davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-02-11
LAST PETITION FILED,
SEEKS TO SET THE COURTS DE-
CREE ASIDE. Q
the Matter OF Issuinu Receivers
Certificates.

Galveston, Texas, February 10,--ln the
suit OF a. j. Tullock VS.. The Galveston,
La Porte and Houston Railway Company.
now pending in the United States circuit
court for tho Eastern district OF Texas, the
Union Trust company this morning nled a
petition to set aside the decree OF the court
pioyiding for the issuing of receivers GER,
tincates. Petitioner alleges THAT IL is the
trustee Of ali the property of tha company.
anu tnat tho receivers weie permitled 10
Issue certlncates oil lndeDIeaneSs 10 an
amount not exceeuing S5uUUvVs ana That
they were authorized 10 purchase ioiiiAS
stock To the amount OF Sio.Is4. THAT pets.
toner MAS hot Il party 10 this cause AT the
time OF the nling OF the petition by tae
decree ausnoriziag lno issuance OF no
certincates be set aside and that a hearing
OH the receivers application be hal 9e
novo. Petitioner alleges that at the time
oil the mortgage the railway was only au-
thoii2eu TO construct ITS line from the town
oil La Porte. in Harris county, TO Houston,
a distance OF twenty-five miles, hnu 81 to
operate branch III a northeasteriy direc-
ton through the counties OF Harris, Chaln-
beers, Liberty, Hardin, Tyler, Jasper and
Newton, distance OF $50 miles,, aud from
Ia Porte to Galveston, a distance oil thirty-.
HVe miles. petitlOucf uenteb tnal IL Wus
necessary for the extensions set forth in
the receivers petition to be made. That at
the time the application was made Tor per-
mission to issue receivers certificates The
company had sufficient rolling stock to en-
able 1t to operate its road. That the eN-
peuditure of $4,000 was not necessary to
put the road i'll good condition. That the
main or trunk line and the branch line
are separate and distinct pieces of prop
erty, and asks TINT an order be served upon
T. w. House and NJ. 4. Jones. receivers,
TO appear at such time as may be desig-
mated to show cause why the relief prayed
for should not be granted.
In chambers at Jefferson, Texas. Judge
Bryant made the following order. Ordered
that the petition be set down for hearing
before this court ait Galveston, on Monday,
February II. 1898, and that notice be given
forthwith by service upon the parties In
this suit or their solicitors OF copy OF
said petition and this ORDER
This was the last day of service In the
Federal court and no additional petitions
On interyentions can be flied in the La
Porte matter for the approaching term Of
court. ssss 1913
The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-02-11
new qime' card Next sunday.

The Galveston, Houston and Hendeisen
will Issue new time card next Sunday
governing the running Of passenger 'iains
between Houston and Galveston. in con-
nection with the international and Great
Northern and the Missouri, ksnsas and
Texas. The early morning train VIII ieRye
Galveston at 3:45 a. m. and arrive at tie
Grand Central depot ut 5:15 4. m. The
Katy's northbound night train viil .e,iSe
Galveston at $50 p. IN. instead OF go
p. m. Train No. II of the International
and Great Northern, leaving houston at !
p. M, and train No. IL, arriving from
Galveston at 9:45 a. M, will be r'ston
tinued between Houston and Gal teston.
The international and Great Northern
and the Katy have not announced their
cards effecting trains north os Houston
The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-02-11

~ne following reduced passenger rates
have been authorized BY Texas roads:
Houston and Texas Ccntrai--For Tom
GREEN'S brigade reunion. Bsevillc. Texas.
February Fl and as, from Hampstead.
The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-02-11

u.s..
/ $3.50 to
fday. Six
d rooms.
y. Large
Zoo IN S.
/ located.
pn,uioda-
CONNER
In tho
The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-02-11
Dtel Bristol,

HOUSTON. TExAs.
Fan Plan, So and $3.50 per Day.
hy irst-cisss. centrally located:
Ter Elevator. Electric Lights.
Heat. Return and Cal. Bells III All
Elegantly furnished. now and
bmcdaticns unsurpassed by any
the city.
kJRIsON & MALIN. Managers.
Formerly of Capitol hotel.
The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-02-11
THE HOTELS

HOTEL
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-23
NARROW ESCAPE
OF SOME GUESTS
WeII-known People Who
Were Almost SuffO-
Gated by the
Flames.

In the southwest corner of the fifth
floor, the servants apartments, a dozen
men and women huddled together at
the windows, striving to keep away
from the suffocating smoke in des-
perate effort to preserve life for few
moments longer, although there seemed
no hope of escape. There was no fire
escape within reach and the longest
ladders were too short by far.
Tom Walton, captain of Engine g.,
valiantly climbed up and by means of
a, rope rescued all he could see, but the
chances are that several sank to the
floor from exhaustion before their res
cue could be effected.
c. r. Sabin lay sick on the top floor
and was carried down by E. A. Mona
han.
D. Weller, a travelling man, who was
in room 444 escaped in his night
clothes, and Major Whitmore of the
Sixth California, who was in room 424,
also had narrow escape.
Henry Frolich, a bookmaker at the
racetrack, and his wife. who were in
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-23
BALDWIN AND
kOWALSkY SAFE
They Were Dragged Half
Stupefied From Their
Rooms.

Colonel Kowalsky was asleep in his
rooms and was with great difficulty
awakened. His door was locked and
the rescuers were obliged to break it
in. He was found in his bed breath
ing heavily and half stupefied, but
soon revived when brought to the air.
All the splendid paintings and costly
furniture and hangings of his rooms
are a total loss.
Lucky Baldwin also had a narrow
escape from perishing with his splen-
did building. Amid all the din he slept
peacefully until his room was broken
into and he was dragged from his bed.
Truly his luck was with him then,
as few of the inmates were thoughtful
enough to smash in a door for the re-
If f fellow occupant.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-23
PANIC REIGNED
in THE VICINITY
Denizens OF Adjacent Lode-
ing Houses Rushed to
the Streets i'm
DeShabiile.

The entire scene about the streets
surrounding the hotel was something
never seen in San Francisco before.
Ellis street, from Powell to Stockton,
was visited by a shower of living fire
with chunks of burnt wood which had
been carried skyward by the force of
the flames until thrown back to the
earth, striking the pavements and
spreading out in a mass of fire, until
the street looked as if it had been
paved with bricks of fire.
When the electric lights went out
in the hotel the confusion became a
panic. Guests ran through the hall
ways, running against each other,
sometimes throwing the weaker body
down and invariably walking over the
PROSTATE forro
Police officers could be seen running
along the streets carrying valises and
bundles which had been thrown from
the windows by half -crazed guests, who
had evidently despaired of saving their
effects.
From the numerous lodging houses
in the tenderloin about the hotel
women rushed out on the sidewalk in
anything but street promenading cos
tunp
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-23
OUT OF SLEEP
TO FACE DEATH
Men, Women and Children
JOin i'm a Mad Race
For Life.

| A few minut after o'clock this
morning fire broke out in the kitchen
of the Baldwin Hotel on the easterly
end near where the main structure
joins with the annex and spread with
such frightful -pidity that the
splendid structure, erected from the
winnings of the famous race horse man,
is now a mass of seething ruins and
other buildings in the vicinity are
complete wrecks.
The fire was first discovered by occu-
pants of the upper floor, but those who
should have sounded the ala.m fed like
frightened sheep, thinking only OF their
own safety. In a few moments The
blaze had broken through the roof. and
as the lurid flare lit up the sky the cry
of Fire, fire. was taken up along the
street. Almost simultaneously an alarm
was sounded by one of the employees,
who fortunately kept his head, and
wild scene began inside the structure.
Wild employees and wilder guests ran
shrieking through the corridors and
pulled terrified sleepers out Of their
beds.
Men, women and children came
crushing and tumbling down the stairs
in mad haste-forgetful Of one another
and thinking only of the red-tongued
demon pursuing them down the stairs.
Some were fully dressed-others par
tally dressed-whiIe all attempted to
carry something down in their arms,
and as is the usual case the articles
saved were those which might best
have been left behind.
Outside the bowling, jostling mob
as a frightened face would appear at
a window a hundred jumbled voices
shouted unintelligible instructions.
and the poor occupants Of rooms
knew not whittier to turn. Meanwhile
the flames were gathering in volume.
and rapidly creeping down the elevator
and air shafts.
The Fire department soon arrived
and two m31e alarms were hurriedly
turned in, but the red fiare on the Sky
tod Lru6r LndN WOIQS the QOOIn OIL the
colossal stru :: ule.
Guests were scrambling down fire
escapes and ladders to the accompani-
ment of clinking glass and hoarse cries
from the sidewalks, frenzied wives were
searchil for missing husbands. and
fathers and mothers were trembling
over the fate of children l. behind
during the fight.
Thanks to the able efforts Of the fire
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-23

room 20S on the third floor, were driven
from their bed by the fierce burst of
smoke and flames. Escape by the hall
way was impossible and they jumped
from their window to a balcony sew
eral feet below and climbed down the
fire escape.
Sandy McNaughton, the well-known
horseman, occupied rooms 60 ana 20 of
the annex. He escaped in his night
clothes just as the ceiling fell IN and
loses $4,000 worth of property.
F. w. Freeman, manager of the Gay
Coney Islal-d Company. had a narrow
escape from room 210 He says that
Toma Hanlon, the leading ladv occu-
pied a room on the top floor, and he
fears she is lost. 1t was afterward
learned that she had escaped.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-23
WHEN THE FIRE
BROKE OUT
Panic Among the Guests.
Grave Fears That Those
on the Upper Floors
Could Not Escape.

Five minutes after the fire alarm
was given the scene in the office Of the
hotel was one pandemonium. For soma
reason the lights throughout the great
caravansary were extinguished, leaving
the guests to grope their way through
the long dark corridors and down the
winding stairs.
The result was that men, women and
children came tumbling d1wn into the
Office in all conditions of habiliments.
Women. who had succeeded in dom
ming their dresses had the strength to
reach the ground floor and then tainted.
Willing hands carried them to places of
safety.
One woman went into widest hys-
terics when she found that her little
boy was not with her She became
senseless and was temporarily taken
into the barber-shop. A moment later
the child appeared, having been taken
in charge by one of the guests
The clerk. Notwithstanding the tre-
mendous excitement that surrounded
him, lent all the assistance and atten-
tion to the police and firemen possible
and hurried messengers throughout the
big building to arouse any guests on
the floors, from the second to the fifth.
who might possibly have not been
awakened by the noise.
He expressed great anxiety for the
safety Of people on the fifth floor.
from which the flames first burst. He
thought that the fire and smoke in the
corridors would shut off the escape of
many, and that the only hope lay In
the assistance Of the hook and ladder
companies.
When asked where the fire started
he said he had not the remotest idea
but thought that it must have begun
on the top floor.
A guest who came from the second
floor with an armful Of clothes and two
hats on his lead said that it started
in the parlors of the second floor and
from there spread until 1t reached the
elevator, where fierce draft carried
the flames to the infiammable upper
story.
This cut off all possible escape for
guests by the elevators and at the same
time gave the fire tremendous start.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-23
A CHAMBERMAID
BELIEVED LOST
Fire Marshal TOWe Hit by
a Falling COrnice on
Market Street.

Sadie Hart, a chambermaid. has not
been seen since she went to bed early
in the evening, and is believed to be
lost.
Miss Herrold and Mrs Sharpe who
occupied rooms on the first floor were
carried out unconscious and taken to
the Lion Pharmacy.
A young ladv and intimate friend of
Baldwin's was also rescued in faint
ing condition from first floor room.
Shortly after o'clock a cornice fell
and struck Fire Marshal Towe on the
head, knocking him down in front of
Engine 1 which was numbering up the
street. The extent of his injuries is not
known.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-23
It has come at last!

1t has come dL 4oSI'
The Baldwin Hotel, which for years
been looked upon as a fre-trap, burst
into flames early this morning, and
is rapidly becoming a mass of charred
and blackened ruins.
It was a few minutes after o'clock
this morning when the alarm came in,
and even as the bell changed it out the
skies lit up with the flash Of the burn
ing building. The fire started in the
kitchen near the we'll between the hotel
and theater and springing upward, 1T
was soon leaping high from the roof.
It spread like the wind and from a
single torch like flare it ran along the
walls until it was a sheet Of flame
The hotel alarm, a contrivance sup
posed to warn the sleeping guests Of
their danger, was rung and rung again,
but it needed all the assistance a
score of attendants could give to rouse
the inmates. They ran screaming up
and down the hall, kicking at rooms
and yelling to the people to fly
Within a few minutes the halls in
the upper floor were full of smoke, and
into this the frightened guests plunged
and made for the stairway. Men half
dressed dragging frantic women
screaming wives and shouting hus-
bands. people bearing burdens of all
kinds and all with staring eyes and
gaming mouths made for the stairway
5 a,,Do themselves down
Through the office they rushed, and
ont into the street; but the flames fol-
lowed them so fast they licked the
skirts of the hying women and made
the men drop their last bundles IN
their rush for safety.
Lines of no were hurried up the
stairs, b.t the flames soon beat the
firemen back, and then the police
cleared the building, and they fought
from the outside.
Higher and higher the flames Ieapeo
until they enveloped the cupola on the
corners and hid the sky with their
snoke-and then in the midst of it all
people began to crawl from the win
dows far up near the roof and scream
franticalIy for the fire escape.
The crowds groaned, and the men
shouted and called to one another to
go up and save them, and the flames
reached for their victims until the peo-
pie on the street turned their heads
away and waited.
Some women were seen on the Mar
ket-street side, standing in window
and screeching for help.
They were far above the reach Of
ladders, and there seemed no hope un-
Ill man appeared beside them with
a rope and arted to let them down to
the firemen just below him on the
fourth 1oor Five Of them he lowered
and these were all taken In through
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-23
FIRED THREE
SHOTS AT THEM
Bold Thieves Attempt to
Get Away With a Val
liable Trunk.

During the progress of the fire three
thieves entered the hotel and stole a
trunk containing considerable jewelry
and wearing apparel. They succeeded
in passing the police line and started
up Powell street. On reaching O'Far-
relI street the desperate thieves stopped
as If exhausted from their heavy load,
Special officer Judge happened along
at this juncture, and -suspecting that
the men had stolen the trunk awaited
developments.
In few minutes they again picked
up the trunk and hurriedly walked up
O'Farrell street.
Judge lost no time In notifying Po-
liceman Harry Hook, who was stand
ing at Ellis and Powell streets. and to-
gether they started after the thieves.
AS they ran up O'Farrell street they
saw the men engaged in breaking open
the trunk.
Catching a glimpse Of Hook the
thieves ran away. Hook, who is one
of the crack shots of the department,
called upon them to stop, and as they
paid no heed to his command, he drew
his pistol and fired three shots at them.
One of the men was seen to stagger
and it is believed that Hook succeeded
in winging him.
The officer being anxi ,us to return to
the scene of the disastrous fire did not
pursue the thieves, evidently satisfied
to recover the stolen trunk.
Subsequently it was conveyed to the
Golden West Hotel, where it will be
held until the owner calls for it. The
owner is an agent for an Eastern jew
elry house, and it is said that the
trunk contains a miscellaneous assort-
ment of diamonds and jewelry.
The thieves were evidently aware of
this fact, and in the excitement due
to the fire managed to get away with
the trunk
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-23

! the fourth floor corridors and down the
main stairway.
Then he fastened the rope for himself
and commenced to descend He was a
heavy man and the rope was small. It
stretched, snapped, and the man
plunged down to the stone sidewalk.
It was a guest of the hotel, A. ]. White,
a well-known capitalist of this city.
He was dead before they raised him
from the pavement.
1t burned fer est toward the Powell
street side, and soon the police began
to clear the street. Then the engines
drew away and pulled the hose as far
toward the corner as they could.
The wall was falling.
1t had not moved, but it was only a
thin sheet of flame, and as the crowds
stood breathless it began to totter.
1t leaned already out toward the
street, the sound of rending timbers
rose above the roar Of flames and wind
and throbbing engines, and then with
a mighty crash it threw itself down
into the street and lay heaped high in
ruins.
On the Ellis street side a man was
! seen running along the cornice, wav-
ing his hand to the crowd below and
irving to understand the frantic cries
tie people below sent up to him.
He passed the fire escape again and
again, but it seemed as if he had COM
pletely lost his head, and to save him
Foreman Keogh of Truck started up
the fre-escape, cheered by the crowd
and deluged with sparks and cinders.
But there were more cheers when he
made his way slowly down again with
the half -crazed man with him.
The building burned from the inside,
and the brilliant glare lit up the win
dows one by one as it crept downward
until every pane was a blaze of light,
and every sach was wreathed in smoke.
Down the elevator shaft 1t came,
and the flames bursting through the
door on the Office floor warned the last
Ioiterer in the Office to be gone.
There was no attempt to save the
building after the fire had been fif-
teen m -es in control. It was a case
of saving adjoining property.
The theater was a mass Of flare and
roar and leaping flames. In the annex
fire cleaned from every window and
it seemed as If the whole block, from
Powell to the gore, was doomed.
There were 200 guests in the hotel
and scores of servants. They say they
all were warned and all got out, but
about the servants up on the upper
floor they are not so sure.
Every door accessible was wrecked
by those who ran through the halls, but
the rooms away up there were many,
and the fire raced like a hunted deer,
SO if there were any who did not hear
the cry God help them.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-23
THE BALDWIN HOTEL BLOCK
ENTIRELY GUTTED BY FIRE

the fiery caldron that was seething and
Christie made a thrilling picture,
silhouetted against the flames and wild
ly and pleadingly waving his hands to
those below.
OF death in the abstract he had no
fear, but he declared that he had de-
termined to escape the torture of. being
burned to death.
THAT fifteen minutes on the edge of
that roof were the longest 1 or any 9TH
er man ever lived" he remarked, when
interviewed after his rescue. "I gave
myself up for lost several times. Once
or twice I was nearly overcome by the
smoke. 1 had an open razor in my
hand, which I had the precaution to
take when 1 was driven out Of my
room by the smoke"
What did you expect to do with the
razor?" he was asked.
What do you suppos0? To finish N.Y.
self, of course. If I saw that 1 was
goner. You don't think that I wanted
to be roasted in the furnace"
He added that he had occupied room
514 on the fifth floor Of the hotel.
He was awakened by the smoke pour
ing into his apartment. All the ordi-
nary avenues of escape were then cut
off, so he made his way to the roof,
with the result described.
He is a traveller for the Milwaukee
firm of Abel & Bach. manufacturers
of trunks and valises.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-23
NO INSURANCE
ON BUILDING

At o'clock the walls were tottering
and the policemen were ineffectually
struggling to keep the crowd back.
Lucky Baldwin was racing around
like a madman trying to find some one
who would go into his room and bring
out something-what it was he would
not state-but a negro servant is au-
thority for the statement that it was a
set of gold mounted harness valued at
$1,000
There is no insurance on the building
and the Hibernia Savings and Loan So
ciety holds a lien Of 100000 on the
ground.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-23
GALLANT DEED
OF A TRUCKMAN
One Guest Prepared to Cut
His Throat to Avoid
IncinepatiOn.

One of the most thrilling incidents of
the catastrophe was the extremely mar
row escape of A H Christie, one of the
guests of the hotel, from the horrible
fate of being incinerated while in the
full flush of health.
For fully fifteen minutes, in full
view of the terror-stricken multi
tude down below, on Eddy street, he
crawled, or ther dragged himself,
hither and thither along the edge of the
roof of the hos elry, in vain effort to
find some avenue Of safety to the
thoroughfare, eighty feet beneath.
During all this time futile shouting
was being done by nearly every one
who was witness to the scene. He
was on the Ellis street side, about
twenty feet from the corner of Powell.
Just below, but with it's highest point
at least fifteen feet beyond his reach,
was a fire escape ladder. Firemen
scaled this and endeavored to throw
him a ropes end, but without even a
faint approach to success.
After quarter OF an hour na0 Deen
thus spent, E. H. Kehoe of Truck No.
thought of the fire escape near the
eastern end of the structure, also on
the Ellis-street side.
He rapidly ran to the top of it, which
was within a foot or two of the roof,
ran westward along the roof. took hold
of Christie and led him back to the fire
escape and to safety, amid the cheers
of the throng of spectators.
While in his precarious perch,
threatened momentarily by death In