Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1906-01-17
EIGHT ! ! lives : L; lost |,
. As RESULT les ] |, Of /: FIRE IN /;
FLAMES BREAK OUT IN FAMOUS
HOTEL WEST IN MINNIE ,l1E
APoLIs, MINI.

Guests Thrown Into Panic-Five SUI
located and Two Leap to Death from
Windows Heroic Fireman Killet
While Rescuing a Woman. =
Minneapolis, Mimi, Jan. 11.-Eigh
persons dead from suffocation or from
1eaping from flreproof building,
score Or people more or less injured b,
having their hands cut and gashed from
smashing in windows, a magnifcen
property subjected to the ravages O.
fire, smoke and water is an epitome O.
the great disaster which befell tn,
West hotel at 1920 o'clock Wednes
day.
The Victims.
Following is list Of the dead:
Capt. John BerWin, of Truck No. 1
fell from the fourth floor to the Fifth
street sidewalk; was attempting t.
save Mrs. Marlow's life at the time.
W. G. Nichols, Minneapolis, Cham
Der Of Commerce; suffocated in his
room on the sixth floor.
Thomas Sumerville, travelling man
from Springfield, Mass, suffocated in
his room on the sixth floor.
J. E. Wolf, northwestern agent Of
the Sperry & Alexander company. OF
New York; suffocated in his room or
the seventh floor.
Clinton B. Lamme, travelling man
from New York; sutfocated in room
No. 761.
J. B. Peisinger, travelling man from
New York; jumped from the seventh
story window on the south side of the
building.
Mrs. NJ. E. Hodges, Minneapolis:
jumped from the seventh story window
ON the south side of the building; was
an employee of Prof. Schryver, Skyes
building.
William Black, New York; suffocat:
ed in room.
Guests in a Panic.
The fire in itself was insignificant
being confined to the elevator shaft
and the top floor in the corner of the
building, but the wild excitement
which followed the first alarm hurried
people into halls and out upon window
lodges in a frantic attempt to save
themselves. There was really no help
for several who lost their lives. The
wood in the elevator shaft burned like
finder and sheet of flame 20 feet wide
mounting to the seventh story fright.
ened the guests out Of their senses and
induced panic which struck terror to
the stoutest hearts. 1t was the huge
volume of smoke that stampeded the
guests, as the moment a door was
opened the room was filled with smoke
and the panic-stricken guests were
compelled to beat out the windows ia
prevent instant suffocation. Many
used their hands against the windows,
others their feet, and in almost every
instance ugly wounds resulted.
Work of the Firemen.
Following the first alarm, the de.
partment was quickly on the scene and
the splendid work of rescue began.
Although the hour was early, hundreds
Of people thronged the streets and
gazed up at the great hotel whose
windows were alive with guests fran.
tically watching the f1remen below and
yelling to them to hurry. Here and
there men were crouched on the ledge
of the windows, ready to obey the in
sane impulse Of self.preservation
which suggested a leap to the ground.
The crowd realized this, and from q
thousand threats the cry frantically
went up don't jump, don't jump"
It was lucky that this advice was
given, for several men declared after
wards that they certainly would have
made the leap if the crowd had not
encouraged them to hold on.
The fire loss will not go over $780,
900, although the catastrophe was one
of the worst ever experienced in this
CITY,
Fireman Meets Death.
Capt. John Berwin, of the hook and
ladder company, having broken open
a window on the seventh floor which
he had reached by means Of a scaling
ladder, stumbled onto the body of Mrs.
Emaline Barlow, an aged woman. He
strapped the unconscious form to his
back and started down the ladder.
When midway between the seventh
and sixth floors the strap broke.
Bending over to balance the body for
a moment, he then leaped, at the risk
of his life. and threw the woman to-
ward projecting ledge on the floor
below. Apparently being revived by
the fresh air or by the shock, the aged
woman grasped the projection and
held on. Later she was rescued. But
in throwing the woman to safety
Capt. Berwin lost his balance and fell
to the pavement. He was instantly
killed.
Body Cut in Two.
j. B. Peisinger, a travelling man
from New York, lost his head while
running for his life. Awakened by
smoke, he ran to the seventh story
window. Apparently dazed, he climbed
up onto the window sill and an instant
later was turning and tumblins
through the air. He struck a railing
near the Hennepin avenue side of the
hotel and was literally cut in two.
Little Hope for Chinese.>
Picking, Jan. 1.-The Chinese min.
lister at Washington has telegraphed
his government that any satisfactory