Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-08-23
FLAMES TAKE LIVES
AS MACON HOTEL BURNS
Continued From Page ~

|
plaster and walls until they jumped
| to safety from the windows of the
| second and third floors.
All of the injured, with the excep-
| ton of the negro waiter, jumped from
| windows, some with flames leaping
around them, almost enveloping them.
The burns received were inflicted
| as they were jumping through wall
/ of fire to the ground. Several lives
were saved by the shed over the
Garfield filing station.
A Thrilling Escape
| II was awakened by loud eXplo-
, sion," said E. N. Tinsley, of Macon,
between forced breaths at the Macon
hospital. Before I could get out of
| smoke and plastering was falling.
| knew than that the guiding would
soon fall, If there had been an eH.
J plosion, or that it would catch fire.
| dangerous places on the railroads. So
I collected my thoughts to come. to
| the best method of getting out i'm
| mediately. I saw that there was no
| chance for me to get to the elecators,
so I made it for the back OF the
| out of the back door. However
! when I got to the back Of the build
| ing L saw big waves Of flames COM
| ing my way. Losing this opportunity
| for escape, closed door to room
| through which the fire was coming,
| to try to check it, so as not to reach
me until 1 could exhaust other ef-
| forts for escape.
'I next went to window, of a
room, realizing that my last chance
| Tinsley said. II thought of the shed
over the filling station, and the room
| that I went to was directly over 1T.
| The jar almost rendered me help
| less, but I did not lose conscious
ness. I then made another leap Tor
| the pavement. I believe the jump to
| the pavement is what affected my
back, as l was unconscious for a
time When got my senses back,
| 1 began to crawl away from the hot
| flames. Two men saw me and picked
me up, later bringing me to the hos
| pital."
The fire started from an explosion,
| which seemed to be in the basement
of the building near the hotel occu-
pied by the Drummer Drug company,
was partly built Of frame and which
was one of the oldest in the city.
| The building burned like finder.
! There were more than 100 guests
in the hotel, and many were cut on
from fire escapes. A general alarm
| was sent in and every piece of fire
lighting apparatus in the city was
sent to the scene. Still the flames
continued to gain headWay ana
leaping from the upper windows.
Telephone System Disabled
| Horace Weems, night clerk at the
| hotel, declared the explosion oc-
Cured at 1875 a. m. He was stunned
| and only dimply heard what he be-
lieved to be a second explosion. A
| gigantic hole was blasted in the tiled
| floor Of the lobby of the hotel and
the elevator was hurled to the second
floor. Fume-laden flames burst
through the opening. The telephone
! system was put out of commission
| and soon the lights went out. Panic
| Immediately broke out among the
guests on the upper floors. Men and
| women began fighting to reach the
| upper windows. All were thinly clad
| in their night clothing. Many per-
sons were carried down ladders by
| the firemen.
| J. w. Hays and Harry Swansburg,
Of Atlanta, leaped through window
ing company's plant. A wall of names
| burst through the windows behind
them. Both leaped and fell into
pile of iron.
Firemen with soaked awnings
! wrapped around them to protect them
the work of rescue Their lives were
| further endangered by crumbllng
| walls. .
At 1927 a. m. part of the front wall
gave way and many spectators in the
streets had narrow escapes from fall-
ing debris. 1t is believed several in
the building were carried to their
deaths by falling brick and t1mbers.
Showers of flame and sparks shot
high into the air and they were en-
| quilted in the fiery volcano when
the interior of the big building had
| become.
Blown Out of Bed
F. C. Claxton, who jumped from
Of the explosion blew him out of bed.
His face was badly burned.
| A dozen firemen trying to get at
the seat of the fire through the store
of the Drummer Drug company's store.
narrowly escaped when the walls
of that structure collapsed.
| Mr. and Mrs. D. Bragdon, of North
! Carolina, en- route with party OF
eight to Quitman, Ga, were in the
fire. There were three children and
four women.
Bragdon seized four-year-old
daughter of Mrs. Brunette, of Quit
man, leaped from window, through
sheet of flames to telephone
pole and climbed to the ground from
the third floor. Both were saved:
The others in the party were rescued
"No way to Escape"
G. L. Wilder, who was one OF the
last to escape from the building, de-
clared, There were ten or fifteen men
behind me and they had no way to
escape"
The flames spread a glare over the
city for many blocks and many per-
sons awakened by the explosion hur-
ried to the place in automoollcs ana
on foot. Soon several thousand stood
outside the fire lines, and as the
battle against the flames continued,
the crowds grew rapidly. Many Of
fered their automobiles to take the
injured to the hospital and for some
time patients fairly poured into the
| emergency room. Macon physicians
volunteered their services to assist
the hospital staff. A number of the
injured were taken into private homes
in that vicinity, and this and the
destruction of the hotel register ham
pered the work Of checking the lists
to determine just how many are miss
ing.
Several attempts were made to en-
ter the blackened hulk that once had
been the hotel, housing more than
100 persons, but each time the fire
men were driven back by flames and
| heat.
Crumbling walls increased the haz-
ard of their work.
1t was reported Monday morning
that there had for some time been
: a leaking gas pipe in Che basement