Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1901-06-15
BIG HOTEL BURNED.
Over 200 Guests Escaped, Most
OF Them II Night
Attire.
DEPARTED IN vARlECATED GARB.
Some Women Dressed In Combina-
tions Of Men and Women's Clothes.
Employees Escaped--Etectric Lights
Went out-Guests In Darkness.

west bduEHs iBNs june IL. NJ eho
26S persons who were in the Mineral
Springs hotel fire here, 1t is now be-
Iieyed that every one escaped with his
life. Mr. Sinclair, the proprietor, has
been busy checking off the names, but
the accuracy of his work Is handi-
capped by the fact that all the rec
ords and papers, including the hotel
register, were lost. Many OF the
guests left for their homes in various
parts of the country, the most pfomi-
nent going to Chicago, Louisville and
Indianapolis. The rest are at French
Lick The loss on the hotel building
is estimated at $250,000 with insur
ance aggregating $4,000. N addi-
ton to this the loss In diamonds jew
elry and clothing belonging To the
guests, it is estimated, will reach $780,
900.
Many that left on the train were
dressed in odd pieces of clothing,
picked up from many sources.
Watchman Failed to Quench Fire.
The conaagration had its origin in
the kitchen. The night Waterman at
tempted to extinguish the blaze with
hand grenades, but seeing his at.
tempts were In vain he rushed to the
Office, notifying the night clerk, and
together they ran rapidly through the
halls, bursting open doors and yell
ing fire Il was but few moments
after the discovery Of the fire that the
electric light circuit was burned out.
and the panie-stricken guests groped
around in their rooms for wearing
apparel and other personal property.
Out OF the 2B8 guests who had regis
tered at che hotel the evening before.
only IL succeeded IN escaping from
the burning building with all their
personal property.
Amy Leslie, the theatrical critic OF
Chicago paper, who has been at the
hotel with her niece for the past about
two weeks, escaped with nothing but
her night robes. E1!9s Leslie's travel
ing wardrobe consisted OF a night
robe, gentleman S shirt, which she
purchased at the village store, and
her bath robe. Her little niece was
provided for by an old colored Wo-
man, who furnished her with one of
her little daughters dresses
Miss Sinclair, daughter of one of
the proprietors of the hotel, had a
very narrow escape, losing all her
wearing apparel, diamonds and other
personal property.
FIFTY or sixty female employees of
the hotel, who were quartered in the
rooms on the upper floor of the new
bath house, which has just been COM
pleted at cost of $4,000, escaped I'M
injured. This building, with the ho-
tel, was also destroyed
In about half an hour after the fire
was discovered much of the building
was ablaze. The building was pro
vided with fire escapes, and on the
front Of the building, extending from
the ground to the roof, was an escape
built in a spiral fashion. 1t was
through this that many of the guests
got out.
Many Had Narrow Escapes.
Colonel Howard, general agent of a
lie insurance company of New York,
barely escaped in his night clothing.
Many others had narrow escapes.
The massive fireproof safe in the
Office contained $4,000 in cash, which
the guests had deposited for safe
keeping. The safe is In the cellar,
completely covered with the burning
debris, and it will not be known for
several days whether the valuables
therein are safe.
The officials of the Monon railroad
had been notified of their destitute
condition, their tickets and money
having been destroyed, and it was but
a short time before a message was re-
ceived from the general superintend-
ent, inviting all to proceed to Chicago
or any other point of their line free
OF charge.
After the fire women, dressed in
their night robes, mems overcoats.
hats and shoes. mingled in the crowd,
eongratulating each other on their
narrow escapes
The guests, or those of them who
saved enough money, soon cleaned
out the stock Of the little country
store. Women purchased mems
sweaters, shirts and other articles Of
clothing.