Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1899-03-23
Horrible Fatality Attends its
Destruction.
FIFTEEN KILLED AND MANY HURT
Heroic Rescues by Those Who
Fought the Fire.
The Windsor Hotel, New York, Entirely
Destroyed by Flames That Swept With
Amazing Rspidity-Grand Work of the
Firemen-The Windsor Famous Hotel.

per of Fifth avenue and Forty seventh
street, this afternoon.
The hotel was full of wealthy guests,
many Of whom were women. Their
panic was terrible when the flames
suddenly caught them in furnace
from which escape for many seemed
impossible.
The fire was one OF the worst horrors
of the kind that ever occurred in this
city. It stated from the igniting of
lace curtain few minutes after 3 y.
M, and in two hours the hotel was in
ruins.
The fire burst forth from the second
floor of the building Just as St. Pat
ricl's Day parade was passing.
The burning lace curtain from which
the fire started was discovered by a
hall boy while he was passing along
the fourth floor Just above the rooms
occupied by the family of President
McKinley's brother, Abner Mckinley.
The boy pulled chain attached to the
fire alarm, but the chain broke. Then
he cried out an alarm of fire and ran to
the floors below.
The blaze by that time was licking
up everything on the Fifth avenue end
of the building. The lad, when he
got to the floor above the main hall,
ran into the dining room and gave the
alarm to the guests there.
Only a few persons were in the
dining room at the time, and they
escaped.
When the boy reached the main floor
Warren f. Leland, proprietor of the
hotel, was in the rear of the long hall,
and the boy shouted to him that the
building was on fire. On Mr.. Leland's
instructions the clerks tried to save
all the books and papers.
The lad then rushed down the base
ment stairway and alarmed the women
who were at work in the laundry.
GUESTS IN AN ACCOUNTING PLIGHT
Ten minutes later the flames were
roaring through the interior of the
hotel, aud all means of escape by tht
stairways and elevators were cut off.
There was wild scene of excitement
within and without the building Hun
dreds Of guests and employees were ir
the hotel when the fire broke out anc
for many of them escape with safet.
was impossible. At least 10 of thu
killed lost their lives within hal
hour. Many other persons were injured
in jumping from windows and in rush
ing through the roaring flames in tn
corridors and on the stairways.
Some who we're injured died later a
nearby residences and at hospitals
Others who made wild leaps to the ston
sidewalk were so badly injured that the
are still lowering between life an
death.
The flames could not be checked
and in two hours from the time tn
fire broke out the entire structure wa
in ruins.
MANY HEROIC REscuEs.
One OF tho most daring rescue
effected by the firemen at the WindsC
Hotel occurred on the fifth floor on tn
Fifth avenue front. An elderly woma
was seen at a window, and two fireme
succeeded in reaching the windo
underneath. One of them climbed
the coping over the window on whic
he was standing and then stepped ovt
to where the woman was waving HI
hands despairingly. He then swur
the woman clear of the window an
landed her safely in the arms of h
companion, who, with the assistan,
of several other tiremen, passed Il
woman down to the street.
The first horror occurred Just
minutes after the fire broke out.
handsome woman appeared at the wi
dow of room on the fourth floor. 81
held our her arms to the crowd belo'
Then she raised her hands as if in su
plication, and in moment climbed
the window and leaped.
She turned about like a top, al
struck the iron railing in front Of t
hotel. Her body seemed to be impal
there, but it fell off and into the are
identified as Amelia Paddock of Irvir
ton, N. Y.
cHEERED HAIRBREADTH REscUEs.
One of the most thrilling scenes
the fire--at a time when the huildi
was a cauldron Of fame-was I
heroic rescue of several women fir
the upper stories.
Mrs. A. Ii. Fuller of Pittsburg,
pesred with her maid at window
tho fourth story. 1t seemed like
age before the ladder was put
position. Firemen ran up and, W
great difficulty. brought down NJ
Fuller and her maid.
just as she had been gotten oui
the window middle aged woman
peared at window north of that
which the ladder was placed. I
woman, fearing she would not be
cued, prepared to jump. She
warned to keep back, became pal
stricken and stepped back into
dense smoke that was pouring from
window.
1t seemed as if she had jumped
the flames below in despair. A he
and-ladder man seized scaling lac
and went up, story after story, thro
the binding smoke. He climbed
the coping just as the woman r,
peared. The fireman seized her bv
waist and, holding her tightly to
wall of the building, crept little
little on the coping and passed
tainting woman TO another fireman
had braced himself to receive her.
There was dreadful suspense as
second fireman drew the woman toy
him and finally had her safely on
ladder. A tremendous cheer went
from the crowd
MEN AS WELL AS WOMEN sAvEI
Fireman John Hanna of the fire
Mills, rushed through the smok
the top floor and found aged n
Waterman MacNichol half suffice;
Hanna lowered him by means of
to the fire escape two stories below
let himself down in the same
His hands were badly cut by the
Then Hanna assisted the old man
the fire escape.
William Kennedy of engine com
No. %, rescued Mrs. Brann from
fourth floor of the hotel by means
scaling ladder. His rescue was oh,
by the crowd.
A crippled woman was found
on the floor of a room on the fc
l. H. a..