The evening world., 1911-05-08
COLONIAL HOTEL
|G0ESTS ROUTED
BY s25O,0OO FIRE
Of Big Apartment
House Also Hustled to Street
by Great Blaze.

least 10000 people were reused out
their sleep early to-day by Q IRE In
. Metropolitan Tobacco Company's
warehouse. at No. ISL West One Hun
fsd and T~wenty-hth street. The
pests Of the Colonial Hotel were hus-
ID into the street In their night clothes
r. we're the tenants Of the Cameron
eartmen, house. At No. SO et. Nicho.
, avenue. behind tho IRE. The loss
ITO the Tobacco Company. the Guardian
fstorage Company. which occupied part
of the building. and the Cromwell es-
tats. which owned the property. will
tAmount to . quarter Of . million dollars.
tRats started the FIRE.
Joseph Dickinser. the janAtor and
night Waterman OF the burned building,
was In . back office on the FIRST fioor
psaesfuliy slipping At . pail Of coffee at
2 O'Clock whom he was interrupted By
PADDY Rosan. Waterman for the main
butidinS Of the GUARDIAN Storage Com
pauy. 10 door.
Mani Mani" yshsd Ronn- Drop
your cofes. There's . IRE upstairA"
Dtcktnger. who 10 over sixty years
Oh, ran Up the stairs and was noon
lost to Rosan In the smoke. which was
pouring down from tho third moor. He
was found later by Lieut.. Lennon Of
Engine Company No. 81. on the third
floor. unconscious after an attack Of
heart disease. He was sent to J. Hood
Wright Hospital. where there was said
TO DO hope for his recovery.
Dn.~~ ap.~r ,o.tu- 49,
niger. ran out and a the alarm.
Battalion Chief Andrews took only one
look at the hot blaze In the tobacco
company's stock and rang a second
alarm. A few minutes later Acting
1 Chief Kenlon was on hand and fifteen
engines were adding their choking
smoke to the heavy tobacco smudge
which settled down for an area Of
many blocks and walked slsepers with
Its s~ufQcating attack on their lungs.
Capt. Weber OF Engine Company No.
Is led seven OF his men and six Of
Lieut.. Lemons company into the
building before the second alarm had
been rung. A back draught sprang At
them Just after Lennon had picked I'D
the limp night Waterman from the
iahuiHb' u AOui Tueu Iell over
one another down two flights OF stairs.
Most Of them were badly bruised but
they scorned the attentions OF DR..
Baker OF J. Hood Wright Hospital who
was called by the acting chief to take
care Of Dicklnger.
! Acting chief ker lon. on his arrival
found the building doomed. The fire.
men had been driven out and were
fighting from the buildings In the rear
And on either side and from the street
b. well as they could. The choking
smoke drove them back repeatedly.
The police were ordered to clear the
neighbortg buildings az there was
hearty as much danger OF suffocation
D. there was from the spread of the
names.
President Otto Bendheim OF the Met
ropolitan Tobacco Company said that
his best information gathered from
the watchmen was that rats got
Unto a desk In which there was a box
OF matches and set them of. The en-
tire stock OF his company In the build
ing was destroyed; IL was worth sl5.-
O0 by his estimate.
Charles Campbell. the president OF the
4 btorage company, said that his con-
n eern was out $40. 600. and the loss OF
+ the Cromwell estate on the building
q was estimated at $50. 900.