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Graphic Description Of The Fire, Together With Attending Scenes, Incidents And Escapes

Graphic Description Of The Fire, Together With Attending Scenes, Incidents And Escapes image
Parent Issue
Day
20
Month
April
Year
1877
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

A letter from St. Louis givcs the followiiig additional details of the terrible qaLamity : The particular 8 oí the disaster oxceed, intlicir intense and distressing features, those of any of Hke character, and are set forth in their grim and appalling ghastlmess, wiüi siekening and harrowing detail. The frantic efforts of hundreds of people to escape an awfnl deatli before the even of thousandR of tíieir feljlow men, nnable to ronder tho slighteat aid, forms a most agonizing picture. Timid and woak women driven to frenzy, leapudfrom dizzy heights to escape one horror, and met anothcr on cruel, flinty pavementa. Strong men Swung themselvea from periloua elevations and clung convulsively, desperately, to the f railest SI ] - port, till the scorekiug ñames or physical exhaustion compelled them to loosen their hold and fall with a deadoning thud at tbc fee! cl' the frightcned crowd, who stood with outstrctchèd hands, vainly essaying to break the force of the frightful deseent. Wild, despairing faces - faces never to be lookod npon and forgotten - faces blanched with that awful dread which impending death brings to the boldest, crowded to the half-open windows, gazing wildij on tlie mighty ca of upturned faees lielow, with the íire, cruel, certain, remoi-selcKs. behind them ; beforo them a yawning gnlf whcre death equally horrible and certain awaited them. As their cries for help broke on the midnight air, men wept like childen at the sight, woraen faiuted at the sound, all praying to heavcn to succor the doomed wrefohes. ïlie spectators wrung theil helplrss liands in mortal agony as one by one the distorted laces dropped back intothe tarid flames, or leaped foith to certain doath. Altérnate li - r thá shudders escaped the multitud e on on the streel below- ohoers at the intrupid daring .f sonie stout hand and heart reaciling an unfortunate victim- shuddei-K aa from the burning pile carne a bundie, or what seemed h bundie, Eurllng itself through the sea of ñame and amoke, and revealrng a mass of quiverüig. mangled flesli at their feet. 'l ', . raad "'' such scènes chilla the blood, bul to witnasB such a npectaclo is to have the scène indSlïbly engruvi-n on tile tableta of the mem óry. The v hole history of the progresa of the con Kagration is a repetihon of heroic deeds, and harrowing incidents. Miss Kate Claxton, the actresa, who it wil! be remembered was on the stage of the l'.rookhn Theater at the time of the recent tire, pfitvrng the charaotcr of l.uuise in the "Two DrphaDSt" and who had BUOh a reiiiiírkai'le eseape from that holocaust, was also ;i giiet at the Southern, tihe ■ a room on ïü third floor, snd wá aísvaktined from a nouiid sleep bya loodcryof 'ü(s '." i'vuin i the liall. JiyjBpiüg OUt fifbed.' .,!,,■ n.i--.! ht?1 way to the door and opened it, to fiiid that the place was dense with smoke, and that immediate action was necessary. Slipping into the Beantiest of gafmentB, she threw up ono of the windows to ascertaiii the chance of espaping by that route, and. fïnding that it was decidedly slim, she conchiclcd that her only hope of escape lay throngh the hallway, Peoplo were screaming and hurrying past her door, and ente detennined on the instant to cast her lot wiLh the'm. There were no lights, and what va s doiie had to be done in tho darkness. Entering the liall, she hnrried in the direction of tho fstainvay, and beforeproceeding farwan materially assisted by a gentleman, who seized hold of her arm and pushed her along with a proper appreciation of the nced for liaste. When she came to the stairway she feil down, and rolled for some distanee. Áfter getting to the bottom, not being badly hnrt, she was able to got up expeditiously and make her escape. She lont every article of clothing she had in tho hoh 1, Have what she had on. One of the saddest incidents of the conflagration was the death of the Hon. George Munster, II. r., of England, who recentiy mamed the daughter of a prominent physician of St. Louis. He was Rpending his honeymoon at the hotel. By wonderful presence "of mind on the part of his wife botli escaped out of the buruing building, but their flight and the confusión and horror of the scène had overturned Mr. Munster's reason, and nnder an insane impulse he rushed back into the building, and, putting a pistol to bis licad, blow his brains out. Mr. Edward P. Tyson, a commercial traveler of New York, ccrtamly owcs his escape to his rnuarkable coolness and presence of mind. He says he was awakened by hearing a noise as of Kcmicbody scuftling or qiiarreling in the hall. The smoke and ñames of the fire very quickly told the wholo story, and, hatead of madly rushing into the hall and endeavoring to make li is way out through the smoke and fiamos, he closed his room door, got np and shut the trauBom above it, and tben cooUy commeneed to dieaa íúmsclf. Ho went to the beda, of which there were two in his room, and, taking the blankets from them, cut them into strips to make a ropo with which ho iiitendod to lower himself to biüldingB iinmediately under the wmdow. He had ticd liis lilanket strips togethcr ; then, tobe cércala of liaving enough ropo to roach the ground, he took the counterpanes off the beds and added them to the blanket strips. He then lowcred his blanket rope, to which was attached, by those below, a stouter and larger rope, which he hauled up. Tliis rope he managed to throw up to some women in the window on the floor above, who mado it fast to the leg of the bed, and thuB himself and thoso in tho room above cscaped, uninjured. A woman in tho fifth-story window on the Fifth street front became panic-strieken and j uinped out. She alighted on her f eet and was carried to the St. Jarues Hotel still aüve. Her husband who had been Btaiiding by her sidc, then tore up the bedding, and let the strip, so made, out of the window. To this iiremen attaolited a rope wliich the man hauled up, making it fast to tlic window-pill, and Bíifely descended by il. A man appeared at one of the fourth-storjwindows. He was in his night dress, and liis demeanor exhibitod frantic excitement. He yelled to the crowd, " What shallldo?" Sevei'al in the crowd as frantic as himself cried "Jmnp." The man appeared to hesitate. "Jump," "Jmnp," carne from a thousand hiarse throats. Standing on the window-sili, the man jumped. The ligure wavered in its night, utruck the corner of the balcony, and, bounding ofT, feil on to the pavement, striking there with a heavy thud, on the head and shoulders. The man rebounded with a hon-id eiy and feil back. Another man in the fifth story sat in the window with two sheets in his hands. These he linally tore in strips, haBtüytwistcd them into a rape, f astening this improyised rope to the window-sill, and, though it did not reacn more than twi'lve feet, lie crawled out and let himself down hand over hand very Blowly. Finally he roached the end of the sheet and then for the lirst time he seemed to realize his position. He stopped, threw his head back, revealing a ghastly face, and swung slowly to and fro, swaj-ed by the breeze which the roaring llames above created. His limbü swung arouud convulsively as though to catch upon something, be it ever so slight ; then he let go, and groans went up from hundreds of throats as he n hirled round and round, and finally struck on the stone flagging, dead. At a corner window a young lady appeared with a rope in her hands, which she securely fastened to the window and began her descent, coming first hand overhand and then sliding until she reached the ground in safety. The foat w-as one of the most thrüling, and the heroine, a Miss Handy, was received with the wildest enthusiasm by the crowd, and immediately sent away in a carriage. Col. Robt. G. Ingersoll also had a narrow escape - from not being in the building. He had engaged rooms at the hotel, expecting to arrivo on Tuesday night, but for some reason did not arrive until Wednesday morning. One man in the fifth story made a rope of his bed-clothes, and tried to save himself by sliding down, but, unfortunately, he lost his hold just after leaving the window, and feil to the ground below. He was picked up and carried into a saloon, where he died shortly after.

Article

Subjects
Michigan Argus
Old News