Evening star., 1895-06-15

To the Rescue.
Of them, notably Policemen Barry and Nc
Grath, distinguished themselves by their
efforts as life savers. Barry, who used to
be a fireman, was one of the first to enter
the burning building from the ladders
which had been put up along the side walls
of the hotel. In company with some of the
firemen a thorough search was made of
all the rooms to see that no one had been
overcome by the smoke, which was ex-
tremely dense and made fire fighting any
thing but pleasant task.
John Eckens. the six-foot cook, who was
down in the basement kitchen slicing up
free lunch, did valiant service in rousing
up the sleeping guests. Some one of the
colored women upstairs called him and he
rushed up along the hall in the third floor
and kicked in the doors as regularly as a
catapult could have done 1t. He reused up
Mr.. Leach, the invalid. and got him out
through' the flames. Eckens says that
when he rushed UP past the landing on the
third floor the flames were coming from
| the south wall in tremendous burst, and
1t was all he could do to hold his breath
and get through them. His hair and beard
| were burned off in the ordeal.
Upon the arrival of the trucks the atten-
tiol. OF the firemen was all directed to the
removal of the people from the upper part
of the house. To those standing below it
seemed very long time before the ladders
We're put in place, and the helpless ones
| above Were evidently getting very much
alarmed There was some fear that they
| might attempt to jump, but they restrained
themselves, and were finally removed be-
fore the flames had actually reached them,
though they did not have much time to
spare. Firemen Sweeney. Handy and
Smith We're the ones to enter the building
from the front, while Darlington stayed on
the ladder just outside and helped the res
cued down.
By 1920 o'clock within an hour of the
time the fire started 1t was under control,
and all danger CT it's spreading further was
over.
The Damage Done.
The scene on the upper floors of the
house after the firemen had vacated the
premises was a sorry one. The second and
third floors We're entirely burned out in
the middle of the building. and the upper
floors were necessarily much damaged by
water and smoke and flames. The three
or four bed rooms around the store room
on the third floor, which was used to keep
wines and liquors in, were completely
wrecked For half an hour after the dan
ger was all over half dozen firemen
We're kept busy throwing out half f-burned
furniture and bedding
Inc whole building was drenched with
water. and in the cafe on the ground floor
there was small lake, three or four inches
deep covering the whole first floor.
through the ceilings dripped constant
and unabated stream of muddy water,
which soaked and stained the pretty velvet
carpets and made them a reeking mass
OF filth. Up and down the cozy little din
ing rooms, where many a pretty time
mas been enjoyed in the halcyon days of
the past by numerous famous statesmen,
were grinding masses of broken glass
plaster and charred timbers from the floors
aEeve. The furniture of the house be-
longed to the Randall estate and was fully
insured The damage to the building and its
furnishings is estimated to be several
thousand dollars. The bar room on the
ground floor was little damaged and lost
little business as possible during the mis-
nd Ir1n To
business being the barkeeper's uncertainty
as to whether his clothes were partly or
entirely burned up.
Origin of the Fire.
How the fire started was for several
hours constant topic Of exciting dis
cussion around the hotel, without in any
very marked degree affording a clear idea
of its origin. The colored folks employed
in the house all thought it started from
the kitchen fue, but this was impossible,
for that f1ue is at the north end of the
building and the fire was in the middle of
the house near the staircase. Mr.. Moylan,
the proprietor, seemed to think that it
started from cigarette thrown careleSSly
on the floor of some one of the rooms, and
1t was doubtless in some such way that
the flames started. There was no stove,
furnace or range in use in the middle of
the house, and nothing from which the fire
could have got a-going there except by the
thoughtlesSness of some smoker.
How long it may have smoldered before
it broke out is only matter of conjecture.
The hotel is g rendezvous fer late suppers
and after theater conviviality. Some
happy guest last night may, after several
glasses of champagne let fall the rice
paper spark whence the fire spread.
A Lesson From the Fire.
Mr.. J. G. Erck, who was spectator at
the fire, writes to The Star as follows:
1.-The deplorable slowness and several
slips of extension ladder used this morning
at the Owen House fire scare, in trying 10
rescue the women and men whose chances
of exit were obviously cut off by the in
tense smoke, would strongly suggest that
a law should be passed requiring all hotels
to keep in each upper-story room long
enough wire rope ladder to reach the
ground. which. in case of emergency, could
be used by the occupants, thus avoiding
the terrible mental strain and impulse to
jump and be killed or MANNED for life.