The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-02-23
Husband is PoWerIeSS to Hold
Panic Stricken Wife.
FIRE III NEW YORK HOTEL
ADDITIONAL DETAILS OF THE
CALAMITY IN PARK AVENUE.

the scene of loss of human life. First
was the collision in the New York
Central tunnel at Fifty-si1th and Park
avenue; second carue the dynamite ex-
plosiOn in the Rapid Transit subway at
Forty-first street. anG the third. today.
was a fire which started in the Seven
ty-first regiment armory at Thirty
third street and then spread 10 the
Park avenue hotel where thirteen per-
sons were killed and many injured.
IL was the worst fire since the Wind
sor was destroyed. The fire was first
seen at about ] 30 in the morning in the
armory, and in a remarkably short
time that building was aiame from
end to end. The frenen made their
way as pest they could through streets
deep with slush and did all possible to
confine the fire to the armOry. but
after they had beer at work nearly an
hour the discovery was made that the
hotel was on fire. The hotel was
crowded with guests who had come to
attend the festivities in honor of Prince
Henry. More than 500 persons were in
the house
CROPPED through Dark Railways.
The fire Vas confined principally to
the fifth and sixth floors, near the ele-
Vator air SHAFT. About the time the
hotel was found to be on fire the lights
went out and the corridors were filed
with smoke. TIE guests, unable to find
their way through the darSened hall
ways jumped from windows or ran
directly into the flames which swept
portions of the building. 1t is Ibis fact
that accounts for the large loss of life,
although the hotel was rot destroyed.
Tfcf of %bo naoJ
The following list of persons who lost
their lives in the Park avenue hotel
fire. or who died from injuries received
III il was compiled late tonight:
Norman Acton, died in Bellevue.
body at mOrgue. lived in Colorado
Springs.
Colonel Charles /. Burdett. Hartford,
Conn, commander of the First regi-
ment Connecticut volunteers; killed by
fan in fire; body removed to the
morgue and shipped to Hartford.
William j. Eernhardt. 50 years old.
killed in hotel: body taken to under
taking rooms for shipment to home.
Chicago.
Mrs William J. Bernhard, died in
Bellevue, same disposition of body as
that of her husband.
Lee . Conrad. d years old, draughts-
mar of this city
Fred S Howe, 50 years old of Lyons.
n. Z; died at West Thirtieth street
station house.
James r. Hames, mot certain. may
be Thomas Horre). lived in Denver.
and was agent of the H. B. Clahin
company.
John iverson, died in hotel: lived in
Denver agent Of II. E. Clafiin COM
pany.
Minnie f. Ligger, 40 years old, dress
maker of Denver. where she was en-
plOyed by Daniels & Fisher company.
Mrs. J. NcManus.
Captain Charles Underwood O'Con-
nell. died in New York hospital. was
formerly clerk of supreme court
Ex-COngresSman Gaten A. Robbins
OF Savannah, Ga.
Esther Schlessinger, IS years old, of
Chicago, a buyer
Jacob SPAIN. 50 years old, Rochester,
n. Y.
John c. Walker, 80 years old, Co.
lumbia, Tenn.
Colonel Alexander NJ. Piper. L. $. A.
retired, 10 years old. died in hotel.
Mrs. Salome Foster, known as the
"Tombs Angel"
Unidentified body of woman. may be
that of wife of Rev. William S. Board
man, who is a patient in Bellevue.
This list of eighteen may be cut to
seventeen, as one body has been iden-
tilted as that of William ]. Bernhardt
and as that of Lee G.. Conrad.
The fire in the armOry started on
the third floor on Thirty-third street.
where there was a tier of rooms Occu-
pied by different companies of the regf-
ment. Within FIVE minutes the whole
structure was beyond saving, and ten
minuces later. the roof fell in with a
terrific crash. There was no one in
the armory at the time except a jan
itor and his family They escaped by
going through a scuttle hole in the
roof and then along the battlements Of
the Thirty-fOurth street side to safety
on the roofs of houses to the east. This
passage was attended by much danger,
owing TO the icy condition of the roof
Six alarms were turned in for the
fire. kut in spite Of the quick response
the armory was soon doomed to de-
struction. The prevailing gale made II
Impossible to check the flames.
Powder Explosions Add to Terror.
Several hundred pounds of ammuni-
ton stored in the tower of the armory
=.
partially wrecking the portion of the
walls near which it was stored. This
added terror and caused fear of greater
explosions to those who were fighting
the flames. Tt was not until almost g
o clock that the flames were discovered
liz the Park avenue hotel, directly
across from the armoTy. Manager
II ed of the hotel had been on the roof
watching the fire in the armory, with
guests from the hotel He had de-
sce-5ed TO the first floor and was
standing talking to a guest when a
burst of flame came up through the
elevator shaft.
Immediately he ordered his men TO
90 through the hotel to give the alarm.
Tie lights almost Immediately went
out and the hotel corridors were in
darkness. The flames leaped I'D
through the elevator shaft and seemed
20 gather around the fifth and sixth
fioocs. filing the halls with dense
smoke and making exit by means of
the stairways almost impossible
Manager Reed ran up 10 the fourth
floo.= and there entered the elevator.
witch was descending. He alighted ar
tie first floor and soon after the ele-
Tator was a wreck. Various opinions
were given as TO the origin of the ire
hi the npNti- MANY assert lnaI II was
Of incendiary origin Others hold that
the fire originated from sparks from
the burning arnOrN building, swept by-
wind in the direction of the hotel de-
Sending the air shaft. which was di-
rectly alongside the elevator. and ig-
niti%e debris which was piled up in the
basement anG near The elevator Shaft.
The idea Of i1Cendiary origin is
secuted b. guests of the hotel and BY
Fire Chief Croker. Another theory is
that the fire started en- the fifth or
sixth nOc-s and thus resulted in the
damage 30 those floors more than 70
any other portion Of the building. The
theory advanced by the majority as 10
the air shaft IS confirmed by many Of
the fire captains.
The flames mounted rapidly, and the
fire extinguishers made little impress