New-York tribune., 1902-02-23

ton, and an examination OF some upper rooms
on the Fourth-ave- and Thirty-third-st sides
showed that the windows had been burned out,
as If the fire had entered through the windows.
Even IL thieves had helped TO spread the flames.
the officials said. there evidence that flames
had entered the building from the outside swept
in from the great armory fire. 1t quite pos
sible. they said. that the flames in the elevator
shaft had been started by frebrands blown
from the burning armory.
THINK cUPoLA CAUGHT FIRE FIRST.
An examination by an assistant fire marshal
late In the afternoon disclosed what he said
might be an explanation of the fire in the eleva-
tor shaft of the hotel He found that the
wants rooms in the cupoa on the Fourth-ave.
side had been burned out. Some of the rooms
IN the cupola were close to the top of the eleva-
tor shaft. 1t looked as IL the cupola had caught
fire first from the blaze in the armory. and
when the fire swept through the rooms some
OF the brands fell down the elevator shaft TO
the bottom and started a fire at the foot of the
shaft
Among the persons who killed at the
hotel fire were several business Of promi-
nence from various parts Of the country One
Norman Acton, a wealthy mine owner of
Colorado Springs. Colonel Alexander Piper
killed in the fire. while mis- wife escaped. He
a retired army officer. Charles L. Burdett.
who killed while trying TO escape from the
flames. editor of newspaper in Hartford
and colonel of a Connecticut regiment. CASTOR
A. Robbins who was killed in attempting TO
escape, was a Congressman from Alabama be-
fore he 10 this city to practise law. Charles
Underwood OConnen. one of the victims of the
fire. was grandnephew OF Daniel O'Connell and
himself an Irish patriot. He had been clerk
of the Court of Common Pleas in this city for
years. but retired. Mrs. Foster. known for
years in this city as the Tombs Angel" was
among those burned to death in the hotel
Reports of the death or serious injury of
several guests at the hotel who escaped harm
were set afioat yesterday. Rear Admiral Mil
Ter, who was at the hotel, was reported TO have
been hurt seriously. when. in fact. he suffered
10 injury. A report that Mrs. E. w. Maginnes
was killed in the fire not true, she es-
capped with her maid.
GUESTS CALL FOR HELP.
When the fire in the Park Avenue Hotel was
spreading rapidly, about a m, there was great
excitement IN and around the building Up to
that time the iremen and policemen had not
been paying much attention to the hotel but
they suddenly saw that they must give aid in
rescuing people. Scores of men and women ap-
peared at the windows of upper stories and
called for help. The fremen FASTENED to raise
ladders. but before they could reach anybody at
the windows one woman. said to be Mrs Ben
nett, Of Denver. jumped from a window OF
room the fifth floor. the main entrance
When she was first seen at the window by the |
iremen her husband was holding her back. She |
screamed and tried to get free At length she I
wrenched herself from her husbands grasp and |
jumped A dozen nremen tried to catch her as
she fell. and they managed to break her fall !
somewhat, but she was hurt badly. She was
carried into the hotel and later sent to
Bellevue Hospital Her husband and daughter |
escaped with severe burns going down stair !
way inside the hotel
Mr. and Mrs. Bradley. who were to leave the |
city yesterday on the transport Mcclellan for |
Manila. appeared at a window of the fifth story.
Mrs. Bradley stepped out the covered |
window ledge, followed by her husband. Then |
keeping close TO the wall. they crept along the |
ledge TO a point directly above the portico in |
the middle of the hotel, upon which a dozen |
fremen stood, and from which they raised lad |
ders to the fifth floor. Then the two climbed |
down the ladders, helped down to the
portico and from there down to the street by
the firemen. When the couple had ended their
dangerous journey mighty cheer went up from
the crowd in the street
CAPTAIN FALLs'S ESCAPE
De Witt Clinton Falls adtutant of the 7th
Regiment, appeared at a window of the sixth
floor, clad in white paJamas, and waited for
rescue. Fireman OBrien was ordered up from
the top of the portico the window with a seal
ing ladder O'Brien went to the top of the lad
der, reaching to the fifth floor ledge From this
he threw up the scaling ladder to the ledge on
which Captain Falls stood The ledge was icy
and the ladder would not stick Falls helped
Finally he jammed the ladder down and IL
caught on the ledge. Falls then descended the
ladder to the portico aided by oBrien. When
he was finally taken to the street he was almost
overcome from exposure.
Meanwhile Captain Donohue and the frenen
of Hook and Ladder Company No. raised an
eighty-hve foot extension ladder to the sixth
floor On the Thirty-second-st end Of the hotel
Down this ladder they helped eleven persons,
men and women, whose names they did not
take
Three WhO