River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1903-03-05
A CRITICAL SITUATION
AND A MARROW ESCAPE
Geo. w. Taggart's Experience
in the Cedar Rapids Fire.

concerning his experience in the
hotel fire at Cedar Rapids;
Waterloo, Iowa, Feb. 20, 1903.
Arriving at Cedar Rapids last
night from St. Paul too late for any
business, [ proceeded to the Clifton
Hotel, took the only vacant room in
the Inflated house, retired, and was
soon in the arms of Morpheus. How
long | slept | do not know, but was
awakened by frightful humping
and pounding at my door. [ hastily
arose and opened the door, poor
| fellow was there clad in his night
shirt and begged me to allow him
to enter, saying the hotel was afire
and he could find no means of get
| ting out of it. [ looked into the
hall and was almost overpowered
with a sheet of flame and black
smoke completely filling up the
only pathway to fresh air and life
except my window. That glimpse
was one | will remember to my dy-
ing day. saw human beings, strong
men and women, rushing 1rantically
about looking for means of escape
from the most horrible of all deaths,
burning alive, and some had already
succumbed to the results Of inhaling
the fatal flame and smoke. | slam
med the door shut and almost inn
mediately the glass transom over it
was shivered to atoms by the heat
of the burning timbers, Of which the
old fire trap was composed. My
companion had by this time opened
the window and was getting out, l
hastily seized my "grip" stuffed my
watch and money into it and has
tened to his side. Seeing crowd
below, I shouted, attracting the at
tention of some of them and threw it
out. The flames were now too hot
to face any longer and the smoke
was something awful. Almost chok-
ed [ climbed out the window in my
night clothes and let myself down
to my arms length, hanging on to
the window ledge, beside my COM
panion. How long we hung there
| have no means of knowing but it
seemed an eternity. We were fully
50 feet above the icy street and the
air though still was bitter cold, but
even thus it was paradise compared
with the seething hell of smoke and
fire within. We speculated some on
the probability of rescue and after
time my companion said: 81 must
let 90, [ can hold on no longer" [
shouted for help, told them below
to catch the poor fellow if possible
and then | was alone. Oh! the hor-
ror and anguish Of the next awful
spell Of suspense! | can hardly
write it yet. The crowd below, the
frightful volume of smoke and flame
rushing out of the window above
me and the thunder Of falling beams
inside, the cries of the horror strick-
en- unfortunates within and their
friends without was too horrible to
dwell upon. | had about given up
all hope when | observed a new
movement among the crowd below
me, far, far below, and then | saw
they were coming towards me with
, la oder. They soon had it in place
, and none too soon, for although il
did not reach up to me by ten feet
it was my only chance, so with a
hope for the best, [ let loose and
thanks to my splendid constitution
[ managed to catch hold of the lad
der and more dead than alive reached
the earth in safety. After regaining
my senses l was given my "grip'
, from which some one had beer
: kind (?) enough to abstract both the
watch and the money. So there
was in strange town, nearly beside
myself with the cold and the shock
and almost naked, without a cent
, Well! I managed to get help from
| those kind people, who live every
where seemingly to care for unfor-
Inmates, and came on here to Water
| loo where | had LETT one of my bes
suits of underwear on my last trip
Imagine my feelings when | wa;
told that the proprietor of the hote
had died during my absence anc
been buried in my suit of clothes BY
mistake. 1t seems fate is after me
; hot footed and / shall leave thi:
state as soon as / can get decentlJ
clothed for I believe the past two
- tt..... f,,1 Jicacfar fo1l0yual