The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-03-22
FATAL HOTEL FIRE
Sleeping Occupants Awakened to
t+.-. Meet Death by Flame. -u.s.
PROBABLY TWENTY-FIVE DEAD,

While the Death List May Be In.
Lodgers-several Severely Injured
In the Rush For Life.
Butte, Mont, March 22.-The Hale
House. large three story brick build
ing on East Broadway, used as lodg-
ing and boarding house by miners in
the employ Of the Anaconda company,
was entirely destroyed by fire which
broke out shortly after o'clock in the
morning. So far as known two men
are dead from injuries received by
jumping from the windows, another is
dying and 20 are missing, while a
search of the ruins may disclose the
fact that many transient lodgers also
lost their lives. The dead are: Matt
Doyle, aged 45. miner, jumped from
third story window; Frank Rohdey,
aged 40. lately from Portland. Ore,
jumped from the third story window.
Dying: Hugh Boyle, aged 80, miner,
strated to lower himself from the
third story by means of improvised
rope. which parted so feet from the
ground. He was just recovering from
the effects Of a broken leg through an
accident month ago.
Injured: Pat Galligan, went down
with third floor when 1t collapsed and
was rescued by firemen, badly burned );
John T. Carter, badly burned and cut
by glass: ]. ]. Conroy, burned on hands
and bones fractured; Barney Reynolds.
fractured right leg; Mike Judge. right
Tohp t,,,r,, Ion
the neck and face and cut by glass
before Jumping from the third floor.
There were $50 men and women In
the building when the fire broke out.
OF these, 1t is believed, about 200 es-.
capped without injury. The fire started
in the bakery house in the center Of
the building, and had good start
before 1t was discovered. When the
firemen arrived men in their UNDER
clothing, and others half dressed, were
clamoring down the fire escapes in the
rear The servant girls and others
were at the windows in the front Of
the building, frantically calling for
help They were cut off from the rear
of the building by the dense smoke.
The ladders were run up, but not be-
1oIc HldAy VI tAc
had jumped. All the female help were
gotten out by the firemen. On the
side Of the building many had made
ropes of their bed clothes and sought
to escape In that way. Some Of them
succeeded, but in other cases the ropes
broke and the men dropped many feet
to the ground. No one saved any
thing but what they had on at the
time of the fire.
The night was bitterly cold, the
thermometer registering below ezro.
AS long as there appeared any chance
of anyone being in the building the
firemen devoted themselves to saving
human life. 1t was only after there
was no further chance to do this that
they began work on the fire. The
flames had gained such headway that
two hours after the fire began the
walls had fallen in.
1t is possible some Of the missing
men may turn up. Early in the day
the list of the supposed dead ran up
as high as 40. This was because many
of the men who escaped did not report
for work at the mines. Little by lit,
tie the list decreased as men reported,
until but 20 known dodgers were un-
accounted for. 1t Is possible, however,
that a number of transient roomers
who are not well known may be dead
In the ruins. The financial loss will
reach 100000.