The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-03-18
Unknown man, hands and arms burn .


o"hnoWh man, hands ana arms ourn'
Gu.
Inc names could not be checked and
~ Two hours from the time the IRE
proke OUT the entire structure was IN
RUNS ana the streets on three Sides OF
inc building were filled with debris
rom ialieh walls anu chimneys, while
ti'e slreams OF water being poured upon
'ie interior OF the ruins had no other
erect than to I'LL the air with clouds OF
sc"'ushs steam, making II Impossible Tor
ahy one 10 approach near enough to
search tor the bodies of those who per-
ished.
a Spectacular Fire.
The fire was the most spectacular that
could be imagined. When It broke out
Fifth avenue was crowded with people
watching the st. Patrick's Day parade
and every window In the front OF the
hotel facing Fifth avenue was filed
with spectators. The day was all that
could be desired and an unusually large
number OF people were on the rtreets
on that account, n fact which interfered
not little with the movements of the
policemen and iiremen. AS soon as the
lames were discovered shooting from
the windows that part Of the ST. Pat
rick's Day procession which was near
the building came to halt and In a few
minutes the parade was dlsbanded, for
the ponce came rushing toward the fire
from every direction and. as far as they
were aple' drove the people from the
streets. One alarm after another wnG
turned IN and the first o: the fire en-
slhes was not long In appearing upon
liz, the scehe The engines caused d villa
seratiloie among tile paraders and spec
tatOrs as they rushed along the street
and fell into n,.;,,n, Co., .o,,.,,,
fsi''' io' 'H'Ns
III aocilion 10 the regular guests Of the
| hotel. the windows were crowded by q
large number OF sDec,,tore rcsIdonts .,
tb,. o,.,. ,,.,,, ,,, v,
$50 '' So'S So'S1 'helc ~
/ WitEcss the parade.
1yoro p,,,, c,..
i""'c'''richc"'
SUN hiter 'he mrs. alarm was given
| people in the lower floors or tbe bota,
those VINO had easy access to the street
ana the bar. commenced to pour out of
the building In great numbers, but it
very soon became apparent that great
| majority Of the occupants of the hotel
We're either panic stricken or unable to
make their way to the ground floor.
| Windows were thrown up on every side
of tho bu,,d,nr o,a ,,,,, -,
, 'A hNe'' HioS''
"o''eh' III al stages Oh terror. made
| their appearance and uttered frantic ap-
peals for nssigtonra IN ,bo ,ro,.1 h,,o,,
| "S SS|''"'
| - '' t''"ieS SatHered ABOUT them they
became more and more terror-strlcken,
and presently some of them stood upon
| the narrow window sills and bcckoneil
| to the spectators that they were about
| TO leap. The men. collected upon the
| sidewalks ready to render any assist
| hnce they could. and In the meantime
| some of he women left the window sllls
| and dropped to the streets.
In most instances the efforts to catch
| them and break their awful falls were
unavailing for they struck the side
walk. and in most cases broken limbs
were the result.
,Io,
'o't hesc"cS.
AS soon as the iircmen could get their
| scaling ladders in position they climbed
| the sIfles or tho h,,,,,,t, ,,,,,
o,,or,, ne anu e'''e'e Gu "'
e'' "'''uo" "heFe 'here was an un-
-. "i'pe"''''s iof ass'stance' ana
no,..s ~. a., .,. eu' "eie VIZ
| the corner Of Fortv,snventh s,roat ,nd ~!
Fifth avenue, directly across from tbe
hotel Is the home of Miss Helen Gould,
ma at her direction many OF the
| injured were Carrie there and were
treated Dy physicians and nurses whom
sne had sent FOR. In the meantime the
| chief or police had telephoned to every
| hospital In the city asking that assist
nnce be sent.
Ambulances forced their wav through
| the crowds as quickly as possible and
The injured people who had made the
lrightful leaps from the hotel windows,
were placed in them and removed to the
| hospitals. Several occupants OF the
| hotel appeared Mt the windows of the
sixth and seventh stories and even on
the roof and lcaped to the streets from
| those points. Very few of them es-
| capped either Instant death or INJURIES
which resulted In their death short
| time later.