments oil q mousse
The fe1c, Of the explosion was so great 'n@'
for two blocks on Lawrence street ana 'o'
soms dist nee on Larimer street every WIN
dow 10 the business blocks was snattereu ~
pieces upon the pavements.
THE HOTEL AND ITS OWNERS.
The Gumry wa, fye-story brick, WITH
stone front. and was built about six years
ago I: vas of thu better kind OF tecond-
class hotels. catering largely to the transient
family patronage. Il was built as the Eden
N,uz-. bv the widow OF Gen. Tom THUMB,
later being remodeled for use as ho'ei
Gumry and Grenier have owned tue no'e'
,or several years. Mr.. Peter Gumry was
prominent contractor, AMI had done mucn
of the yor during the building oil the S'a'e
osoitol. Mr.. Gumry was ons oil the oid-'lme
;. citizens OF Denver. He was about SKY
vea,s Of aye AMI a wilower, his daughter
: b,ldr the wife Of r. c. Grenier, all three OF
: whom pershed in the explosion
= The hotel was vlded about the centre by
;. a rotunda or court, running to the top Of
, the building, though covered a. the seconu
:, hjor. The building had been split IN TWO az
this noint OF divis on and the entire 02'
storie, back OF the rotun la We thrown lnl'
q shaneless mass in the alley. The fragments
Of the wreck ou Lawrence street tower "a up
=. mo the air, dark and yawning, while
~ great section OF the roof hung in threatening
- suspension of the chaos below.
There were sixty-ssyen rooms 10 the hotel
- OF which fhy-;wo were occupied, some
~ them by three people. In th' rear po tion
a. which Is completely destroyed, were sixtee
rooms all OF them occ ipied.
an. DAMAGE TO PROPERTY.
seD The total loss caused by the explosion an
tho fro is about $4,000. The building is
wreck. 1t was insured for s25, 900. III
-, Mccain blo:k, VIII ch staads next to ii
ot Gumry was also heavily damaged. Il
nv owned by Col. Fisher aud was built
,ho 1899 1t Is a four-story pressed brick, al
,ou occupied throu ,hout by the A. Lilibla'
va Furniture Company. The whole end OF th
.,,h BLOCK wes ruined. The loss on the buildi
is about s25, 900, a, the building will have
be torn down. This block Is insured
,ot s15COl. The stock OF A. Luiblade. vAlu
rrv at $4,000 is only partly lest