The Bourbon news., 1899-03-21
Little Progress Made in Remov-
ing the Debris From the
Ruins of the Hotel.
Abner McKinley's Family. Who We're
Guests of the Hotel, Mirac-
uOusly Escaped,
Daring Rescues, From Windows to Death,
Scenes of Heartrending Intensity
Described-FinanciaI Loss of
Almost One Million Dol
lars on Hotel.

New YORK, March 1Q.-Flames which
originated from the igniting of lace
curtain burst forth from the second
floor of the Windsor hotel at 18th
street and Fifth avenue, shortly after
3 o'clock Friday afternoon, just as the
st. Patrick's day parade was passing
the building and in few moments
they had leaped up to the roof
and cnveloped the entire Fifth
avenue and 47th street fronts
of the hotel. Ten minutes later
the flames were roaring through the
interior of the hotel, and all escape
by means of stairways and elevators
was cut off. There was the widest
scene of excitement within and with
out the building. Hundreds of guests
and employees were in the hotel when
the fire broke out, and for many of
them to escape with safety was impos-
sible.
Soon after the first alarm was given
people in the lower floors of the hotel,
and the stairway, commenced to pour
out of the building in great numbers,
but it soon became very apparent that
great majority of the occupants
of the hotel were either panic
stricken or unable to make
their way to the ground floor.
Windows were thrown up on every
side. of the building and the guests,
mostly women, in all stages of terror,
made their appearance and uttered
frantic appeals for assistance to the
crowd below. AS the flames gathered
about them they became more and
more terror stricken. and presently
some of them stood upon the narrow
tators that they were about to leap.
The men collected upon the sidewalks
ready to render any assistance they
could, and in the meantime some of
the women left the window sills and
dropped to the streets. In most in
stances the efforts to catch them and
break their awful fall were unavailing,
for they struck the sidewalk and in
most cases broken limbs were the re-
suit.
As soon as the fremen could get
their scaling ladders into position they
: climbed the sides of the building and
entered at every window where there
was an unfortunate guest appealing
Of In
roic rescue were witnessed by the
throng in the streets. At the corner of
47th street and 5th avenue, directly
across from the hotel is, the home of
Miss Helen Gould, and at her direc-
tion many of the injured were
carried there and were treated by
physicians and nurses whom she had
sent for. In the meantime the chief of
police had telephoned to every hospital
in the city, asking that assistance be
sent. Ambulances forced their way
through the crowds as quickly as pos
sible and the injured people who had
made the frightfu leaps from the hotel
windows were placed in them and re-
pants of the hotel appeared at tthewin-
dows 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 in
stant death or injuries which resulted
in their deaths a short time later.
One of the most daring rescues 5ef-
fected by the firemen occurred on the
fifth floor on the. 5th avenue front.
An elderly woman was seen at a win
dow and two fremen succeeded in
reaching the window Immediately un-
derneath. One of them climbed to the
coping of the window on which she was
standing and then swung the woman
clear of the window and landed her
safe in the arms of his companion, who
with the assistance of several other
firemen, passed her down to the street.
The first horror occurred just Is
minutes after the fire broke out. A
handsome woman appeared at the win
dow of a room on the fourth floor. She
held out her arms to the crown below.
Then she raised her hands as if in sup
pication, and IN moment climbed to
the window and leaped. She turned
about like top and struck the iron
railing in front of the hotel. Her body
seem to be impaled there, but fell off