Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-04
FIGHT FOR FREEDOM FIRE COSTS Il LIVES
Harry Thaws Case Opens at Hotel at Fort Wayne Ind De-
Poughkeepsie stroyed
HIS LAWYERS ARE HOPEFUL DEATH LIST NAY GROW
Many for Habea Corpus Bodies May Hidden the Ruins
Proceedings. of the House.
WILL OPPOSE VENUE CHANGE MANY THRILLING ESCAPES
Of
teawan During Hearng-Mrs Tnder-Losses
Thaws Covere bv Iusuran
Hotel at Fort Wayne, Ind, De-
stroyed.
DEATH LIST MAY GROW
Bodies May Be Hidden in the Ruins
of the House.
MANY THRILLING
ESCAPES
Cause Of Fire Not Known-Structure
Burns Like Tinder-Losses
Covered by Insurance.

FORT WAYNE. Ind, May AT least
twelve persons lost their lives in fire
which destroyed the New Alevine Hotel
here yesterday The entire interior of the
building is smoldering heap of ruins,
and how many dead are concealed by the
debris can only be conjectured.
The hotel register was consumed and
there is no accurate means of determin-
ing who is missing.
At o'clock this morning the roll
stood at eleven known dead. with several
persons still unaccounted for. Just al
daylight the body of a man was recovered
from the ruins. the first to be exhumed
from the heaps of debris since Sunday
evening The body was identified as that
| of Charles Benjamin of Detroit.
A revised list of dead follows:
]. B. MILLER, travelling salesman. She
j. T f. Ellis. eraveling salesman for
Carson. Pirie, Scott & Co, Chicago.
ISAAC HIRSCH. travelling salesman
WILLIAM PITCHER, travelling sales
f. S: JOHNSON, travelling salesman
JOSEPH W. DEvINEY, travelling sales
man, Philadelphia.
CHARLES BENJAMIN. travelling sales
man, Detroit.
Unidentified body of woman. supposed to
be that of Miss Mary Burkett, Mishawaka.
Ind From the remains was taken gold
band ring bearing the initials M. b.
Unidentified woman, supposed TO be that
Of Miss Sarah Hathaway. Mfshawka. Ind.
Unidentified body of man, consisting
only of trunk and bead almost burned off.
supposed to be that of Burke, hotel porter.
Unidentified body of man. SO padiy
burned as to be practically unrecogniz-
able.
Rescue Work All Night.
OF the dozen persons seriously injured
by burns or by leaping from the burn
ing hotel all are doing well at the hos
ptals except E. NJ. Matthews Of Colum-
bus Ohio. whose death is hourly expected
The fire department. police and two
companies of militia aided by many Ia
borers. worked throughout the night bur-
rowing into the, ruins In search for dead
1t was daylight before another body Mas
recovered. There are number OF per-
sons yet missing. though how many and
also their identity are questions altogether
pfoh1euatfca3 0Etng - Sssy st9q1N4ts n ffac
register and other guest records OF the
The total nu,nber of.deaths cannot be
determined until the, Debris has been conf
pletely searched.
The destruction Of the interior of the
hotel makes the work of recovering
OO0leS q OlIQCuyI Ia8k. "A COuIu0cu AcAp
Of charred wood. bricks and twisted gir-
ders Is piled up between the 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 ma1gled and
Company d and Battery b of the Ma
tionai Guard are on duty and aiding
the firemen and police to clear away
the debris.
Night Clerk Saved Many.
Tie fire was discovered at $50 a. IN.
In the elevator shaft by Night Clerk
Ralph tiipkins. He rushed to the upper
floors and alarmed the guests until the
flames, which had spread with great
rapidity, drove him back. His efforts,
however, saved many lives. The hotel
was erected half a century ago and the
woodwork was dry as finder. It burned
like matchwoOd. and within few min
utes from the time the fire was discovered
the whole interior Of the hotel was a
mass Of flames, and the only means OF
escape left was by the windows.
The firemen rescued many with ladders.
but some. frenzied by the rush OF the
flames, leaped from windows to the street.
r. s., Johnson of Pana, ILL.,. jumped
from the fifth story. His body struck a
balcony and bounded far into the street.
He was badly crushed and died In st.
JOseph's Hospital. AS the flames In
creased men and women were seen in the
windows of their rooms imploring help.
Some did not wait for the firemen, but
! leaped to the street.
Rush for Fire Escapes.
There were many thrilling escapes.
Claude IL. varnell Of the Fort Wayne
base ball team;. his sister. Mrs. John
Hendricks. and John Hendricks Of Chi
cago. manager OF tbs Fort Wayne team.
barely escaped with their lives. Varnell
los; all his personal belongings. valued at
several thousand dollars. Hendricks. with
| his wife ahead Of him and his son in his
arms, started down the fire escape from
| the fifth floor At the third floor the fire
broke out below them at the turn in the
iron stairs. He swung Mrs. Hendricks
over the railing Of the third floor platform
and she dropped to the platform Of the
story below, thus avoiding the blaze-swept
portion OF the fire escape. Then he
dropped his son into the arms OF his wife.
| and he followed them In this way to the
| ground III safety. Similar escapes were
When the fire was at it's height Z. NJ
| Matthews of Columbus, Ohio, was seen
| wildly waving his arms ut a third-story
window. He sf.rieked for help In vain and
then leaped from the window and went
| swiriing to the pavement below. He was
desperately hurt.
| John p. Strohecher OF New York
| reached the ground almost naked. He
| had no time to gather his apparel. for the
flames burst into his room before he was
awakened. Scores Of men and women
reached the ground with nothing on but
night clothes. None of the guests had
time to save their effects. Dyy goods and
| clothing stores were thrown open to al
who needed apparel and they were sup.
i ILL NAvH