Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-19
EARLY MORNING FIRE
Mount Vernon Hotel Threat
ened With Destruction.
THE GUESTS ALL SAVED
DEPARTMENT SUBDUES FLAMES
BY HARD WORK.
Thomas T. w. Evans Injured by Fall
From Rope Fire Escape-Others
Slightly Burned.

Slightly Burned.
| More than one hundred guests at the
Mount Vernon Hotel, 4S7 Pennsylvania
! avenue northwest, were aroused from their
| sumber This morning about o'clock by a
| cry OF fire. The blaze was discovered on
| the top floor of the building and number
| of the guests had trouble in reaching the
| pavement, some being slightly burned.
| Only one Of them. Mr.. Thomas I. w. Evans
of Philadelphia, had to be taken to the hos
| pital. tie fell while descending the FIRE es-
| cape rope from his room to the alley to es-
| cape the flames, breaking his left leg near
! the ankle. His hands were also injured.
! The fire did considerable damage to the
| rooms or the fourth floor and water caused
| a small amount of injury on the floor be-
| low.
There were only three ladies in the hotel
| at the time the fire occurred and only one
| of them, Mrs. J. j.. South. had to be as
| sisted from tie building. She was on the
! third floor Of the motel and was so excited
and nervous that & coleman mad to assist
! Ley To the sidewalk. Mrs. South did not
| stop to arrange her toilet. One of the other
| two women in the hotel. who was not so
! badly frightened as was Mrs. South, re-
| Hl,-litt III iief room iOnS enough TO arrange
her hair before going to the street She
was on the second floor.
Fire Discovered by Clerk.
It was exactly O'Clock when John Far
ley, the night clerk in the hotel, left the
office and started through the building to
make his early morning calls. A number
of regular boarders in the hotel are en-
ployed about the city and are awakened
at q n in nd 70 OF
them ample time to dress in time to get to
their places OF employment When Farley
reached the top tioor of the building he de-
tected the odor of smoke and hurried to
the proprietor of the hotel, Mr. Daniel
Nichols, to tell him of the supposed dam
ger.
The latter was aroused in short order and
no time lost in starting an inyestiga-
uon. Mr. Nichols fastened to the fourth
floor and traced the smoke to small store
room in which a quantity of wall paper
was kept. His first thought was for the
safety of the sleeping occupants of the
rooms which would soon be cut off from the
stairway should the blaze burn its way
through the partitions. After he had
aroused those who were In a place where
their lives might be endangered, he return
ed TO the storeroom and proceeded to play
the part Of fireman. His effort in this di-
rection did not prove a brilliant success for
the flames reached his face and hands and
DISABLED him. He is unable to explain how
Els hight dress escaped taking fire.
Fire Department Summoned.
Seeing he was unable to cope with the
names he had an alarm turned In from the
nearest box and several companies of the
hre department We're soon upon the scene
All this time the hotel guests were pre-
pairing to leave the building or were actual
lysendeavoring to reach the pavement
Ihose who were in the rear on the top
moor realized that to remain there meant
possible fatalities and not much time was
lost in getting out.
Mr.. Evans and his en-year-old son
Frank occupied one of the rooms on the
fourth floor Mr.. Evans was afraid to risk
passing the room in which the fire had
originated as the flames had then reached
the corridor. In each room in the building
the proprietor had rope long enough to
reach from the window to the ground, and
and his son. The father saw that his boy
went safely down the rope before he made
the attempt. He then started to make the
descent, but had gone only a short dis
fell to the ground where his boy was stand
Ing. Assistance was summoned and the In
jured man was accompanied to the Emer-
gency Hospital by his son. The latter aft
erward returned to the hotel.
Rescue of Others.
Three other occupants of the rooms
the fourth foor-Erch Sohemmele, w. Lob
Dte anu l. W. JoHtS-IedcHtd tBc SIOUHu
by using the rope fire escapes, and were
not injured. Joseph Muleski of ST. Joseph
Mo-, and Mai r. H. Pardee of the Treas
ury Department, reached the front of the
building. and at the window when
the firemen appeared in front of the hotel
They showed some signs of excitement,
and people on the sidewalk feared they
were going to jump, which would have
meant almost certain death. Pedestrians
shouted to them to wait for the firemen
and the crowd became impatient. Seconds
seemed like minutes to them, and some of
them urged the tiremen to hurry. The lad
ders were raised by the firemen, and the
two men We're brought down.
Tucker Barbee and another guest, who
occupied a room the fourth floor,
crawled from their windows to the roof of
a building, and then became alarmed,
fearing they would be scorched before the
arrival of the firemen to rescue them. Mr..
Barbee became bewldered, and would
probably have met with serious injury had
not the other man assisted him. They
NAMED on the roof until the firemen raised
their ladders and had them taken down.
Benz. Carroll's Experience.
Benjamin Carroll, young man from
New York. occupied room between the
store room where the fire started and the
rear of the building. When he heard the
outcry made he opened his room door
and looked out only to that the flames
were spreading across the hall. lie rush.
ed through the flames to a place of safety,
then returned to save his clothing. In
passing through the flames a second time
he received slight burns about his hands.
Other guests in the hotel were able to
get out without assistance
While some of the firemen were assisting
the guests to escape from places of danger
others were fighting the flames. The blaze
had made considerable Roadway by the
time, they reached the hotel and it was
only by hard and prompt work ON their
part that the structure was saved from de-
struction. When the fire had been extin-
| guished many of the guests returned to
| their rooms, finding that damage had
| been done. The police estma ted the dam
| age to the building and contents to be
| about $1,000, and the damage Is fully in
| sured. Mr.. Nichols burns are severe, but
| he remained about the hotel and directed
| the work of his employees. He will be I'M
| able to use his hands for some days. Mr..
| Evans. whose leg was broken, will prob
| ably remain in the hospital several days
A Fine Quality Butter.
That's Shuffie's Special Elgin Creamery
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