The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1897-04-15
FATAL FIRE At KNOXVILLE.
Walls Blown Down by Cam
non to Check Flames.
SEVERAL LIVES WERE LOST
The Loss Estimated at over MIL
lion DoIIars-RenarkabIe Time Made
by Ruscue Party From Chattanooga.

The Loss Estimated at Over Mill
lion DoIIars-RemarkabIe Time Made
by Ruscue Party From Chattanooga.
Knoxville, Tenn, April 12.-Never
in the history of Knoxville has the
city suffered such loss by fire as it
did today. following the breaking out
of the flames at an early hour this
morning in grocery store adjoining
the big Knox hotel. The hotel and adj
joining buildings were soon in flames.
and the very heart of the city, incIud-
ing some of the largest wholesale and
retail business houses in the South, de-
stroyed. The loss is estimated at from
81, 900. 900 to 81. 500, 600. with about
60 per cent of insurance.
The loss of life is uncertain, as the
register of the hotel, in which 56 peo-
pie were sleeping, was burned. The
proprietor of the hotel says he had five
or six guests who have not put in an
appearance. A. E. Weeks, of Locke.
N. Y, drummer for Rochester stamp
ing company, is known to have per-
ished in the flames. r. W. Hopkins,
st. Louis drummer, was last seen in
the burning building in a suffocating
condition.
chamber of commerce, saved the life OF
John S. Boyle, an old farmer, by drag
ging him to window and letting him
out on the roof of another building
Keppart jumped one story and was in
jured. 1t is more than probable that
Boyle will die. He inhaled the flames,
and cannot speak nor swallow
When the firemen thought all the in
mates of the hotel had escaped, a
woman with an infant in her arms
rushed to the rear windows and
screamed for help. A net was stretched
and the woman asked to drop the child
out, but as the smoke almost choked
her, she told them that if some one
had to die, both would die The
woman was finally rescued by the fire.
men.
From the hotel building, which q
five stories, the fire spread rapidly. A
stiff wind made the flames very ugly,
and the fire department was made
quate.
In the wholesale hardware house Of
w w. Woodruff & Co. large dyna-
mite 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 stop the mad career of
the fire. A mountain howitzer of the
Knoxville Legion was called into play.
and load of canister did the work, at
the same time tearing up tpme resi-
dences in different portion of the city
The city authorities, realizing that the
fire department was unable to conquer
the flames, telegraphed to Chattanooga
for assistance. An engine was placed
aboard a fiat car and started the run of
Ill miles, which was made by Eng~s
neer Robbins in 109 minutes, breakings
the record. When the engine arrived,
the fire was about under control, yet
the Chattanooga boys did some good
work. A cabinetmaker named P. g.
Dyer fell dead on the street from
fright.
A man named Robinson, from Pu-
laski, Tenn, is supposed to be another
victim. He was registered in the ho-
tel, and has not been seen since. A
large force of men is at work clearing
away the debris tonight and searching
the ruins. Street traffic is entirely
suspended.
The last man to leave the burning
hotel says he has positive proof that
five or six persons were burned. He
ran over three or four men in the hall
ways who were suffocated.
johnson, the railroad baggage agent,
came down from the fifth story of the
hotel hand-over-hand on the water
pipes before the engines arrived. Only
one of the guests saved any of his
effects.