The silver blade. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1895-1903, 1895-08-10
WAS LITTLE TIME FOR RESCUE
One Drunken Unfortunate Was Left to
His Fate on the Ground Floor
of the Place.

fire was the worst ever known in Pen
dleton, for in addition to the heavy loss
of property, human life was sacrificed
to appease the anger of the fierce
flames.
The fire first caught in the Transfer
hotel, and soon spread to the adjoining
buildings, until nearly the whole block
was consumed from the railroad to
Webb street on Main.
Until a. m. the firemen fought do
ing everything, failing in nothing. He
roic efforts were made by the brave
fire fighters, but in spite Of their pre-
cautions four persons burned to death.
The fire caught on the upper floor Of
the Transfer house, in a room used
for storing odds and ends. Ira Wilson,
acting night clerk, was behind the
counter About midnight man came
for lodging for the night. Wilson took
him up stairs. AS he passed through
the hallway he heard a man, evidently
drunk and muttering imprecations, go
into a room in which were kept the
odds and ends. It was called the
waste room. Wilson thinks the man
struck a match, saw he was in the
wrong room and went out. In the room
BILE material, and the match set it af1re.
Wilson rushed down to the office and
gave the alarm of fire and then hurried
to get out the guests. Wilson has no
idea who this man was. Two minutes
later the whole row Of frame buildings
was maelstrom of roaring flames,
which when destroyed caused loss Of
$4,000, at a low estimate. The insur-
ance is half as much.
When the flames subsidized sufficiently
for search the firemen began to hunt
for the bodies. The first one recovered
was Frank Breeding. He was found in
the rear of a saloon. Henry Kopittke
had during the fire found him lying in
a drunken stupor. He shook the man
and attempted to wake him to realize
his danger, but though the smoke was
smothering and the heat intense, Bre-
ding refused to move. Kopittke was
compelled to rush out to save his own
life.
From the Transfer house ruins three
bodies were recovered. This makes
four, but from the night clerk it is
learned another should be found. Old
Wolf, the veteran Indian policeman,
G.. Clacking, ]. D. Tailor and William
Struensen are all missing. Unless one
turns up it must be concluded that an
other body is among the debris. Bre-
ding and Old Wolf are the only ones
known here.
NARROW ESCAPES.
A. Marmont and e. Bettinger both
| took perilous jumps from second-story
windows. Both were injured in the
back and head, but both will recover.
Mrs. Mary Halzell, in an upper room,
was awakened by a feeling of suffoca-
ton. She could not open the door and
was for a few awful moments impris-
| Oned in hell of flames and smoke. w.
j. WalraVen, in a room near by,
thought of her, rushed to the door and
tried to burst it open. The flames drove
him back repeatedly, until finally the
door was successfully stormed. The
woman was carried out, with only
small garment on. Both barely escaped
with their lives.
| One incident Of the fire caused in
dignation. Fred Allison, proprietor of
the saloon, saw Breeding come in a few
minutes before the fire broke out. Bred
ing lay on a couch in a back room.
| When Allison heard the alarm he be-
gan to carry out goods. He had many
minutes to work, but neglected to save
Breeding. He said to the coroner's jury:
II forgot about the drunken man." Con-
sequently Breeding, though on the first
floor, 40 feet from the front door, was
cooked to death with hundreds near
who would have assisted him IL they
knew he was in the building. Allison