The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1897-04-09
ENOXVILLES FATALFIRE
ItOauses Property Loss Of ST, ,0O0,-
900 to S1,500,000,
SIX LIVES ARE PROBABLY LOST
And Number OF People Receive seri-
Gus Iniuries-Bescue ofa Mother and
Babe - Firemon From Chattanooga
Rush by Fast Train to the Rescue.


Gus Iniuries-Rescue ofa Mother and
Babe - Firemon From Chattanooga
Rush by Fast Train to the Rescue.
Knoxville, Tenn, April 9.-Never in
the history Of Knoxville has the city
suffered such a loss by fire as It did
yesterday The very heart Of the city,
including some of the largest whole
sale and retail business houses in the
south. was destroyed. The loss is vari-
ously estimated at from S1,OOO,OOO to
S15O0000. with about 60 per cent of in
surance.
The loss of life is very uncertain, the
register of the Hotel Knox, in which
Sc people We're sleeping, was burned.
The proprietor of the hotel says that
he had five or six guests who have not
put in an appearance a. E. Weeks,
of Locke, N. Y, drummer for Ro-
chester stamping company is known
to have perished I'm the flames. r. w.
Hopkins a st. Louis drummer, was
last seen in the burning building in
suffocating condition. A man named
Robinson, from Pulaski, Tenn is sup
posed to be another victim He was
registered at the hotel, and has not
vet shown up. A cabinetmaker named
P. c. Dyer fell dead on the street from
| settlement he being subject to heart
disease. A number of persons were
/ seriously injured.
W. II. kephart, eX-secretary of the
chamber OF commerce, saved the life
, of John Boyle, an old farmer by drag
( ging him to a window and letting him
out on the roof OF another building.
Kephart jumped one story and was
injured. When the firemen thought all
the inmates of the hotel had escaped a
woman with an infant in her arms
rushed to a rear window and screamed
for help. A net was quickly stretched
and the woman asked to drop the child
out, but as the smoke almost choked
her she told them that If one had to die
both would die. The woman was final
| ly rescued by the firemen, with the
babe in her arms.
From the hotel building, which is five
| stories, the fire spread east and west
| stir wind made the flames very ugly,
and the fire department was made
! quate. In the wholesale hardware
house of w. w. Woodruff & Co. dy-
Mantle explosion occurred, and scores
of people were hurt by flying bricks
and glass. 1t became necessary at last
to have the walls of one building blown
down by cannon to check the spread OF
fire A mountain howitzer was called
into play, and a load of canister did
the work, at the same time tearing up
some residences in a different portion
of the city.
The city authorities, realizing that
the fire department was unable to con-
quer the flames, telegraphed to Chat
tanooga for assistance. An engine was
oil, N,t 4,
ern railway, and started the run of
III miles, which was made by Engineer
Robbins in lis minutes, with one ston
for water, an average of so miles an
hour, breaking the record. When the
engine arrived here the fire was about
under control yet the Chattanooga
boys did some work.
The last man to leave the burning
hotel says that he is positive that five
or six persons We're burned. He ran
over three or four men in the hall
ways who We're suffocated.
j. Nj. Dean, of Kansas City, who
jumped from the burning building, tells
thrilling story ef his escape. He
started out with only his nightshirt
on, and had that torn off before he
reached the street.
w. l. Johnson, a railroad baggage.
master, came down from the fifth
story hand over hand on the water
pipes before the fire engines arrived
Only one of the guests saved any OF
his effects.
The list of dead and injured so fan
: reported is as follows:
Dead-A. E. Weeks, Locke, N. Y.
r. w. Hopkins, St. Louis; - Robin
son, Pulaski Tenn; S. e. Williams
Springfield, Mass; p. c. Dyer, Knox
Vile.
Injured j c. II Boyle of Tennessee
burned and viii die; d. NJ. Dean OF
indianapolis, ankle sprained; Thomas
S. Peck cI Morrstown, Tenn. ankle
cut and sprained; Lieutenant Hood o.
Knoxville, cut on face and head by
glass from explosion; Claude Harris o
= Knoxville, cut in a dozen places; Po
liceman Asquith, burned and cut b!
flying glass; Policeman Duncan, badl!
burned; Fire Chief Mcintosh, bruised
from fall; w. H. Kephart of Knoxville
internally hurt.
A large force of men are at worl
clearing away the debris and searching
for the bodies. The street car lines ar
completely tied up, and all the electri
companies have suffered.
one Knoxville architect has alread.
received orders for plans for II build
ings to take the places Of the one
burned, All the buildings are to b
replaced at once.