The diamond drill., 1895-08-24

Many Persons Perish In Hptel
Gumry at Donver.
Ruins Take Fire. the work OF Rescucfe-
Ing Thus Seriously Impcded "A
Lads Incompetence Caused
the Disaster.

the DtsHttffs
DENVER. Col, Aug o0.--The CURRY
hotel, Nos. l7e5 70 1888 Lawrence street.
was wrecked by a terrific explosionat
1910 o'clock a. m. The rear halflof
the building, fivc-story brick apd
stone structure, went down with
crash.
The hotel was crowded with guess
and many of them must have been
killed, as well as the entire force df
hotel employees, who were sleeping ID
the portion Of the building which fell
On both sides Of Lawrence, from Sew
cnteenth TO Eighteenth street. and on
Larimcr, directly back of the Gumry.
the plate glass windows OF the busi1
ness houses were blown i'm and a num-
ber of pedestrians were injured by fall-l
ing glass The fronts of many build
ings in the vicinity were badly
wrecked.
At 1850 the ruins were burning
fercely and the firemen were obliged
60 retreat from the work of rescue.
Every engine in the city was pouring
streams into the mass, but il was evil
dent the flames could not possibly be
gotten under control before many of
the injured had been crcmated.
AS their chances OF escape lessened
the cries Of the imprisoned people In
creased. hcnrtrending shrieks rising
from every portion of the great mass
of wrcclxage.
Cause OF the Explosion.
DENVER, Col. Aug. 2i.-A portion of
the Gumry hotel. the scene of sun
day nights frightful disaster. is still
standing, gaunt and sinister, constantly
threatening TO crash down upon those
de1ving in the ruins at any moment. The
search for victims has been carried on
with the utmost energy. Flames broke
out afrcsh in the wreclxage Monday
night and the fire engines were again
pouring forth water. still further im-
peding the work of rescue.
This. so far, is a definite knowledge
OF the people TO be accounted for, but
the hotel register shows people who
have safely materializcd, and some
missing are not on the regis
ter. The LATEST obtainable infor-
nation regarding the most terri
BILE catastrophe that is reccfaed
in Denver's history, clearly shows that
a l7-vear-old boy, Elmer Pierce, who
was temporarily placed in charge
of the. boiler, was directly re-
sponsiblc for the accident. With
the boiler almost mt a red heat
he injected cold water into the
tubular affair, causing an immediate
explosion. Strange to say. and by
he escaped unscathed, and
was being hunted by an angry crowd of
people. who would have dealt with him
hastily had he been apprehended. He
seems safe, however. as no clew has
been unearthed as TO his whereabouts.
Loss $4,000.
The terrible destruction wrought by
the explosion is in evidence every
where within three blocks of the
scene. Stores in the neighborhood
have their fronts demolished or win
dows damaged. Along Larimer street,
in the rear of the building, there is
not whole plate-glass for
block and Lawrence street in the
front shows similar signs of demolition
To estimate the damage and loss Is
very difficult, especially as no insur-
ance papers are available, they having
al been les. IN ths Are; but the loss
will hardly exceed 5000.
Taking Out the Victims.
DENVER, Col, Aug. 30 The awful
horror Of Mondays terrible catastro-
phe increases as the time goes on.
At z o'clock Tuesday morning the
body of Myron Il. Hawley was taken
from the still burning debris. IL was
a sickening sight, burned, dishg-
ured and doubled by the weight OF
tons of ruins. Four hours earlier the
body OF James Murphy was recovered.
But short distance from the spot
where IIawley met his awful end the
corpse of Gen. Charles Adams is known
TO lie and 20 its rescue the workers
are now directing their energies.
About 20 feet from Gen. Adams there
are known 70 be four bodies. They
are those of Lizzie Lager, Louise
Emma Millethaler and A.
5 Blake.
The bodies recovered are:
Fred Houbbold. r.. H. McCioskoy. Robert @ |
Grelner. Mrs Robert g. Greiner. win Rich
ards. George Burt Mrs O.. Il Wolfe and child. |
Bella Lorah, H. French. James Murphy, po-
ter Gumry. Myron u HawIey. II w. Edwards.
The missing nt 10 o'clock Tuesday
number twelve additional 10
the above.
The Mora Claim settled.
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