Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1899-03-22
NEW YORK HOTEL FIRE.
Magnificent Windsor Building Burned With
Many Guests.

The famous Windsor hotel, which
stood at the corner of Forty-Seventh
street and Fifth avenue, New York,
was destroyed by fire last Friday af:
ternoon. AS many as Is or 20 lives
were lost, and the value of the proper
ty destroyed amounted to more than a
million dollars.
The Windsor was a tremendous
building, almost square in form, about
200 feet each way, seven stories in
height and containing more than 500
rooms. 1t was completed in 1878 by
John T. DAILY at cost Of about $780,
900, and up to about 10 years ago was
the leading hotel of New York, and
famous all over the world. 1t used to
be the most popular rendezvoux of all
the great Wall street operators like
Jay Gould, Daniel Drew, Commodore
Vanderbilt and others, and because of
the numerous financial and railroad
deals that were planned there, it was
known as Wall street at night.
Friday was St. Patrick's day, and
the occasion was celebrated as usual
with monster procession. Many peo-
pie had gathered at the Windsor to
view the procession from the windows,
and these, added to the regular guests,
made much larger crowd in the build
ing than usual. According to the
story of a hall boy, man who was
unknown to the boy, advanced down
one Of the Railways toward window
from which he could get view of the
procession, and lighting cigar on the
way, he carelessly threw down the
burning match, which fell among some
lace curtains and set them on fire.
The boy pulled fire alarm but the
wire broke and then he began shouting
fire. Within few minutes the flames
had spread to many parts of the inte-
rior of the building, and were rushing
up the elevators and stairways, cutting
off these avenues of escape.
The iremen were on hand in re-
markably quick time; but already the
windows of the upper floors were full
of people who had been unable 10 get
out of the building. To extinguish
the flames was already an impossible
undertaking, and the life-savers gave
their attention to the perilous situa-
tions of the imprisoned people on the
upper floors. The following is from
the story sent out by the Associated
Press:
Zone of the most daring rescues ef-
fected by the tiremen occurred on the
fifth floor on the Fifth avenue front.
An elderly woman was seen at win
dow, and two fremen succeeded in
reaching the window underneath. One
of them climbed to 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 wo-
man down to the street.
"The first horror occurred just fif-
teen minutes after the fire broke out
out. A handsome woman appeared at
the window of room on the fourth
floor. She held out her arms to the
crowd below. Then she raised her
hands as if in supplication, and in q
moment climbed 10 the window and
leaped. She turned about like top
and struck the iron railing in front of
the hotel. Her body seemed to be i'm
paled there but it fell off and into the
areaway. She was dead. The body
was identified as Mrs. Amelia Paddock,
of Irvington, N. Y. One of the most
thrilling scenes of the 6re-at a time
when the building was seething caul-
dron of hame-was the heroic rescue
of several women from the upper sto-
ries. One had been carried down from
the fifth story. Mrs. A. H. Fuller, of
Pittsburg, then appeared with her maid
at the window of the fourth story. 1t
seemed like an age before the ladder
was raised. Firemen ran up and with
great difficulty brought down Mrs.
Fuller and her maid. Just as she was
gotten out of the window a middle
aged woman appeared at a window
just north Of that at which the ladder
was placed. The woman, fearing she
would not be rescued, prepared to
Jump. She was warned to keep back
and became panic-stricken and step
ped back into the dense smoke. A
hook and ladder man, seeing the des'
peration of the woman, seized seal
ing ladder and went up story after
story through the binding smoke. He
climbed to the coping just as the wo-
man reappeared. The fireman seized
her by the waist, and holding her tight
|ly to the wall of the building, crept
slowly on the coping and passed the
fainting woman to another fireman,
who had braced himself TO receive her.
There was a dreadful suspense as
the fireman drew the woman toward
him and finally landed her safely on
the ladder. A tremendous cheer went
up from the crowd.
"Fireman John Hanna, Of the fire
boat Zephar Mills, rushed through the
smoke to the top floor and found Night
Watchman McNichol half fasphyxiated.
He rescued him by letting him down
to fire escapes. His hands were badly
cut by the wire used in letting the
watchman down. Hanna then assisted
an old man down the fire escape.
"Fireman William Kennedy, OF en-
CINE company No. %, rescued Mrs.
Brann from the fourth floor of the
hotel by means of a scaling ladder.
Her rescue was cheered by the i'm