Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1896-05-08
MANY HOMELESS.
Cripple Greek Wrecked by In
CendiarieS.
PALACE HOTEL BLOWN UP.
Thousands Of Homeless People
/. ShiverIng About Camp-flres-
Firebugs Shot Down
Whenever Caught.

whenever y dNkIts
While the fire was raging at Cripple Greek,
COL, special trains we're run from Victor ana
Gillette to bring in miners with sticks oil
dynamite ready to use wherever there Was
any call for it. 1t was more common than
water at city fire, and the lavish use was
productive Of many fatalities
The Palace Hotel, containing three hun
lred rooms, was one OF the first places at
tacked with dynamite, and from the results
t would appear that no warning was given
Of the impending explosion. AS the walls
;ottered In response to the tremendous
charges Of giant powder, the air was filled
with sbrieks of dying men who had been
caught in their rooms and dragged down the
wreck. Before the wreckers could offer any
aid they were driven back by the flames that
were rolling over the site Of the hotel. The
lynamiters fed to save their own lives, and
The loss of life at the palace is merely mat
Ter of conjecture.
The Bimetallic Bank and the First Ma
donal Bank burned as if they we're made Of
paper. The First National Bank while it
was the leading institution in the district
was without proper facilities for holding the
s15OOOO or more Of deposits that were in
nad temporary quarters fn the new burned
district, wh6To there we're no vault accom-
modations, To add to the apprehensions
Of the stockholders and depositors, the ex-
plosion Of the dynamite leaves nothing to be
recovered from the ruins.
Volunteers, operating without guides or
reasons, are credited with blowing up the
buidings. After the explosion at the Palace
Hotel, the crowd that had followed the fire
paused for a moment. and the people began
&c grow vehement in their denunciations Of
he dynamiters, and there were several en-
counters between disputants. While q riot
was impending, the flames worked towards
ihe crowds that blocked Bennett avenue. and
the advantage gained by the destruction o..
:he hotel was lost by not removing the de-
hris
Thousands OF homeless people shivered
about campnres or wandered among the
ruins of this onco prosperous city through
out the night. The cold was severe, and to-
ward morning snow began to fall During
the night, for distance OF mile to the
right and left, the burning embers presented
sight almost Incompatible. Standing on
The hill beyond the burned district and TO
the west, the picture was one of huge bowl
with the steam arising above. Everywhere
along the thoughfares can be seen the work
Of The dynamite-a great mass OF kindling
wood. A company Of the Colorado National
Guard is on duty in the unburned district
Numerous arrests have been made in the
outside district, resort to which has eeen
made by the vagrant element which lately
has been infesting Cripple reek. All night
fires were starting up, occasionally on the
placer. Where possible, the residents pulled
the houses down. and, II that failed blew
them up. They had no water in that portion
of the city. A rumor Is In circulation that 6
dwelling on Capitol Hill, and was shot by
resident, just as frebug was shot and killet
by Floyd Thompson. Mayor Doyle, of Vic
tor, has employed two fire wardens for every
business block in that city, as it has been ru
mored that flrebugs are after that town a
we'll as Cripple Creek. A man was caugh
In the very act of firing the rear Of the Newell
Hardware CompaDys store. He is In jail.
The total loss by the fire is estimated a
| 81, 500 900 The insurance will probably foo
up between S4OO 900 and SIS O,OOO Tn,
heaviest losers are rs follows: Louis Vein
burg, clothing store, $4,000; Palace Hotel
| SAC. 900; Portland Hotel, $4,000; furniture
81. 900, insurance on furniture $4,000; W. I
Booth, furniture $50, 900; Wright Hardwar,
Company, $4,000; FL Paso Lumber Com
pany, $40, ,OOO Heller's drug store, 500, 900
Many other individual losses run as high a
$40, 900