The Washington times., 1934-12-13
50 ESTIMATE
DEAD, MANY
MISSING
Wild Parties Cited in Tales BY
Guests Who Escaped Flames
That Ruined HoSteIry

IIIok nuIIISu IIOSANH
Ian SING, Mich, Dec. 13
(IN.S0 AS "a bodies were recov-
cred, placing the official death toll
estimate at So, Investigations of
the tragic Kerns Hotel fire today
brought forth startling evidence
to indicate that the alarm was
fatally delayed.
The official estimate of SO dead
was made while PWA workmen
and firemen continued their grue-
some search of the ruins, and a
deep-sea diver sought the bodies
of victims who leaped into Grand
River to escape the flames.
Six of the charred bodies taken
from the ruins of the hotel can
not be identified. The identified
dead included a clergyman from
Iowa and his wife, the hotel man
ager and seven members of the
Michigan legislature, which be-
gan a special session Monday.
Representative D. Knox Hanna
of Caro-, Mich, who leaped from
a window, died today in a hos
pital.
Delay BY Firemen
Deputy State Fire Marshal Ed
ward w. Welsh revealed that his
inquiry showed an apparent gap
of Is to 20 minutes between the
time the fire was discovered and
,aoo;ot oF tho fircf o1o nm
Two conflicting accounts con-
corning sending of the alarm
were current. I. j. Jones, night
clerk, said he telephoned for
firemen as soon as he received
his first information that there
was a fire in the building. Mr..
Welsh said all evidence indicated
this could not have been much
later than a. m.
Another witness. Andrew The
venau, of Flint, said he ran from
the flaming hotel all the way to
a nearby fire station, found the
engine house dark, 10 minutes
after the fire started. He then
went across the street to
restaurant and phoned the alarm
to the firehouSe.
The records of the fire depart
ment show that a single telephone
alarm was received at 5:32 a. m,
an hour which would tally gener-
ally with the story told by Mr..
Thevenau. But there was no way
to trace the telephone call and
determine whether it came from
Thevenau at the restaurant or
Mr.. Jones at the hotel.
Called "Fire Trap"
A possible explanation was seen
in the fact that the hotels switch
board had given trouble and was
out of service for half an hour the
night before the fire.
Other phases of the investiga-
ton resulted in admission by the
fire chief that he knew the Kerns
Hotel was firetrap; and testi-
mony that wild parties were in
progress in the hotel shortly be-
fore the flames we're discovered.
The following is the revised list
of dead:
Eight charred and unidentified
bodies taken from the ruins; A.
M. Bosnian, Grand Rapids, Mich;
Representative John w. Good
wine, Marlette, Mich; James
Gratrix, Chicago: Representative
T. Henry Hewlett, Gregory, Mich;
The Rev. George Korteling, Cedar
Rapids, Ia; The Rev. Korteling'S
wife, Alice Senator John Leidlein,
Saginaw, Mich; Russell S. McFar-
lane, Dayton, Ohio; David Mon
roe, the hotel manager; Leo A.
Morris, Detroit; Representative
Donald Sias, Midland, Mich;
Clarence Smith, Coldwater, Mich;
Representative Vern Hoorhees,
Albion, Mich, Israel Wishneff, Los
Angeles, and Representative D.
Knox Hanna, of Caro-, Mich.
Believed Dead
The following we're believed
dead but their bodies had not
been recovered:
Fred Barnhard. Lansing, Mich;
]. H. Byrnes, Grand Rapids; c. l..
Fisher, Marshall, Mich; Charles
Cermer. Saginaw, Mich, R. E.
Harvey, Detroit; H. Milard, South
Norwalk, Conn; Joel Palmer,
Ionia, Mich; Mrs. Elsa Robbins,
Capital Building matron; Lloyd
E. Rockey. Addison, Mich;
Charles B. Searle, Fort Wayne,
Ind; Edward Booth, Grand
Rapids, Mich; Clyde Adams
Lansing; Harry Coombs, SIS. Craw
fordsville, Ind; G. R. Johnson,
Milwaukee: Side Gottlieb, Cincin-
natl: Walter Arnold, Grand
Rapids; Robert E. Shepherd,
Grand Rapids, and j. H. Welsh,
Flint, Mich.