Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1902-02-27

Il
one end is a large hook fitted with
teeth. Handing this up to me the fire
men told me to put it through the
window and catch it on the sill. |
raised the window back of me three or
four inches. As | did so ! smelled
the smoke and felt the heat, indicating
that here was fire back of me / found
that the cornice was so broad that it
would not permit Of the scaling ladder
being hooked through the sash. / re-
ported this to the fireman below and
he then told me that / would have to
put the hook flush on the cornice and
that he wouldEthen hold it so it would
not slip. / did this and then the fire
man got back of It, and, by bracing
himself somehow with his back to the
wall of the hotel, he held that small
scaling ladder. | crawled over the cor
nice and was just able to reach the
first rung of the scaling ladder.
"All the time | was climbing the
firemen kept calling to me to encourage
me. My only thought was of steady
ing myself to reach the main ladder.
In going over the cornice ] once
thought of grasping the hook, but in
an instant L knew that if | did that
the chances were that it would slip off
the iron cornice, because none of its
teeth could get a grip. Therefore, by
holding the best | could to the cornice,
! managed to reach the rungs Of the
ladder. In a few seconds / was on the
main ladder and then / felt relieved,
for | knew ! was safe. On my down
the ladder | passed number of fire
men who were very good, encouraging
me and telling me that | was safe.
When ] reached the ground | in
quired for the brave fireman who held
the scaling ladder while | climbed
down. | do not know how he did it.
Of course, only an expert could have
done it,. Too much praise cannot be
given tbat fireman, or in fact all of
them who worked at the hotel. When !
inquired who they were they were very
modest and would not tell me. MY
first impulse was to reward my rescuer
at once, but suddenly recollected that
was without a cent, and only clad in
my underclothing and night robe.
Everything else had been left in my
room. y
Mr.. Conrad said that after getting
out Of the building he hunted up
Thomas u. Young, cashier of the
Farmers Bank, who was stopping at
the Grand Hotel and who had been to
the dinner with Mr.. Conard. Mr.. Young
cared for tho ex-city solicitor during
the balance of the night, and in the
morning Mr.. Conrad returned to the
Park Avenue Hotel, where he found
his clothes.
1t is o mystery to me, :" said Mr..
Conrad, thow my clothes were un-
harmed. The room | had occupied was
badly damaged, all the woodwork being
charred to great Depth How my
clothes escaped being burned is some
thing | cannot tell. | recovered every
thing except my watch and watch fob.
They had evidently been stolen. AS
soon as the fire was out the maid on-I
our floor went in every room and col
lected whatever yaluables were there.
She found gold medallion in which
we're some portraits of my children and
took care of it, but my watch and fob
were missing Everything else was all
right.
1t was the most thrilling experiences
ever had. | could not be hired to go
along that cornice again, for | have
natural fear of high places, yet ] do
not recall having any fear whatever
while | was making my way along high
up ip the air. Whether my cousin had
rear OF high places L do not know,
or whether he thought | had got ont
on the cornice and jumped, / cannot
tell. The next morning his charred
body, was found in a room not far away.
1t was burned beyond recognition.
recognized it the best l could and then
sent for some persons with whom he
had boarded for about year They
recognized it, but none of us could
identify it positively, until we sent for
a dentist, who had been treating his
teeth, and he identified it positively. .
After the Identification of the body,
Mr.. Conrad made arrangements to have
it sent to his cousins former home,
near Norristown, Pa, for burial He
went there Sunday and broke the
news to the young mans parents. Lee
was employed by the American Bridge |
Co., which held him in high esteem.
Mr.. Conrad thinks the hotel was set on
fire rather than that it caught from
the armory fire.