The Washington herald., 1921-10-03
Telephone Operator Dies
On Third Floor of
National Hotel.
GEO. LEE MASON
FOUND IN ROOM
Three Seriously Injured.
Damage Estimated
At 100000.

yesterday morning in the shoulder
/ ing ruins OF the National Hotel
the charred remains OF a girl and the
body of a man sufTocated by smoke.
The dead are:
Miss Catherine Dean, % years old.
telephone operator in the hotel and
resident Of the building.
George Lee Mason. 46 years old.
former employe Of the l~Shipping
Board, who resided with his sister.
Mrs. Benjamin S. Minor, 1906 Con-
necticut avenue.
Crouched Near Elevator
Mason was found by the first
squad of rescuers sent into the buIi0-
ing after the flames had been brought
under control at $40 O'Clock yes
terday NOR hing under direction OF
Deputy Chief Nicholson. Flames had
not touched his room. and indica-
tions are that he was not aroused
when other occupants of the floor
were awakened. Ten minutes later
the charred body Of Miss Dean was
found in. crouched position at the
elevator door on the third floor.
Burned beyond recognition. Miss
Deans body was identified an hour
later by friend. Mrs. May Scudder.
who thought she was safe in an
adjoining building.
Miss Dean occupied a room on the
second floor in the rear. Shortly
after the first alarm was sounded
Mrs. Scudder. who occupied an ad-
joining room. rushed to her bed and
awakened her
Took Time TO Dress.
In response to her warning, Mrs
Scudder told reporters last night,
sion.
I'll be out as soon as i get
dressed Miss Dean told Mrs. Scud'
der as she arose. ..
| Just then heard heavy rum
bic outside and | feared the walls
were crashing in. / rushed out OF
the door and a man coming by a
, the time grabbed me and insisted
that / remain outside. l protested
that / be allowed to go back and
! help Miss Dean. but he insisted
others would take care Of her. 4
little later | was told she had beer
seen on the street." Mrs. ScuddeI
said last night.
Stairway Had Collapsed.
1t is believed that Miss Dean be.
came alarmed shortly after Mrs
Scudder left and rushed for the front
stairway. She had not complete'
dressing as her dress was found or
her bed later. The stairway co.
lapsed about this time, and ofiic al:
believe she then rushed to the third
floor in hopes Of reaching a from
FIRE escape. Cut of by a blaze OF
this floor. II is presumed she placed
= her hopes on ehelevator. II hat
been forced to stop after its tent
trip. and before the closed gate o.
: the shaft Miss Dean apparently fel
= from suffocation by smoke. She Wa
l found in a sitting position on tn,
= stairway nearby, her body burne,
4 20 a crisp
Mrs. Scudder saw the remains a,
D hour later at the morgue, where sh
1 had been asked TO go by frienc
S who feared the body was that o
I Miss Dean.
Immediate Identification was mad
. by Mrs. Scudder through some pc
cuIiar dental work in the teeth o
Miss Dean and two diamond ring
on her finger.
His door unlocked and his roor
rot touched by flames, the body q
d George l. Mason, fully dressed, wa
found lying across his bed in RooI
! 315. in the Sixth street and Penn
e sylvania avenue corner, on tn
s third floor.
= He was dead from suffocstiol
# DR.. Kilroy examined the body a
# it was brought to the street an
Is pI onounced him dead. He was wa
n removed to the Emergency Hospits
= and later to the morgue. Fireme
= r. D. Moore and ]. D. Howard dis
covered Mason.
l. Firemen are nystified at the fai
n ure of rescuers to find Mason eal
IS lier in the morning. The blaze di
- not touch his room, and access I
e it was open at all times, official
: say.
Fire Chief Watson declared La
,r night no blame could be attachs
: to the department for the death {
> Mason.
d Squads Searched Rooms.
= "I arrived at the fire ten minut,
" after the second alarm was sounC
'r ed. 2:i5 o'clock, and is minute
le after the first alarm. Depety Chi
Nicholson reported he had sci
squads through every floor ar
every, room had been searcht
and all were believed safe
Chief Watson declared last nigh
v Il ordered that men be pr,
pared to enter the burned areas
r. soon as practicable, and these d,
l. tails were rushed intd the buildir
D. at the earliest moment" he said.
Chief Watson told of sending tv
,r men to search the entire NTH io'
IN for the wife Of a man who declar,
,s she was on that floor. They crawl,
te through hameS and water and r
,s ported later tnat every room hs
',- been searched, he said. Later |
"a said he conducted a personal inve
"a tigation for a man reported missiI
g. on the third floor. He did not er
a ter that section of the floor occ,
pied by Mason at this time.
~ Formerly Lived In Virginia
a. Miss Dean had worked at the h
ne tel for about two years as q tel
e. phone operator. She had return
es last week from q vacation in Akro
IL Ohio. where her parents and ne
relatives reside. She lived in Ha
pc risonburg, Va, before coming to q
" District in 1915. and. according
friends had recently been divorc