The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-09-28
JOS. TYLER HAS HIS TROUBLES
ON A VACATION TRIP.
PREDICTS HE WILL NOT BURN
Faced Dangerous Flames in Three Diff
ferent Cities-Skipped Down Ten
Flights of Stairs to
Escape.

burn" declared Joe Tyler to lot OF
drummer who We're relating their exper-
fences at the Thornton this morning.
II might get the worst of it in ship
wreck some day." continued the
speaker, "but l have proven myself to
be pretty mar fire proof. according to
my way of figuring it out. Early last
summer l left this part Of the country
to take vacation trip to New YORK
and l had a few experiences with fires
on the way that led me to think l was
not in need of an asbestos suit. 1
seemed to get out all right without ex-
ira protection.
ION my way east laid over in Chi
cago for few days and as luck would
have it, I was put into room on the
tenth floor Of hotel. The second n'ght
1 was Their I was awakened by the
Changing of gongs and the shouts OF
men. / aroused myself enough to real
lie that there was something ioing In
my neighborhood and began to scam
per around to ct out of the Building.
While I reaching for my clothes the
glass cracked out of the windows IN
my room and the smoke cam In so
that it choked me worse than the sui
phur fumes would here in Butte on
still winter morning. 1 gave up all
idea of dressing and made for the ele-
yator with most of my wearing apparel
on one arm and my grip in my hand.
Of course, the elevator was not running
and the lights were out. I concluded
that it was about the time that my
light was going out, but 1 made a
stagger for the stairway and began to
steal down the ten long flights below
me, I ran into women who We're hys-
terical with fright and men who We're
frantic in their efforts to escape, but 1
finally reached the ground.
I'm the streets everybody was ex-
cited or at least all the pepole I saw
seemed to be pretty we'll unstrung. 1
saw a man with big white helmet on
his head giving orders to a lot of men
who were chasing UP the sides of a
building with long hose in their
hands, and was told that he was the
chief of the fire department. l went
over to ask him if he thought the build
ing would be burned down and he turned
me over to a policeman who took me
out where he said I would be safer
from danger. When the excitement was
all over I was able to understand that
my hotel had not been on fire at all,
but that the adjoining building had
been heated up enough by blaze so
that the hotel was pretty warm for
While. Shortly before daylight we
crawled back into our beds and that
was the end of the Chicago fire so far
as any discomfort to me was concerned.
IT went on to New York and before
had been in the metropolis three days
I was a passenger on boat that
caught fire when We were about three
miles out from the shore. The captain
of the vessel provided us all with life
preservers and We thought we might
stand a chance of swimming to shore'
However. the flames did not envelope
the ship quite as rapidly as We thought
they would at first and the craft steam
ed into the dock safely enough. There
were no more fires in New YORK, at least
none where / was called upon to pre-
flights of stairs.
"On the return journey I got along
all right until I reached Cheyenne. We
got into that town in the night and
although had not been there for many
wears I remembered the name of no.
tel at which I stopped on my last visit
70 the place. I intended to put up at
that hotel. but fell in with some other
passengers who were going to another
hostelry and I followed them and tried
my luck in the new place. Things We're
all right about the hotel and the room
to which 1 was assigned was satlsfac-
tory. I went to sleep in a few minutes
after I retired and the first thing l
knew after dropping into a slumber
was when I heard the cry of fire and
the familiar sound of the engines
rumbling down the street. That time l
| was not very far up in the air and soon
got down from my third story room to
the ground floor. Others were crowd
ing into the street by the time l
reached it and the flames wer shooting
out through the roof of the building
which had but recently housed us.
"Fortunately there was another hotel
only a little way off and we hustled
into that to spend the rest of the night.
| I sat up and watched the blaze eat Its
way into the structure where l had
first registered and thanked my lucky
| stars that I was we'll out of it. The
next day when was speeding towards
Butte on a fast train I got to thinking
over my experiences since l had left
Montana and concluded that there
must be a lucky streak in me some
where SO far as fire was concerned.
may be a little unlucky about eattiHs
| into the flames but I appear to do fairly
we'll when it comes to getting out OF
them, also.
IT presume a few of you have read
that touching little story about the lad
who stood on the deck when the hot
cinders We're falling close around him
and all that sort of thing. Wei. I can
tell you that appreciated the courage
of thot hov now moro .h9n ever before