The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-11-13
SIXTEEN PAGES A WEEK-SEMI-N Aldrich Curator,
FOUR DE IN HOTEL FIRE.
Flames Destroy Clifford House
at Poplar Bluff, Mo.
MANY ARE BADLY BUE.NED.

MANY ARE BADLY BURNED.
blaze stasre Mt Midnight When Forty-five
Guests Were Asleep--Smol>e and Flames
Prevent Porter From Givia. the Alarm.
Several Persons Missing.
Poplar Bluff, Mo-, NOV. 13.-Hemmed
in by flames in the upper stories of
the Clifford house, an old frame struc
ture that burned like tinder, a number
of persons We're burned or suffocated
to death, others leaped from windows
and suffered the loss of limbs and
other injuries, from which some died.
while scarcely one Of the As or more
sleeping guests in the place got out
without injury and none saved any
thing but their night clothes.
-Four are known to be dead, one Is
missing. three are fatally injured and
more than 20 are burned or otherwise
hurt In the halls of the hotel dozen
or more persons were overcome by heat
and smoke and this leads to the be-
lief that the loss of life will be much
greater than is now known.
The list of known dead is as follows:
Heck Clark. Doniphan, Mo-; Rebecca
Owens. Poplar Bluff. Mo-; Shelby De
Hart, Poplar Bluff, Mo-; Curly Berry,
Poplar Bluff, Mo.
Fatally injured: Eta Hargroye,
Poplar Bluff; Winslow Stowe. Ten
nessee.
Missing: Eugene Dalton. Hot
| Springs, Ark.
The following were badly burned or
injured in jumping from windows: I.
A. Smith, terribly burned about the
face and hands; Barney Pernaud
hands and face burned; Charles Strad-
ley, bruised and burned; Mrs. Benja-
min Shelby, back injured, burned and
bruised; Pink Berry, Elmer Freshear
and James Upchurch, severely burned.
An unknown woman is also thought
to be fatally injured and about u
dozen more were slightly burned or re-
ceived bruises in trying to escape
from. the building.
The fire originated about 1890 a. m.
in the rear of the hotel and in few
minutes the mammoth building, which
was entirely of wood, was mass of
! flames There were in the neighbor-
hood Of As guests in the building and
the porter, the only person awake IN
the hotel, was unable to give an alarm
the smoke and flames driving him
back.
The fire department was on hand
early, but they were unable to render
any assistance to the inmates. The
guests on the second and third floors
were caught like rats in trap, the
fire preventing their escape by the
stairs and they leaped from the sec
: ond and third story windows. One o.
these, Heck Clark, jumped and broke
! his back; Eta Hargrove leaped from ;
e third-story window and suffered
: broken limbs and internal injuries
4 which will cause her death. Others
! were also internally injured. On
e guest, Benjamin Shelby, forced hi
!. wife to leaped from second-stor.
e window and thereby saved her life
but lost everything they possessed
Mr.. Shelby tried to escape by tn
stairway, but the smoke and flame
drove him back. He asserts that h
e saw ten or fifteen persons in the hall
way overcome by smoke. If this
4 the case, dozen or more bodies ma
!. be found in the ruins. Many of th
u guests had hairbreadth escapes an
I ran from the doomed building ella
only in their night clothes, losin
, everything they possessed in the worlt