Waterbury Democrat., 1902-02-22

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 New YorK, Feb 9 22-Shortly before l o'clock this morning fire was discoy- cred bursting from the roof of the Seyenty-first regiment armory at Park avenue and 34th street. The flames had gained tremendous headWay when the firemen arrived and it was found impossible to do anything to save the magnificent structure. Sew eral times the flames caught on the ear barns of, the Metropolitan Street Railway company, but they were quickly extinguished. The heat or the burning armory became more lh- tense and shortly after o'clock flames were discovered running along the underpinning and woodwork of the fifth floor at the northeast corner of the Park avenue hotel, directly across the street from the armory Frightened occupants of the hotel soon appeared at every window and shout ed and screamed for help. The fire had burned its way into the basement of the elevator shaft and soon had reached clear to the roof.
 Tn the headquarters of the blfth brigade at the 34th street and Park avenue quarter of the armory, blank and ball cartridges began to explode, and shortly afterwards the wall or the 33rd street side fell in. rms was followed by the explosion of 1,ooo pounds of powder which was stored in the basement of the armory- The firemen had been warned beforehand and no one was injured. Ambulances were called from every hospital ana district and now the firemen turned their attention to the hotel. They found the hotel rapidly filling with smoke and they hurried through ev- cry portion of the h1ilding in search of any guests who might have been overcome with the smoke. On every floor and in almost every corridor scores of persons were found over come. Twenty-siX persons were ta- ken to New York and Bellevue hospi- tals and nearly double that number were injured in the attempt to es- cape from the building.
 Of the dead three were women. Death in each instance was caused by burning or suffocation with one exception One woman jumped from the fifth story to the inner court. Her skull was fractured and she died instantaneously. When the fire started in the armory. scores of the guests were awakened. It was forty-five minutes after the fire was discovered in the armory before it was communicated to the hotel. but many of the guests were in their rooms in their night clothes and some were in bed.
 A man and woman appeared at window on the Park avenue side of the hotf and called for help. They were Mrs Charlotte Bennett and her husband. Harold. of Alabama They stood on the ledge of the window on the fifth floor just over the main en- trance to the hotel. The woman was terror stricken and her husband orasped her and fried to keep her from jumping The struggle was m appalling one and the people who were watching from below and who were making every effort to get to the people who were threatened with danger. shouted 10 the two to wait the arrival of assistance. The woman struggled desperately and finally breaking away from her husbands grasp. she iumped- The fifemen caught her. but she was terribly burned and after being in Bellevue hospital but a short time she died. Her husband. tired out and bewild- cred bv the st'tlggle he had made to keen his wife from leaping to her death. feil back into his room and it fs believed was either burned or suf- located to death.
 Colonel Charles L. Burdette of Con- necticut met death in 9 terrible man. ner. He was a guest on the eighth floor of the hotel and he found his escape cut off throneh the cOrri- dors which were now filled with dense smoke. His room faced the inner court and he made prepara- lions to make q fight for his life. He dragged a mattress from his bed and talSing it to an extension over the hotel dining room. he 1ropned it and nre- pared fo drop to the mattress and thus break the force of his fall. He tore The sheets on his bed into strips and made them into rope. This he se- cured to the window and he began to climb down toward the roof of the ex- tension. He miscalculated the dis tance and when he let go of his rope of sheets he went beyond the exten- sion and fell to the court below. His hodv was found in the court and his head was sn1st npen from tonro hot fom and his death must have been in stantaneous.