The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-03-12
INEW YORK'S FIRE HORROR
Eighteen Lives Lost in Park Avenue
Hotel.
nST RECT. ARMORY BURNED
Dread Scenes OF Panie-Rescues Under
surroundIngs OF Dineulty and Deadly
PcriI-Gravs Charge Made-No Fire
FIshtinE Appliances Ia the Hotel
Gu.se. Not Warned OF Danger.


PeriI-Gravs Charge Made-N" Fire
FIshtinE Appliances In the Hotsl-
Guests Not Warned OF Danger.
New York City.-Eighteen lives were
sacrificed in the blaze which first de-
stroyed the Seventy.frs: Regiment Ar.
mory and then gutted the upper part
OF the Park Avenue Hotel. The lives
were sacrificed. Chief Croker and other
officials say. because the structure.
which was said to be freproof. was
without the ordinary methods OF escape
which the law provides. There We're
no fire escapes. no fire hose. not even
q bucket Of water. as Chief Croker
said.
After the fire in the Seventy first
Regiment Armory had ragged for more
than an hour. flames We're communlcat.
ed to the Park Avenue Hotel. across
the street. and. trapped In swirling
! cone Of fame and smoke. which swept
almost unheraIded up through the
building. As stated. eighteen guests OF
the hotel were suffocated or burned to
death. and some two score more or
less seriously injured.
Nearly all the victims OF the disaster
had been watching the spectacular
blaze across the street. Suddenly the
whole Of the house was flled with
q great volume OF smoke.
Up the elevator shaft on the east
side Of the building column OF flame
shot as II fred from a mammoth
cannon, and when the guests rushed
| from their rooms to escape they found
the great iron stairway. the avenue
upon which they depended. choked to
virtual impassabilIty.
That there was an awful scramble
for the stairway wasS evident from
the discovery. after all the danger was
passed. Of three charred bodies almost
touching one another at the head OF
the steps on the ffth floor. Even as
far down as the second floor the body
Of W. H. Barnhart. of Chicago. was
found in the posture OF one who had
been fighting. and had been forced to
succumb to the overwhelming odds.
It was within forty feet Of this fate
full elevator shaft that all the loss Of
life occurred. and that most Of the In.
iuries were received. On the first
door the shaft alone was affected.
But as the fame swept upward the
zone widened with each floor. until
at the top floor the entire Fourth Ave
nue. side of the structure was AZ
fected. The outside Of the building
was scarcely scorched. and a casual
observer could scarcely have told.
looking alone at the outer walls. that
a terrible tragedy had been enacted
within.
Following Is a list Of the persons
who lost their lives as q result Of the
Gre:
Norman Acton. mine owner. Of Colo
RADIO Springs. Col: William n. Barn.
hart, furniture buyer for eigel.Cooper
Company. recently Of Chicago: Colo.
mel Charles L. Burdette. Hartford.
Conn, Commander of the First Rey!-
ment. Connecticut National Guard:
Lee J. Conrad. died from burns: Mrs.
Rebecca 8. Foster. known as the
"Tombs Angel" Thomas P. Horne.
Denver: Fred 8. HOvey. thirty.6ve
years Of age. Lyons. n. y: John lver.
son. Denver. buyer for the H. 3. Clafin
Company: Mrs. Minnie E. Leggett.
Denver. Col: Captain Charles Under
wood O'Connell. prominent In Irish
patriotic movement; Colonel Alexander
NJ. Piper. U. s. A.. retired. ffty.hve
years old: CASTOR A. Robbins. former
Congressman. Of Alabama: Miss Esther
Schlesinger. thirty eight years old. OF
Chicago: Jacob SPAIN. lawyer. Roches-
ter. ". Y; George E. Walker. thirty.
five years old. Columbia. Tenn: Miss
Sophia e. Beach. New Haven: Mrs.
Julia Boardman. wife OF the Rev. VIII
liam 8. Boardman. Of Norwalk. Conn.
There Is much mystery as to the
origin OF the fire which wrecked the
Seventy.frst Regiment Armory. The
general suppositIon being. however.
that a cigarette carelessly thrown into
some waste paper started the dre.