The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-04-11
BESET WITH SOUVENIR FIENDS.
Charred Bits From the Windsor Hotel
Fire Sold For Good Price.
New York Herald

New York Heralu.J
One of the most curious features of
the great crowds that besieged the
ruins of the Windsor hotel fire was the
inordinate persistency of souvenir
fiends. Scores of them stopped at MOTH
ing to get some charred relic from these
smoking heaps of debris, and the more
gruesome the association connected
with it the more money they were Will
ing to pay for it. OF the tens of thou-
sands of persons that surrounded the
police lines a very small proportion was
able to get anywhere near the scene of
the fire But nothing feazes the souve-
mir crank Laborers were stopped; as
they went to and fro with their shovels,
and once the men employed understood
there was money in it, they began to
fill their pockets with bits OF CHINA
ware, cutlery, bottles, spoons, buckles
and all sorts of other things as they
were returning from work. There was
no trouble in selling them at anywhere
from to so cents each. Small boys
sold bits of burned brick for a penny.
SO long as the articles taken from the
ruins We're of no intrinsic value the
searchers did not interfere with the
men taking them away Anything IIldt
might possibly lead to Identification OF
the missing was, OF course, retained.
But it was not all barter and trade
by any means Only those bought who
had not the facilities to get inside the
ropes and plead for souvenirs with
the firemen and policemen. 1t was so
much more romantic, you know, to get
a relic from the ruins in that way than
to buy it. On Sunday, particularly,
Fifth avenue, in front of the ruins, was
swamped with visitors, many of them
prominent politicians of the city, VINO
took ladies with them.
Young mon emUlOVed in the various
city departments who could get hold OF
a fire badge or a note from some man
in power considered it a great thing to
take their girls to see the ruins, and
many of the girls enjoyed the dlstlnc-
ton much more than they would nave
enjoyed an invitation to the theatre
One Young woman with rosy cheeks
rushed up to her companion and said:
"Oh. Just see what John has got me
from the ruinsl A half-burned pro-
gramme of the Mckinley inauguration
ball. How do you suppose it got
Il wouldn't give snap for that"
said her unfeeling companion. II you
could get something from somebody
who was really burned to death. now,
il would be worth taking home"
1t was all the men on guard could do
to keep predatory persons from carry
ing away articles of actual value. A
policeman stopped one young man who
was getting away with an ivory glove
| stretcher to give to the lady who &C
companied him.
| "I'Il give you a. dollar for it," said he,
when the policeman told MIN ne must
give it up.
"TlI see the building inspector" said
the policeman. Then, when he came
back: HE says you can have 1t, but
keep it in your pocket. Thank you,
sir
But most of the visitors were salts
fed with some trifie-bits of twisted
metal. fragments of crockery, buttons,
KEYS and things of that sort. Kodak
pictures of the ruins readily sold at ;
| cents each, and larger photographs sold
at from so cents to 81. No fire in years
has awakened such interest.
on the opposite side of Fifth avenue
was a photographer showcase stand
ing right out on the sidewalk. Three
sides of ii were of glass. Inside the
case were photographs of Jean de
Reszke, Nine. Sehmbrich, Nine Leh-
mann and other operate artists. The
showcase remained unharmed through
the fire. and the photographs are as
good now as they ever were. Large
windows behind and all around the
showcase were smashed TO smlthereens
Electric lamps on either side of the
hotel were untouched, although bricks
were falling about them all the time
In the cafe of the hotel a large punch
bowl remained intact, though the mar
BILE of the mantelpiece on which it
stood was cracked to pieces.