The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1908-05-08
HOTEL IN FORT WAYNE, IND,
BURNS AND MANY PERISH
Flames Destroy the New AveIine In
Early Neutrality-suspicious. Number
Eleven or More--Many
Thrilling Escapes.

Fort Wayne, Ind-Eleven persons
are known to be dead, several are
missing and dozen persons are seri-
ously injured as the result Of fire
that wiped out the New Aveline hotel
early Sunday morning.
The known dead are: Frank c. Bax-
ter, Auburn, Ind, attorney; Miss May
Burkett, Mishawaka, Ind, nurse at the
Mishawaka Orphans home; J. w. De-
whey, Camden, N. j., 43 years old,
chief travelling representative Of Craw-
ford & Lehman, poultry dealers Of
Philadelphia; E. ]. Ellis, Chicago,
salesman for Carson, Pirie, Scott &
Ind, travelling agent of the orphans
home at Mishawaka, Ind; Maurice
Hirsch, Chicago, salesman for the Pa
citic Coast Borax company; Robert S.
Johnson, Pana, ILL.,, travelling sales
man, formerly a merchant in Pana, As
years old; ]. B. Miller, Philadelphia,
salesman for Brickner wooden mills,
Sheboygan Falls, Wis; w. A. Pitcher,
Duluth, Mimi, SO years old, travelling
salesman for Bowser company of Fort
Wayne; body Of unidentified man,
consisting only of trunk and head al
most burned off; unidentified body Of
man, so badly burned as to be practi-
cally unrecognizable.
Two Known to Be Missing.
The only persons known to be miss
ing are Charles Benjamin, a salesman,
Of Detroit, and Herman Seligman, Of
New York.
Coroner Kesler has begun an in
quiry into the fire and summoned as
witnesses all persons connected with
the hotel and all guests remaining in
the city.
1t is practically established that the
fire started in the boiler room in the
basement The timbers leading from
the engine room, which were uncov-
cred by the firemen, show the path
way of the flames to the elevator
shaft.
Bodies in Mass of Wreckage.
The complete destruction of the in
| terror of the hotel makes the work of
recovering bodies a task of great
difficulty. A confused heap of charred
wood, bricks and twisted Orders is
piled up between the bare walls to the
second story. Piece by piece this
must be removed before the roll of
the dead can be completed. Some of
the bodies taken out are mangled and
charred beyond recognition and the
work of Identification is in these cases
task almost battling.
Infantry company D and battery B
of the National Guard are on duty and
aiding the fire and police forces to
clear away the debris.
Night Clerk Saves Many.
The fire was discovered at 1920 in
the morning in the elevator shaft by
Night Clerk Ralph Hopkins. He
rushed to the upper floors, alarming
the guests, until the flames, which had
spread with appalling rapidity, drove
him back. His efforts, however, saved
many lives. The hotel was erected
half century ago and the woodwork
was dry as finder. 1t burned like
matchwood and within a few minutes
the whole interior of the hotel was a
mass of flames that filled the corridors
and rooms with suffocating clouds of
smoke and laid fiery barriers across
all means of escape save by the win
dows
The fire department rescued many
by means of ladders, but some, fren-
izied by the onward rush of the flames,
leaped from high windows to the
paved street.
Man Leaps and Is Killed.
r. S. Johnson of Pana ILL.,, jumped
from the fifth story. His body struck
a balcony and bounded far into the
street. He was a crushed and bleed
ing mass when picked up and died a
short time later in st. Josephs hos
pital
AS the fury of the flames increased,
men and women were seen in the win
dows of their rooms, where they wild
ly implored help. Some did not wait
for the efforts of the firemen and
leaped to the street. Several were
seriously injured in this way. Those
who got from their rooms before the
flames cut off their retreat were able
to make their way to the fire escape
and so were saved with comparative
ease. Soon the flames broke from the
windows and curled about the fire.
escapes. Some of the more hardy ones
braved the flames and made their way
through smoke and fire down the iron
stairways.
Some Thrilling Escapes.
There were many thrilling escapes.
Claude H. Varnell of the Fort Wayne
baseball team, his sister, Mrs. John
Hendricks, and John Hendricks of Chi
cago, manager Of the Fort Wayne
team, together with Master Hendricks,
aged five years, barely escaped with