The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-21
Fire in Cedar Rapids Causes
 Fearful Fatality
FOUR DEAD, MANY INJURED
It Is Expected That More Dead Bodies Will Be Found In the Ruins of the Hotel-A siekening Sight
 to the On-Lookers.

Cedar Rapids, la, February 0.-Fire, early this morning, destroyed the Cliff ton hotel, cremated four guests and caused injuries to forty-two persons, who were scorched or forced Co jump to the frozen street from second and third story windows After an all-day search in the debris four bodies have been re- covered. It Is now believed that five more bodies remain in the ruins of the hotel, which Is said to have been fimsy structure filled with guests to the state Y M. c. A. convention and the dis- trict convention of the Knights of Pyth- ias. The hotel register was destroyed, thus making it difficult to ascertain the names of missing persons.
 The Dead.
 ". A. Mowery of Whatcheer, Ia.
 E. A. Young of Mnnapolis
 Two unidentified men.
 Five bodies are still in the debris.
 The Injured.
 L. c. Burnett of Nebraska City. badly burned.
 Gina Curns, head waitress, jumped from the third story.
 Conductor Sruckland of the North western railroad, Clinton, la, jumped from the second story leg broken, in- jured internally.
 F, c. Outing of Center Point. Ia.. hands and arms burned.
 H. w. Bremen of Lyon, internal in juries.
 F. R. Moore of Chicago, fragments of leg tom.
 J. E. Anderson of Chicago, hack strained.
 A. s. Morrow of Boone, bruised.
 F. M Gardiner of Woodburn, head cut and back injured
 c. F. Taylor of Davenport, head cut, elbow fractured, hip injured and badly burned.
 pr. Groves of Cedar Rapids, very se- riousIy burned.
 c. M Larsen of oelwein, bruised and lungs burned.
 L. o. Vernon of Della, hands and face cut and bruised.
 c. J. Daly of Clinton H., slightly in- jured.
 c. F. Hawes of Decorah, Ia, back hurt.
 Ed Hampton of Monticello head burned George Taggart of St. Paul, hands and face burned.
 John w. Leads of ottumwa badly bruised.
 Origin of Fire.
 The fire originated in the basement presumably from an electric wire. Night Clerk Wilson was on the third floor at the time. The flames were discovered by a bell boy and had already gained con- siderable headway, By the time the night clerk had been notified and the work of sounding the alarm had begun escape was cut off from the ground floor. Instantly there were several faces at every window of guests clad only in their night robes calling for help. The facil- ties of the fire department were meager and each moments delay increased the panic that already prevailed, and one af- ter another the human forms were seen to hurl themselves from the windows and dash against the pavement Limbs were broken and the writhing mass of human ity that rapidly accumulated constituted a sickening sight.
 Those who jumped from the third-story windows had little hope of surviving the frightful leap, but few hesitated as the flames came nearer and nearer.
 Last to Leave.
 Miss Gina Curns was the last to leave the burning structure and had sustained terrible burns before she sprang from the window sill on which she had sought
 
 refuge. Outside the work of rescue was carried forward rapidly. A vast crowd was att tracted by the flames and wildly sought information concerning friends in the burning structure. The hotel was a seeth- ing furnace and 1t was impossible to att tempt to rescue by entering the building. The injured were conveyed to adjoining business houses that had been converted into impromptu hospitals. It was early apparent that Burnett and Miss Curns could not recover. while recovery of sev eral others was doubtful. The fire de- partment confined its efforts to preventing the spread of the flames. Several times the National hotel caught fire, but the fire there was extnguished
 The State Young Mems Christian asso- ciation was In progress in Cedar Rapids at the time and district Knights of Pythias convention. Delegates to these conventions constituted most of the in- jured and missing.
 At 9:30 O clock this morning it was stated that there must he fifteen or twenty bodies in the debris, as large numbers of persons had been seen to fall back from the windows into the flames. The pro- prietors of the hotel also estimate that there must be close to this number unac-