The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1907-09-12
3 DIE IN HOTEL FIRE
A North Carolina Resort Hotel
Destroyed By Lightning
SCENE CEE or GREAT HORROR
Cleveland Springs uctel Near Shell
by. n. c.. Set ea Fire by lightning
Three Women Being Roasted Alive
The Cries OF MisS Cora Smith.
Of Elleatoro. For Some One 20
Save Her. Heart Rending.

Shelby, y L, special.-Shut IN
their rooms, with no possible avenue
Of escape. and roasted 10 death was
the awful fate of three women, one
white and two colored, at Cleveland
Springs Hotel. a few miles from here,
At an early hour Monday morning.
Those who persisted were:
Miss Cora Smith, a young lady
IF Ellenboro. Rutherford county.
Mary Frazier, a colored chamber
maid, of South Carolina.
Annie Frazier, her sister, also a
:hambermaid.
Miss Smith was sleeping on the
third floor and before she was awak-
sned the flames had hemmed her in
beyond any possible manner of es-
,ape. She cried most piteously to be
rescued. but the anxious spectators
stood BY horror-stricken, entirely un-
able to render her any assistance.
Her body, charrcd almost beyond
recognition, was found in the debns
IF the building
The two chambermaids were sleep
ing in the attic Of the hotel and, like
Miss Smith, were overtaken by the
flames before they could flee from the
| building.
The fire originated in the kitchen
part of the hotel during a severe elec-
trio storm and is supposed to have
caught from lightning stroke. The
building burned like dry shavn9s and
the guests were aroused just in time
TO escape in their night clothes, al
most no personal effects being saved
Mr.. Mcfarland. tie lessee Of the
| summer resort. did all in his power
20 give lis guests warning, cropping
1is way through the inlly darkness Of
the halls, filled with dense smoke.
| There was much confusion among the
1otel occupants when the alarm was
given. Had it not been for this
much more property could have been
saved. As it was practically nothing
was taken out Of the building. The
structure was valued at $4,000, with
insurance Of about $l2 900. The fur
allure was valued 1t $1,000.
The season having about closed
onlv fifteen guests were registered at
the hotel Among these were: Miss
Annie Woinble, OF Raleigh; Miss Me
Donald. Of Rockingham; Mr.. and
Mrs. E. P. Roberts and Miss Mamie
Hamblight. Cherokee Falls, S. c.
Several Charlotte people had been
spending some time at the hotel, but
| fortunately had left.
South and Western Win.
Bristol, Va. Special - In the
Superior Court of Nancey Coun-
ty at Burnsville. n. c. Judge
PEBBLES rendered sweeping de-
cision in favor of the South & Wes-
tern railroad in the famous right Of
way contest between the latter and
the Southern The Southern railway
attempted to block the construction
| Of the South & Western some two
wears ago and organize the johnson
| City Southern to parallel it for a dis
tance of over 100 miles. The contest
came up over the right of way from
Embreeville, Tenn. to Burnville, n. c
and through the Nola Chucky gorg5
both claiming priority in the location
| of their lines. For months this ha:
seriously impeded the construction ol
the South 6 Western. the new trunk
line from eastern Kentucky to tht
South Atlantic seaboard the selecticr
Of another route being impossible ant
Judge PEBBLES decision gives the lat
ter the right to build its line and til;
advantage without compensation d
about 100000 worth of grading
done by the Southern.