Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-02-20

out of the window and I realized tha.
there was no time to be lost. ] reached
down and found some electric wires
leading down to the Medhurst billiard
room. l grabbed these wires and slid
down for two stories till l came TO
where they entered the billiard room,
and then, some how. i became tangled
up and fell to the ground, spraining my
left arm. Both my hands were badly
burned by the wires and my face is
bruised, as you see"
Mail Clerk Chase was more fortunate,
He managed to reach the ground with
out injury and the two met few mo-
1nents after in the National hotel. Each
had supposed that the other was dead
in the burning building.
Clothes Burned OFF.
I'm all in boys said l.. c. Burnett.
who travels for a Chicago house and
was a guest at the hotel Just send
n policeman that [ may give him my
name and let him send word to my
| father" Burnetts clothes We're burn
ed from him, and almost every par
| ticle of flesh on his body was burned
black. He was taken to the National
! hotel and laid on the floor where it was
| feared he would die before help could
| he summoned. He managed to gasp
his name and directed that his father
at Nebraska City, Neb. be notified,
| Then he sank back unconscious and
it was feared that he was dead. At
last reports, however, he was still alive.
His Mind Left Him.
\ Sitting hv a fire side, in one of ST
Luke's wards, A. NJ. Larsen, of Oel-
vein, is wondering over his miracul
Gus escape He jumped from a third
story window in front of the hotel upon
the pavement below, and received no
bruised feet. To reporter he told
| this story:
II went to bed early and was awak-
ened by smoke in my room. attempt
| ed to turn on the electricity, but it
| would not burn. threw open the door
and rushed into the hall. The stair
way was a burning mass and went
back to my room to find that six others
had crowded in their and We're tigur-
! ing on jumping from the front win
dow. There were two women and the
rest men. We threw the mattress from
my bed out into the street. Someone
called TO us to wait for ladders, but
we waited and waited and none came.
| The flames came closer and closer and
/ finally we commenced to jump. l was
the las. to leave the window. Five had
jumped despite the people In the Win
dows Of the second story who were CALL
I ing not to jump upon them. 1t was
our only hope. l sat on the sill Of the
window with my clothes in my hand,
and as felt myself leaving the place
and launch into the air my mind left
me. When came to l was in a depot
with my trousers on. My only injuries
consist of bruised feet and sore lungs.
burned by the smoke and sparks"
| A Heroic Brakeman.
4 While rescuing women from the sec
ond and third story of the hotel c. W..
/ Roberts, a brakeman on the c., X. !.
& r., had ligament of his left thumb
cut and his right hand badly cut by
lglass. His attempt to rescue the head
waitress. who lies seriously injured at
Mercy hospital, was a thrilling one
and almost cost him his life. He had
placed a ladder to the second story
when the waitress appeared at the third
| story window, let herself out over the
| sill and prepared to drop. He called to
lher to hang out over the sill and, climb. I.
| ing up on the sill of a second story win
dow and reached for her. He called for
her to hold tight until he had a good
hold upon her body. when l first
] touched her." he said at the hospital,
she dropped like stone, knocking me
over. With a heavy thud she struck
i ,l1o oil m
gone down, possibly to death had my
knees not caught over the sill. pulled
myself up and in doing so cut my hands
on the glass. From there managed 10
! get back to my ladder and down. I was
stopping at the Russell house and was
doing what could to help those calling
from the burning building. I am injured
in no other place but my hands,.
| Hands FrishtfulIy Cut.
| L. o. Vernon of Delta, Iowa, was on
the third floor in room No. 50 when the
fire reached him. He kicked the win
dow thru and grasped number of
electric light wires which he found
dangling near it. Down these he slid
| for story and as he went the wires
! cut deep gashes into his hands and
burned his shirt as it was held against
his body. When he reached the second
story his wires reached an end but his
feet struck ladder and he escaped to
| the ground. The deep gashes in his
hands threatened to cause death from
bleeding and he rushed across the
street into the Pullman hotel. There
with wet towels they bound his hands
until Dr. French came to his assist
snce and bound up his hands temporar-
lily. He was then taken to ST. Luke's
hospital. where he was given a bed for
rest AS he threw open his room door
the flames flashed in his face. burning
his hair to crisp and also burning his
hands, thus making his slide down the
wires the more painful.