Los Angeles herald., 1907-09-06
DIE IN
HOTEL FIRE
SHELTON, WASHINGTON, SCENE
OF DISASTER
VICTIMS, TRAPPED, JUMP 7
DEATH
List of Dead Grows HourIy-Many
Thought Buried in the Ruins.
Cigar Stump Believed
to Be Cause
BY Associated Press.

BY Associated Press.
TACOMA. Sept. 5.-Caught in blazing
wooden building, cut off from escape by
flames, eleven persons were early tnis
morning roasted to death. or Jumped 10
their fate. AS many more are injured
Most of them will die.
The fire one of the most disastrous that
has ever been known in Washington, oc-
Cured at Shelton, twenty miles from here.
The structure, three stories in height was
unapproachable within few minutes
after the fire started, and although for
hours 1t was fought with all the meager
resources of the town 1t practically burned
itself out
All day the grewsome work OF removing
the bodies from the wreck has proceeded.
So far eleven have been found, but 1t is
feared still more are buried in the ruins.
The fullest list of victims Is:
MISS IDA MAY BAILEY, waitress.
WILLIAM HOLMES, master mechanic
in Pennsular road shops.
LORA DIDEAUX. bartender
PAUL F. LARSON. butchers boy.
MRS. GAY, employe of the hotel.
d. ]. HENNEsSY, logger, Seattle.
SAM HOLT.
MRS. NUDGE.
MR.. AND MRS, w. ]. WESTVALL.
Unknown man; jumped from third story
through skylight to kitchen floor and was
killed.
Eiahty-five Registered
Among the more seriously injured are
the following:
Miss Nudge, fatally burned.
Douglass Grout, night clerk, injured in
ternally.
Miss Mary Brask, Portland, limbs
burned, leg broken; will probably die
James Moreland, Alaska, badly burned;
may die.
Joe Nichols, collarbone broken and
badly bruised.
IT, G. Bond, back broken and shoulder
fractured; will probably die.
Chas Garrett, entire body badly burned.
L. E. THOUT, badly burned about head
and hands.
There were eighty-five persons in the
hotel last night, according to the register,
and many are still unaccounted for.
The money loss is estimated at $4,000,
The scenes about the burning hotel were
terrible. Agonized, distraught, from time
| to time the faces of the victims could be
| clearly seen at the windows by the light
| of the flames, calling for the aid that
| could not come
| Panic stricken, several, caught without
hope, jumped, the majority of them meet
| ing death on the street.
| 1t was only by the utmost efforts OF Snt
volunteer fire department, which was aug
mented by all the citizens, that the blaze
was confined to the building in which II
4 started. which was situated in the center
of the business district.
| The fire was discovered about AS this
i morning. 1t had started In the hotel an
| mex, probably from lighted cigar
dropped in the sample room. The hotel
was three-story structure. The top
| floor was occupied by a number OF log
gers, but the exact number is not known.
Struggle to Aid Prisoners
| Within a few moments of the time the
| fire was discovered the hotel was mass
| of flames Screams and cries for help
were coming from every window. Dozens
risked their own lives in the effort to
reach the unfortunate.
| The hotel occupied a corner of block
| in the center of the city that was solidly
| built of frame structures.
| Those In the upper stories were entirely
cut off from the stairway, and at least
seven or eight jumped from the windows
before help could reach them from the
! outside.
| Eleven are known to be dead and one
dying. All but three were killed by jump
| ing from windows. Shelton has no or
| ganized fire department The fight made
| both in the life saving and the efforts TO
| put out the flames was desperate. The
| town is supplied with a gravity water
| system, which gives heavy pressure on
| the mains. Three and a half-inch hose
lines were laid, and with them the fire
was confined.