The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-20
SURVIVORS TELL
OF CLOSE CALLS
They Can Never T Forget the Hor-
ror Of That Awful :
- s. Z Night.
a Premonition Saved G. L. Smith
While Others Went Down
. in the Wreck.

LOdRerS VINO escaped QeaLn IN Cne
wrecked 4 Groeker h9tei and in Rat the dam.
ences which they will recall to their dy-
horror if it all will ever be fresh in
their minds and the crash Of falling de-
bris and the groans Of the dying will
ever sound in their ears.
Extremely peculiar was the expert.
ence of, c. l.. Smith, hackdriver, who
Of danger. Smith came
home last night but was nervous and
could not sleep. He left the hotel less
than thirty seconds before the crash
came. =. 4. H. =. !
t'I was so nervous that I couldn It
s1eep,' said Smith in telling his expert
ence to T he J ourn land, went
out and looked at the wall before |
went to bed. It looked all right and |
went back to my room and undressed,
but it was impossible for me to sleep. l
got up and went out again: The wind
had apparently fallen and the wall was
not shaking. | thought that it looked
safe enough and I went back to bed. |
the wind began to, blow a gale and 1
got up and dressed again. ..... .s,....<.-
"This time as | went downstairs |
saw policeman chasing a sign across
the street and [ spoke to him. 5S
THAT wall doesn't look safe to
"'Oh, it Is all right, he replied. sYou
hear lots Of noise, but I don't think
there is any DANGER
'.He scarcely had the words out Of his
mouth when there came mighty crash.
We turned and sure enough the Peck
wall had gone thru the roof Of the hotel
I had just left. An instant later we
could hear the shouts Of the victims,
while several women ran screaming from
the Belmont hotel.
eff it hadn It been for my warning, I
would have been beneath the debris, for
my room was in the rear corner Of the
second floor next, to the Peck build
ing.'' ';s.., -.
>.rs,.. Mrs. McNevins' Escape.
Mrs. Anna McNevins, who occupied
room g, had one Of the most remarkable
escapes. She was sound asleep when the
crash came and, when she was fully
awake, instead Of being in her room on
the third floor of the building, she founc
that she was in the basement. She tells
her story as follows: -..-.s
81 was asleep, when I was awakened
by terrible crash. I didn It know what
had happened, but I felt myself falling
falling, falling, while there. was the aW
fullest roar and rumble one ever heard
I didn't know but that 1 had night
mare, but all at once the falling stopped
and things began to rattle about me.
was bumped and bruised and terribly
frightened.
| t'I tried to, realize where was, but
it was several minutes before I coult
do 50. Then [ saw a streak Of ligh1
coming thru window near the ceiling
/ I picked up piece Of board that hat
! fallen with me and knocked out th'
glass, and just then two men came VI
! and drew me thru the window and I raj
up to Sarah Burns place. -, - -
"I suppose I would have been killed
| by the fall under ordinary ccircum
stances, but guess that my bed wen
with me and that kept me from gettin.
seriously injured. I am bruised and m,
tent Of my injuries. / count mysel
pretty lucky and,> :althoSI got out wit
nothing more than my night clothes,
am willing to call it even, when I thin
Of the others who did not get ou
at ALL" -
r How She Was Saved.
4 who helped take Mrs. McNevins from
the basement of the demolished build
/ ing, tells his part Of the story as fol
| lows: D.
"While I was within sight of th
building when the awful calamity oc
CURED, was not near enough to see tn,
walls fall. We heard crashing, ant
occurred. With two men, who wer,
a short distance in front of me, I mad,
a race for the scene and as we arrived
there, we heard woman crying pite
ously from the basement take me out
take, me out; [ am not hurt. now, bu
for heaven 8 sake work quick and ge
me VT started ST tRai R5"its En To- get her out
quickly as we could. From the wa
in which she was entangled in board
and splinters, it seemed that she cOul,
not possibly have escaped serious in jury
She could not walk when we remove,
her, and one Of the men wrapped hi
overcoat about her and two of them car
ried her around the corner. She di'
not seem to be seriously injured.''
| She Saw the Roof Fall. o.
belmont hotel adjoining Mrs. Meme
wins room in Crocker's IS hotel, whe
the crash came,' said Mrs. Evely
Williams, daughter Of W; J.. Croeke,
proprietor of the hotel. "My fou1
and we were both asleep. Suddenl
there was an awful crash and the roo
came right in upon us. I was so badl
scared that 1 didn It know what to
SO just screamed for help. a.,
"Pretty soon a man came and bega
to tear away the timbers and soon my
self and baby were carried out an
taken to Mrs. Burns place. I wa
bruised and cut but the baby was no
injured bit. He cried for littl
time, but as soon as we got him in :
warm room, he was all right and
none the worse for his terrible exper
ence. ~ .z...,- ~" i s.@a g,
My mother, sister and little broth
er were on the same floor with me, bu
they escaped without a scratch. Fo
some reason last night neither Hanna
nor, Willie would sundress, and wer
asleep on the couch when the acciden
Happened. Mother was greatly fright
/ Eened, but neither she nor the childre
was injured. May Ritchie was on tn
same floor, but she wasn't hurt either
"It seems os terrible to me to thin
of all of those people being killed. VIII
II knew everyone of them and now i
think they are. all dead. It is too tel