The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-03-18
CAUGHT IN A DEATH TRAP.
Continued from First Page.

were carried there and were treated by
physicians and nurses whom she had sent
for.
In the meantime the chief of police had
telephoned 10 every hospital in the city
asking that assistance be sent to the fire
sufferers. Ambulances forced their way
through the crowds as quickly as possible
and the injured removed to the hospitals
Several occupants of the hotel appeared
at the windows of the Sixth and Seventh
stories and even on the roof and leaped TO
the streets from those points. Very few
of them escaped either instant death or
injuries which resulted in their death a
short time later.
Walls Fell With IA Crash.
Within forty or forty-five minutes after
the fire broke out the walls on the Fifth
avenue side showed every indication of
falling and shortly, with an awful crash,
they struck the asphalt covering of the
street in front of the hotel. This fail
weakened the walls on the Forty-sixth and
Forty-seventh streets sides, and they fol-
lowed a moment later. When the walls
fell. the bricks and mortar and twisted
Orders and corrugated iron filed the
streets on three sides of the hotel.
The doorsteps and iron fences in front
of the houses on the opposite sides of the
streets from the hotel were wrecked by
the failing walls and the amount of de-
bris piled in the streets was so great that
travel will be impeded for several days.
The northeast wing of the hotel continued
TO burn for half an hour after the walls
of the other part of the building fell. Fire
men continued to play streams upon the
flames and also upon all the adjoining
buildings, including Miss Gould's residence,
which seemed in imminent danger of
catching fire, but the flames were brought
under control before they could reach any
of them.
Discovered by a Hall Boy.
A hall boy discovered the flames while
he was passing along the fourth floor, i'm
mediately over the rooms occupied by
President Mckinley brother, Abner Nc
Kinley and his family.
The boy pulled a chain attached to the
fire alarm, but the chain broke, and then
y
the floor below The blaze was then lick
ing up everything on the Fifth avenue end
of the building, and the lad, when he got
to the floor above the main hall, ran into
the American dining room and gave the
alarm to the guests there. Only few
persons were in the dining room al the
time and they escaped.
to1, al
Warren F. Leland, the 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 boy then rushed down the
basement stairway and alarmed the wo-
men. who were at work in the laundry 1t
is believed that all of them escaped.
One of the Daring Rescuers.
One of the most daring rescues effected
BY the fremen occurred on the fifth floor
on the Fifth avenue front An elderly wo-
man was seen at a window, and two fire.
men succeeded in reaching the window inn
mediately underneath One of them
climbed 10 the coping of the window on
which she was standing, and then stepped
over to the woman. He swung her clear
Of The window and landed her safely in
the arms of his companion, who, with the
assistance of several other firemen, passed
the woman down TO the street.
Fires First Horror.
The first horror occurred just fifteen
po,nrtes after the fire broke out. A hand
some woman appeared at the window of
a room on the fourth floor. She held out
her arms to the crowd below Then she
wrapped her hands as If in supplication,
| and in a moment climbed to the window
and leaned. She turned about like top,
| and struck the iron railing in front of the
| hotel Her body seemed to be impaled
there. but it fell off and into the area way.
She was dead. The woman was identified
as Mrs. Amelia Paddock of Irvington, N.
Y.
| One of the most thrilling scenes Of the
fre-at a time when the building was
| seething cauldron of hame-was the he
roic rescue Of several women from the
unner stories. One had been carried down
from the nfth Story. MIS- a H. uiler
of Pittsburg then appeared with her maid
al the window of the fourth story. 1t
seemed like an age before the ladder was
lowered. FIremen ran up and with great
difficulty brought down Mrs. Fuller and
her maid. Just as she was gotten out
~ the window, a middle-aged woman APP
reared at a window just north of that
at which the ladder was placed.
The woman, fearing she would not be
rescued. prepared 10 jump She was warn
Cd to keep back and became panic stricken
and stepped back into the dense smoke
A hook and ladder man seeing the desper-
| alton OF the woman, seized scaling lad
der and went up story after story through
| the binding smoke. He climbed TO she
coming lust as the woman reappeared. The
fireman seized her by the waist, and, hold
inc her tightly to the wall Of the building
crept slowly on the coping and passed the
es...t,.- ,.,ornan 10 another fireman who