The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-03-14

mad been sent in, and in a few min
utes the firemen were busy deluging
the building with torrents of water.
hey Hnally succeeded In keeping the
nre within the limits of the upper
tnree stories Of the structure. A large
uetail Oh police was quickly summoned
70 the scene in charge Of Inspector
Sross ana the reserves were called
from the downtown precincts This
force Of officers had difficult work tn
Keep the vast crowd in check as well
as 10 help the unfortunate dodgers
many naked and injured were cared
LOT by people in the vicinity, and about
nfty OF them We're accommodated at
the Eldridge street police station, some
three blocks away. Several of the most
destitute were brought to the station
mouse In patrol wagons, and on their
arrival they were partially clothed by
members Of the force and kind-hearted
neighbors
Bodies Charred.
After the fire had been extinguished
suInclently so a search of the place
was possible, the police and firemen
entered the building, and the work of
searching for the victims was begun.
Several bodies were found near the
windows on the two upper floors.
where they had been stricken down
in attempting to make their way to the
nre escapes. So many bodies were
found In the early stages Of the search
that 1T was estimated that over forty
persons must have been killed. How
ever, the officers fortunately oVer-es-
timated the loss of life, and eleven
bodies In all were found. Some of these
were discovered In the small rooms
they had occupied, while others were
found in the Railways and on the
stairs Of the fourth and fifth floors.
All OF them were naked and most OF
them were burned and charred beyond
recognition. 1t is thought by the DO
lice that only one of these bodies will
be eventually identified. This one is
designated as No. 10. 1t was found in
a room on the fifth floor In the same
room there was satchel, and it is
thought that it's contents may lead to
the Identification Of the body. As soon
as the bodies were carried to the street
they were transferred to the police
station, and by half past 4 o'clock this
morning the police relinquished their
search. Coroner yucca. after looking
at the bodies at the station. gave a.
permit for their removal to the hos
pital Manager Sardonsen, Of the
Christian Herald, who has direct
charge Of the mission and lodging
MUSE, called at the ElQrldge station
later and told the officer in charge
that he would bury the dead. The loss
on the building is estimated at 81 600
and the contents are damaged to the
extent of $1,000.
John N. Wyburn, superintendent Of
the Bowery mission, under whose di-
rection the lodging house was con-
Quoted, said today: when 1 arrived
at the scene Of the fire the firemen had
1t under control and the police were
removing the dead bodies. / started
at once to ascertain the cause and the
exact place where the fire started. I
found to my satisfaction that it orig
mated in the lavatory on the third floor
and probably was caused by a lighted
cigarette thrown carelessly among A
lot of papers. 1t is strictly against
the rules of the house to smoke in the
building, but it is known to be the
habit of many of the dodgers to do so.
and on account of this the night clerk
is supposed to inspect the lavatory ev-
cry hour, and he made an inspection
shortly before the fire was discovered.
There were 165 names on the hotel
register last night. Two-thirds of the
men were sleeping on the third and
fifth floors. Nine of the bodies were
found lying in the beds, and it is sup
posed that some of the men never
woke from their sleep.