Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-11-24
FIRE At FRISCO.
Famous Baldwin Hotel Burned,
Wednesday Morning.
Two Lives Known to Be Lost and
Several Persons Missing.
Loss viii Reach at Least $780, 900 With
But Small Insurance.

San Francisco, Nov. 23.-The Bald
win Hotel, for almost 80 years one of
the principal landmarks on San Fran
cisco, is no more. A fire which broke
out in the east end of the building,
shortly after 3 o'clock this morning,
supposedly in the property room of the
Baldwin theatre, totally destroyed the
immense structure, entailing a finan-
cial loss of nearly S1,500.OO0. The loss
of life so far reported has been
miraculously light, but two deaths hav-
ing occurred as far as known The
dead. injured and missing, so far as
known. are as follows: Dead. Capt. J.
l.. White, San Francisco, capitalist;
Lewis Meyers, Skaguay, Alaska, mer-
chant.
Injured. e. P. Noon, st. Louis. both
ankles broken; George Huber San
Francisco, cut about the body: Miss
Bridget Mitchell, San Francisco, badly
Francisco, cut about head
Missing, J. M. Loghead, San Fran
cisco, purser of steamer City of Sgd
ney; F. Weathersbee and wife, Haver-
hill, Mass; Tate Prior, racing book
writer; F. Andrews, cashier cafe; Fred
Webster; two chambermaids; John
Carter, race track judge: Thomas Ber-
key, assessor, Sacramento, Cal, and
wife.
The financial losses are very heavy,
almost every branch of commercial
trade being directly affected. The
ground floor of the hotel was divided
into large stores and few of their oc-
60
tionng, the majority reporting total
losses. Two of the handsomest cafes
in the city We're Quilted and their stocks
destroyed.
The Baldwin theatre, the fashion
able amusement place of this city, was
totally destroyed with the rest of the
building and the Secret Service" COM
pany headed by VIM. Gillette, now
playing an engagement at the theatre.
lost all it's paraphenalia and accoutre-
ments. Many members of the COM
pany lost most of their belongings and
trunks containing the official papers of
the company We're destroyed.
The flames were confined to the
Baldwin structure. but much adjoin-
ing property was seriously damaged
l.
theatre building on Powell street on
the west side Of the Baldwin building,
suffered considerably and the basement
of the Columbia theatre was Quilted
and much valuable theatrical appa-
ratue destroyed. The Gay Coney Is
land Company will lose considerably
and DR.. Freeman, manager of the COM
pany, who was a guest of the Baldwin,
lost a trunk containing valuable pa
pers and $500 cash.
There We're upwards of 800 guests in
the hotel, when the fire was discovered
aud the scenes which followed beggar
description. The watchmen, bell boys
and other hotel employees worked nobly
in arousing sleeping residents. 1t is
believed that every person in the build
ing was appraised of the danger within
10 minutes after the fire broke out.
but rumors are rife that many of those
in the east wing, where the flames were
discovered, were cut off from escape
and lost. How true this rumor is can
not be definitely told for several days
yet as many parts of the building have
collapsed burying any who may have
been left in the building under the de-
are Eastern turfmen, many of whom
lost all their effects.
What the loss of life will be cannot
be stated at this writing. but SO far
only two deaths have been reported.
Capt. ]. L. White, who occupied
room on the fourth floor, was killed
while trying to escape by means of
cope which dangled from the fifth floor
almost to the street below. The rope
nad previously done good service, being
the means by which five persons es-
capped from the burning building. The
story of the rope is thrilling one.
For eight years Kate Richardson has
been an employe of the hotel, occupy
ing a room on the fifth floor.
Five years ago Miss Richardson, as a
precautionary measure for just such all
emergency, procured rope long
enough to reach from her room to the
street When the alarm was given.
Miss Richardson, with the assistance of
1ussie E. Johnson, companion, tied
he rope to a piece of heavy furniture
md threw it out of the window. The
girls We're about to make the descent
TO the pavement when three lady
guests rushed into the room and beg
ged to be saved.
The brave girls gave precedence to
the guests, and then Miss Johnson took
her position on the rope and went down
hand over hand. Miss Richardson was
the last to leave and she had gone
down but one story when Capt. White
who occupied room on that floor,
called to her appealingly, begging her
not to jump. Miss Richardson stopped
and begged the captain to take her
place on the line. This he refused to
do and only after much persuasion
could he induce Miss Richardson to
save herself, promising to follow in her
wake.
Miss Richardson reached the ground
in safety and Captain White had
launched himself in the air, when the
rope broke and he fell to the ground a
distance OF nearly LOO feet. The rope.
weakened by the strain to which it had
been subjected, and zhafed by contact
with the window sil5s which had be-
come intensely hot, GOULD not stand the
strain Of Captain Whites weight and
broke.
4 The other known death is. that Of
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