Mower County transcript., 1906-01-17
TEN PERSO MS XII LED
4coRE OF OTHERS Mo oRE OR Less
4. INJURED IN FIRE AT WEST
Il 'rE HOTEL, MINNEAPOLIS.
4.

Roonns-EIaze Confined to the Top
Floor and the Property Loss Is Not
5sJ over $4,000. =. :, III. ,.E*
Minneapolis, jan 11.--Ten persons
/. dead from suffocation or from leaping
from fireproof building, a score OF
people more or less injured by having
their. hands cut and gashed from
smashing in windows, magnificent
property subjected to the ravages OF
FIRE, smoke and water, is an sepitOme
of the great disaster which kefeoil the
West hotel at.7:20 O'Clock a. m. The
dead are:
CAPTAIN JOHN BERWIN, Truck
No. I. fell from the fourth floor to the
Fifth street sidewalk while attempting
to save Mrs. Barlow's life.
= w. G. NICKELS, Minneapolis Cham
ber of Commerce, suffocated in his
room. .~-, 20
THOMAS SOMERv1LLE,. travelling
man, Springfield, ILL.,, suffocated in his
room.
J.E. WOLFE, Northwestern agent of
Dperry & Alexander Hardware COM
pany Of New York, suffocate1 in his
room.
CLINTON B. LAMME, travelling
man, New York. suffUcated in his
room.
J. p. PE1SINGER, travelling man,
New York, jumped from a seventh
story window.
MRS. NJ. E. HODGES, Minneapolis,
Jumped from a seventh-story window.
WILLIAM BLACK, New York, suf-
focated in his room.
MRS. SAMUEL SPEISBERGER,
Chicago, found in room after fire, over
come by smoke; died in hospital.
w. S. AMsDEN, superintendent MIN,
nesota and Northern elevator, inhaled
smoke and flame, died in hospital. -'-'
\ 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
ledges in a frantic attempt to save
themselves. - = 1872 :: - ':'T'-*
= Tbs Work Of Rescue.
Following the first alarm the depart
ment was quickly on the scene and the
splendid work Of rescue began. AL
though the hour was early, hundreds
of people - thronged~ the streets .s..and
gazed UP at the great hotel, whose
windows were alive with guests fran
tically watching the firemen below
and yelling to them to hurry. Here
and there men were crOui he'd Oh tle
1edges of windows, ready to obey the
insane impulse OF self7preservation
which suggested leap to the ground.
The crowd realized this anl from q
thousand throats the ti% continually
went up Don't jump, tion't jump" It
was lucky that this advice WAS given
for several men declared aitsrward
that they would certainly have maze
1.-The leap it the crowd had not en-
couraged them to hold on.
There were innumerable escapes by
guests in almost every part OF the
building who were partially overcome
by the smoke or~who lost their way in
the confusion incident to getting out
of building filled with smoke. Scme
OF these personal experiences show
real heroism.
The full extent of the tragedy en-.
acted throughout the hotel was not
known at first. It was thought that
the casualties were confined to those
that the crowd witnessed from the
street, the death of Captain John Ber:
win and the unfortunate man and wo
J man who leaped to death in the alley
toward Sixth street. But the moment
the department got the blaze under
control and the smoke cleared, hur
ried search from cellar to garret of the
big property showed \ score of vic
Tins more or less overcome by smoke
The fire loss will not go over $50,
600, although the catastrophe was one
of the worst ever experienced in this
o}fv