The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-01-16

| Ier1ng from severely injured ankle
is at large, and has even recovered his
| double arreled spectacIes His story
of the fire as he saw it, is worthy of
type.
when the smoke began to roll"
says "Uncle Bent,n stno alarm had
been given by hotel employees. at
least in my section of the fated hoted.
l. occupied room No BIT. The lights
| were an impossibility, and I CROPPED
IN the darkness for my clothing. 1
| round my trousers, and donned them
| over a canton flannel night gown. SEN
| ator John Stewart of Wichita. was the
real hero of the fire. He was the last
man TO leave our corridor. He kept
1 MS head throughout the whole affair,
| and helped others to escape Fitzpat-
rick, my neighbor in room 321, had
fire escape at his window, and got
away without effort. Mr.. Thompson
| me, escaped with difficulty.
| NO alarm was given in our hall. 1
pounded on the door, when discover
ed that the hal was mass of flame,
! on fire Whether or not others in
! the corridor were benefited by my eff
forts. I do not know
1T was Senator Stewart who helped
| me. l dropped on the mattress he
had thrown down, and although in
jured by the fall, 1 doubled the mat
ress in such shape that he made the
jump without injury We left by the
| first made every effort to save others.
! Mrs. Thompson was injured by the
breaking OF the sheet rope which she
| had attempted to descend
1--WE crawled across one roof. and
We're lowered by the uninjured mem
| bers Of the party to another. and fin
ally reached the street and the Y. M.
| G. A. building. I had lost all my pos
sessions-even my glasses, but Billy
| Webb, who knew the location of my
room, recovered some of my effects in
the morning. He found my glasses.
The lenses broken by the heat, and
taken to jeweler. who bathed the
rims in acid to remove the fire stains
and replaced the glasses.
Il will never forget Cope Gordon.
and half clad, Cope Gordon was nearby
and said to some bystanders: Take
Murdoch to the Y. M c. A. quick.
ct will also remember Senator Stew
art. whose GOODNESS in the time of dan
ger undoubtedly saved several lives
With the flames crowding us from the
rear, Stewart let me down from Win
dow as far as he could, holding my
hands. He does not look like strong
man. but his muscles are evidently
made of steel. Not word of cornplalnf
| escaped him during the ordeal, and L
know that he was the last person TO
leave that end of the hotel"
"JJncle Bent" is still suffering from
the injury to his knee and ankle, put
can walk without crutches and steadlly
refuses a proffered cane. His daughter
is now with him, having taken the first
train to Topeka upon nearing or eiie
hotel fire and her fathers injuries. me
Murdocks spent Friday and last nlsnt
with Governor Stubs,
Patrolman Kirk Pinkston of the To-
peka police force, the coloreo man
who carried five people from the
burning Copeland, has the following
RI
"When asked concerning my herolc
act at the burning of the Copeland
hotel I will simply state that nave
ma praise to make for myself shall
leave that for the public to make
from those who witnessed my work
The cheers and applause they gave me
only helped me with courage TO per-
form my sworn duty.
4eVhen I arrived at the building l
found the firenenss sIny ex-comraoes,
all at work with hose and ladders ana
there I found work for some brave
man. The cries for help We're almost
beyond imagination. With the assist
ance of my brother officers, walker,
Brown and Fowler. we put ladder up
to the front balcony whlch gave e me
access to the fire escapes. The frst
person I met on the third floor was a
lady crying, Please help me-. tod
her to hold to me and she was sa1eiy
hack until I reached the fifth person.
who was Webb McNal1, who could
only stand the smoke but a rev sec
ends longer He was pale and seem req
to be glad to meet me altnough his
life was in danger.
at procured a ten foot ladder in
bay window and extended II to the
fire escape making very weak bridge
to cross on a two story building ex-
pressed my confidence of his SAFETY SO
he crawIed on his hands and knees
until I could reach him. He said to
me Save my boy! When came
down found a man half clad talking
70 OFFICERS Mead Brown and others
and he said he had two trunks on the
third floor and he offered IS for them
went back again winding around the
fire escapes in cloud of smoke and
flames and delivered them to him. He
said ne would see me later-that is
the last have seen of him. I'm on duty
at night and stand ready to repeat the
performance free of charge. MY num-
Der is II with five years experience as
a policemen and ten years a s fire
man. live in Topeka and have
wife and nine children. Have lived
hero 26 years Was horn in Lexing-
ton, Miss. May Is. 1863"
During the fire Representative Sig
Lehman rushed to the check room and
carried away all the overcoats he couId
embrace For some reason he did not
take them directly from the otnce pns
threw them into lobby chair. He dld
NOT return to them. No one seems TO
know what became of them. PerhapS
thew served one at a time to wrap the
scantiIy clad guests as they rushed to
the air Perhaps they went INTO the
basement with falling floors Repre-
sentative Amrine's coat was in the
check room and has not been recovered
It is a heavy coat. dark green. with
black velvet collar, side-sIt pockeLs;
in which where a neck sweater anu
brown mocha gloves. He will be CRATE
f,,1 for anv trace leading to recovery
AUTO SHOW OPENS.