The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1922-02-08

body, burned beyond recognition, the
first taken from the ruins since the
Lexington Hotel was destroyed by
fire early yesterday morning was
found at 1850 o'clock this morninS.
This brings the number of known
dead from the fire to four
Richmond, Va, Feb S.-Search CT
the ruins of the Lexington Hotel fire
for the bodies of several missing or
unaccounted for guests today was e.
pected to add to the death toll of yes
terday's conflagration here, when
three men were killed by leaping from
windows and nineteen other persons
suffered injuries that necessitated
their removal to hospitals. Several
persons who suffered from shock and
slight injuries are not now in the
hospi ais.
Chief of Police Serey said early to-
day that thus far there are only three
known dead. Laborers worked
throughout last night removing debris
in efforts to find bodies in the ruins.
Search is yet to be made in the ruins
of the forward part of the building
where menacing walls are yet stand
ing.
From Is to 20 persons are buried in
the ruins of the Lexington hptel ac-
cording to the best information
gained by the police following an all
day and all night search for missing
guests. Though workmen, aided by
tractor and many au.o trucks labored
all last night and this morning re-
moving tons of fallen bricks and 9th
er debris, no tract of bodies has been
found. Four persons, three of them
local men, are believed by their
friends to have perished. They are
E. T. Cox, part owner of the hotel;
H. L. Shaw, railway conductor of this
city; Samuel Ash of this city and T.
D. Pierier of Yonkers, N. Y.
Saved by a Cat
The scratching of pet cat on the
bathroom door no doubt saved the
lives of Mrs. l.. G. Daniels and her
daughter, Miss Drusilla Daniels, both
of Raleigh, N. c., who were trapped
on the fourth floor of She Lexington
and narrowly escaped being buried
alive.
Mrs. Daniels and her daughter oc-
cupied a room on the fourth floor in
the rear of the building and were the
only persons sleeping at that end of
the hall They were awakened short
ly after 4 o'clock by the sharp graf
ing noise made by the cat scra ching
on the door. 81 jumped Immediately
out of bed" Mrs. Daniels said and
upon opening the bathroom detected
smoke. l then opened the door lead
ing into the hall and a gush of pink
smoke rushed into the room and the
flames we're not many yards down the
hallway.
my daugh.er and l did not have
time to dress and went out of the win
dow to the fire escape in our night
clothing. We jumped from the fire
escape to a roof beneath which was
so hot from the flames that our feet
were severely burned. When we land
ed on the roof we were in an an aw-
full quandary how to get to the street
and we could not see a soul anywhere
but heard groans and distressing
sounds from below.
FINALLY seeing no other escape, we
broke the glass window of an ad-
joining building which window ex-
tended above the roof. Our hands and
feet were cut by the broken glass, but
we were able to find our way down
the flight of stairs to the first floor
and in,o the street.
Seventeen Still Missing
The local police department today
reported that after careful re-
checking of the list of guests in the
, nLexington Hotel when the fire occurred
here yesterday morning II persons
still are missing. This list, the po-
lice state, was a card index system
taken from the hotels record. b. II.
Jones, B. A. Smith, A. d. Fits, j. r.
Ne'son, ]. F. Blue and ]. E. Scott
previously missing have been report
ed safe.
According to the latest information
from the hospitals % persons are list
ed as injured 1t is understood, how
ever, that very small proportion OF
these are seriously hurt and that
those fatally injured will not be
more than one at the most.
It was stated at police headquarters
that Albert e. Wilkinson, Of Williams
port, and w. e. Fox, are victims of
the fire. 1t is learned that II. ID.
Pierer of Yonkers, N Y, who is be-
lieyed to have perished in the flames
was a contractor.
List Of Missing
FOLLOWING IL d lst Vi Ihose iSPoAS 70"
by the police today as missing:
T. w. Jones and wife, Norfolk, Va
e. T. Carter, U. S. Navy; e. j. Bush,
Richmond; Samuel Ash, Richmond;
C. c. Eberly, address unknown; ID. f.
Charles, Chacton. S. c.; E. 7. Cox,
Richmon; t. R. Jones, Norfolk; 2. s.
Harold, address not given; F. L. Faik,
c. & C. railroad conductor, Rich
mond; e. c. Taylor, North Carolina;
A. T. Wood, 'Gochland, Va; s. w.
Hawthorne, address not given; -
Matthias, address not given; T. d,
Pierer. Yonkers, N. "; G. B. Bowles,
address not given.
A careful survey at the hospitals
Z this morning OF those injured, shows
that with the exception Of Andrew